DIY Play Kitchen & FF

(The Friday Funnies are in here, I promise...just keep reading.)

Charlie worked very hard to make the kids a play kitchen for Christmas...and I can't believe I haven't showed it off, yet! (For some reason, I thought that I already had.)

When we first started talking about what to get the kids for Christmas, we decided that we would make them something. I had seen so many DIY Play Kitchens on the blogosphere. And every time we'd go over to someone's house with a child's kitchen, that was the first (and most of the time, only) thing that my kids would play with.

Knowing that if my Charlie could take this kitchen:

and turn it into this (more details here) :

then, a tiny little child's play kitchen would be no big deal for him. I started showing him different examples of play kitchens that people were making out of unwanted furniture.

I think they all started with this girl...isn't she a genius? (Speaking of "genuis", I had to change that when spellcheck saved me...but I just outed myself, so, whatever.)  Originally I had wanted to do something small like one of these (more example of Jane's work) out of a nightstand or cabinet.  

But then we got to thinking...to avoid breaking up many future shoving wars, I thought it would be better to have a bigger kitchen so both of the kids could play side by side. I was inspired by this one:

Don't the countertops look like granite? They are modge podged fabric!!  (And, she was kind enough to answer my bazillion questions.)

So, we started with an entertainment center that we got off Craigslist for $20.  Asher had lots of fun helping Daddy build the "shelf" as we kept referring to it:



But once it actually started to look like a kitchen, there were several evenings and weekends that I had to distract the kids while Charlie worked:

He spent many late nights finishing all the details.  One of the many reasons I love him.

Our finished play kitchen:

Charlie, the perfectionist, sliced every bubble in the fabric countertop and got it completely smooth.  We got the faucet & knobs for the stove from the Habitat ReStore.  The sink is a buffet steam tray.  The burners are yogurt lids.  The oven racks are cooling racks from Dollar Tree.  The pans are hanging on dowel rods (and we got the hooks from Ikea when we lived in our very first apartment that had one drawer and maybe three cabinets...we hung everything in that kitchen but I didn't care...I was just so happy to be married.)  The oven handle is from Lowe's.  One of my favorite elements, is the wine glass rack that Char just had to make. (I'm glad that he insisted.) 

My crafty-sister, Kyle, had drawn the kid's names for Christmas.  She knew they couldn't have a play kitchen without some accessories!  She made them these adorable aprons with some felt food and wooden spoons in each pocket.

McKlayne received a felt poptart (how perfect is that?) in her apron pocket. (You can't see it here, but she sewed each tiny "sprinkle" bead on by hand.  Talk about a labor of love.)

Asher received a bag of ravioli:

As soon as Asher opened the gift from Aunt Kyle, he gasped with excitement and picked up the wooden spoon, "Our own spanking spoons!?"

One side has hooks to hang their adorable aprons:

(There's a better pic of that poptart!)

And the other side has a chalkboard that keeps the kids busy drawing:

For Christmas, each of the grandparents gave the kids food for their kitchen: pizza, bread, veggies & fruit, and a felt food set of hamburgers with all the fixings!  And the "College Station Grandparents", Duane & Marylou, gave them pots, pans & utensils!  Thanks everyone for helping furnish the kitchen!

There were so many girly things I wanted to applique on the linens...

BUT, I had to keep it neutral, since we want even manly men to feel comfortable cooking in this kitchen!  I decided on the stack of bowls:

Here is Asher cutting up veggies for soup.

One day I was cooking dinner in (my own) kitchen, while the kids were back in McKlayne's room playing with their's. And I hear Asher yelling, "Momma, McKlayne's making babies back here!"

M: {What?! Did I just hear right? Where did he hear that?} What did you say, Asher? {as I hurry back to her room}

A: McKlayne is back here making babies!!

And I walk back to see this:

The only complaint Shortie has about the kitchen, is that she can't quite reach the back of it, so she often climbs into the sink to play.

Now, I'm on the lookout for a stool that is light enough for her to move on her own.

Charlie's labor of love was well worth it.  There isn't a day that goes by that these two don't play with this thing.