The time has come to begin pretend. Olivia has begun dressing up with bracelets and scarves and hats, and then feeding me imaginary (soup?) and we "sip" away. It's really adorable and I'm impressed that she's begun doing this at 15 months old. In honor of beautiful, young imagination, I began the hunt for something she could play pretend with that would really make her feel included in the day to day activities. We have tons of dress up clothes already, and she really wants to do what mommy's doing...cooking! I cook all the time, and she's always right there with me. A play kitchen, that's the ticket! I loved mine as a kid, and surely she would too.
The initial idea was to buy one. That's what you do when you want something right, you buy it. I found the DUKTIG kitchen through Ikea and instantly loved it's simplicity and, not to mention, it carries a resemblance to our own kitchen.
This guy is only $80, but after shipping and the time it takes to follow infamous Ikea instructions, we're probably investing more like $120. Olivia may not even like it, she's quite a critic. To hell with that idea, onto DIY from Pinterest!
After searching all sorts of boards and blogs, I came across 3 that really jumped out.
top: Paint On The Ceiling
left: Artsy Ants
right: A Beautiful Mess
So it was kitchen bones hunting time!
I went in with the idea that I would leave empty handed and find absolutely nothing. I think that's one of my favorite parts of buying secondhand is if you have no expectation, you'll probably walk out with more than you imagined! After not even 10 minutes of perusing, I came across this little beauty.
The height is perfect for little legs, and the wheels are an added bonus! Plus, as she gets taller, we can remove the wheels and attach legs. It was too perfect, and I scored it for $6.50. Did I mention I want to do this whole thing for $40? So far we were off to a good start.
Next was the need for power tools. I left that one up to Talon, the master. We ran an gathered more supplies then worked into the night. This is where we currently are
There's a sink and two "burners". The sink is a metal bowl and the knobs and faucet are coat hangers. The burners are two cork pads, found in gardening, spray painted black. We've still got a peg board to attach to the back for hanging pots and pans, along with a dowel for hanging miscellaneous kitchen items. As for an oven, we are still thinking of a way to go about it so that it will really maximize the utility of the cart. I hope she loves it! She's already "washed" her hands a few times this morning, so I think it might be a hit!
That's all for now, but it'll be ready to go in the next few days and I can't wait to share the final product! Update soon!
Buh bye & Happy Friday!