DIY Play kitchen - Part 1

I love Ohdeedoh and I check in daily to see what's new. If you're a reader you already know that Play kitchens are HUGE there, especially the homespun kind. Many readers have sent in gorgeous photos of play kitchens they've put together for their kiddos with results that surpass by far IMHO any run of the mill plastic big box kitchens you could purchase! I've been so inspired and have had my eyes on the lookout for any old chest/cupboard/bookshelf/scrap wood that held potential to become a custom built kitchen for my daughter. I enlisted my mom's help on this one and she was kind enough to donate an old vanity table and a stainless steel mixing bowl to the cause. Our play kitchen is still a work in progress. We're ever so patiently waiting for our handyman A.K.A DH to help get things on the road...

If you've been thinking about the idea yourself and could use a nudge in the right direction, check out Ohdeedoh's roundup of awesome DIY play kitchens.

This is our before picture, after the sink installation.

But there has been some progress; We've got the sink installed, a sink skirt and the oven knobs in place. We have a faucet in waiting, another donation from my mom, and I plan to make an apron, some dish towels, oven mitts and maybe a potholder or two to coordinate with the sink skirt. The plan is to replace the bottom two shelves on either side with a plywood door to make an oven and a fridge. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to make burners out of and it would be nice to add a shelf or two over the sink area...I'm keeping my eyes peeled...

A work in progress...

I've got tons of sewing to do, between the kitchen accessories and the felt play food to stock the kitchen with the next few months are going to be busy. I'm excited though for when everything is complete then we can invite ourselves to DD "house" for dinner, I could use a night off!
Stay tuned!

Felt Food Frenzy!

Ever since stumbling onto etsy.... albeit "accidentally" I've loved felt food. In all honesty it was love at first sight! how cool to have lifelike goodies and dishes all lovingly handmade with felt (wool felt for the connoisseurs...) I've been impatiently waiting for my little one to grow up and start to appreciate the art of pretend... that way I get to play tea party all over again! While we aren't quite there yet, just a rather mature 16 month old... I figure it'll take me a while to curate and make these goodies so I could get a head start already...

There are many books on making pretend felt food goodies... all of them in Japanese?! maybe something to do with the Japanese fetish for all things Kawaii... while I have a couple on my wish list I've been perusing the web for free patterns and with a little improvisation making my own. Let me tell you it is addictive!!

So far I've been "baking" up some cookies and we've "harvested" some veggies.... and I can't stop!! nor do I really want to, not until we have a play kitchen full! I'm making some "reverse" patterns, meaning cutting freehand and tracing the successful pieces... trying to get hubby to help transfer some to pdf form so I can post a tutorial or two... In order to make my creations complete I wanted to learn some new embroidery stitches, thanks to youtube (I love the possibilities of the net!) I now know how to execute the blanket stitch and the very evasive french knot! Below are the video tutorials I watched.



So simple! really it is!



I could do this stitch in my sleep now... whipping up a new batch of cookies in no time...


Here's a plate of dark chocolate raspberry cream filled cookies... looking almost good enough to eat on my mothers vintage Noritake.


and of course some classic choco chip and choco sprinkle cookies...



Sweet tooth's aside we try to get a health dose of wholesome veggies everyday...


The felt food craze fits my Montessori and Waldorf influenced parenting style spot on, I mean what could make a better plaything for a toddler than felt food loving whipped up by your doting mother?