Frugal DIY Play Kitchen!

For little Man’s 3rd birthday party I decided that a play kitchen would be a good addition to our playroom! I didn’t have a lot of money to spend (none really) but I still wanted it to be cute! I found a possibility on etsy.com for a cardboard one and bought the PDF. I loved it but it required a lot more materials than I had available at the time. So I looked around and found some materials that I thought would work.
I first saw this end table that I was using as a cable box stand and nothing else. I grabbed that and replaced it with my file cabinet as the cable box holder lol
I knew I needed room for a sink too so I found an old drafting desk that the top ‘lift up’ portion of the desk was damaged on one edge but was long enough on the ‘good’ part to cover the top of the end table and then have overhand for the ‘sink’ portion.
So I had my handsome hubby cut down the desk top to the right size, cut the hole for the pie plate sink and screw it on to the top of the nightstand- lining up the edges. I caulked/used wood filler on the seam where the top of the end table and bottom of the wood came together. Then I taped off the half that overhang with painter’s tape and newspaper and spray painted the entire nightstand/remaining portion of desk top white. It took a couple coats and I didn’t do the back, the inside or the side under the over hang since those wouldn’t be seen. The reason I did this is that I wanted it to have some separation between the  stove/oven side and the kitchen side. It ended up looking like the sink is in a butcher block countertop- love it!

Next I took off the tape/newspaper and placed the pie plate in the hole. It has a lip and we measured the bottom of the plate (which is a bit smaller than the rim) so it fits in tight and the lip keeps it from falling all the way through.
I traced a saucer four times onto the ‘stove’ side of the kitchen and filled in the circles with black acrylic paint. Handsome Hubby drilled some small holes and fitted them with these little metal pegs I found laying around and that’s what we used to hold the ‘oven’ knobs on with. The knobs do come off but I didn’t want to glue them because I wanted them to be able to spin. I wrote the ‘temperature’ & ‘on’ ‘off’ with a thin line Sharpie.

Then hubby measured and cut plywood to fill the front of the end table for an oven door and he cut a ‘window’ in the middle for the oven window. I spray painted that white and we attached it to the kitchen with hinges at the bottom, magnetic tape to hold it closed and upright and a handle to pull it open with.  The ‘window’ of the oven is covered from the inside with a sheet of transparency film and it is just taped on using packing tape (so it’s clear and blends in). I might hot glue it on later but for now it works!
 

After that we just screwed the handles through the overhand/old desk top part of the kitchen for faucet handles and used Gorilla Glue to attach the wooden J (I painted it sliver first) upside down to look like a faucet. I would have loved to do a screw up through the bottom of the over hang into the bottom of the J but when we tried it started to split the J- so glue only was what worked for us!

I used sticky backed Velcro on the edge of the over hang and sewed the matching Velcro (using sew on Velcro obviously lol) to the bandanas to make a sink ‘skirt/curtain’
And that was that! I had everything but the hinges, handles, J and knobs on hand. The oven ‘knobs’ were free and the rest was all $1-$5 each.

 


So here are the materials you would need to make your own. I have linked to similar or the same products where ever it was possible!

Materials: End Table(I used one similar to this- only mine had two shelves)    
Pie Plate with rim (but no handles) (mine came in a pack of 2 and was similar to this)
wooden or paper mache letter “J” (mine is wooden- this link is for paper mache because I couldn’t find the right ‘font’ of J that looked like a faucet)
Kitchen or Bath Replacement Faucet Handles (mine are similar but couldn’t find them online)
Acrylic Black Paint
Metallic Spray Paint -Silver
Satin White Spray Paint
Replacement Oven Knobs (mine are actually from an old Helicopter)
Plywood (got mine at my local Lowe’s)
Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Markers
Wood to form ‘countertop’ (the same width as your end table from front to back and then about twice as long-mine came from the top of an old desk that part of the wood was warped. We cut off the bad part and used the good part)
Solid Color Bandanas - (Whatever Color you want)(mine are leftover bandanas from the Pirate Birthday party!)
Small Hinges (you’ll need at least two to attach the oven door with)
Magnetic tape (you can get this at Wal-mart or a craft store also)
Kitchen Cabinet Handle (this is similar to the one I used but I would have loved to use this kitchen cabinet long handle because it is longer-more like an oven handle)
Velcro (both sticky backed & sew-on)
Transparency Films
Packing Tape
Gorilla Glue
Screws

I hope you all find some interesting materials to make your own play kitchen! Just know that you CAN do it without spending a fortune on those wooden play kitchens they sell!
In fact, I’m not the only one who has made their own play kitchen.

Have a Happy Day,

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What I Did This Weekend- 35, 2, 50 Edition!

No the title does not refer to football ;)
This weekend (well starting Thursday really) I made 4 trips to my hometown & my husband’s hometown. One each day!
Thursday brought some first cousins once removed & their son to visit for the first time in 3 years! They met both my kids for the first time!
Friday brought my FIL & Step-MIL and their 3 young kiddos!
Saturday was my Aunt & Uncle’s 35th Wedding anniversary and they renewed their vows in a lovely little backyard ceremony/bbq!
Sunday morning we had my niece's 2nd birthday party which was Curious George themed! I made her a monkey cake:

Finally Sunday afternoon was my husband’s grandparents 50th wedding anniversary! Everyone met Miss E for the first time…including her Great Great Grandfather (yes that’s TWO greats! How amazing is that?!)
We had busy travel filled days and Little Man-who is potty training- did great! Only one accident and for not getting home until after bedtime every day he didn’t have temper tantrums or anything! Both he and Miss E did wonderfully and we are so glad this weekend, while super busy, was filled with the family we love! :)
Now tell me: What Did You Do This Weekend?
Have a happy day,

Tomorrow my OpenSky shop opens! I will leave it in my sidebar for the week then it will get it’s own tab up there on the menu bar!
If you want to follow me & leave a comment on the Pirate Birthday Party post to enter into the Pirate Party Decorations giveaway you can enter here.
If you like what you see please consider subscribing by e-mail or following with Google Friend Connect. Both are over in the right sidebar --->

Pirate Birthday Party

So after sending out the pirate party invitations I got to work on creating some pirate decorations for the party!
I use Martha’s instructions for tissue paper pom poms (as you’ve seen at the tea & cupcakes baby shower & the Dr. Seuss baby shower) but I’ve noticed some confusion as to how exactly they are made so I wanted to show you a little visual as to how they look before you ‘fluff’ them.

I use twist ties (those freebie ones in with your trash bags- I just tie the bag closed I never use a twist tie so I have lots!) and monofilament thread but fishing line would be cheaper, you’d get a lot more (A whole reel!), and it works just as well!
Just layer (6+ layers works the best) your tissue paper on top of each other (you can alternate colors to get a multi-colored pom) and accordion fold on the ‘short’ side. When you reach the end of the tissue paper twist a twist tie around the center and then tie a length of clear thread (monofilament or fishing line) around that center also. This is how you want to transport them if you need to bring them somewhere other than you made them. If you fluff before travel you will have smooshed sides on your poms.  Also make sure you cut the ends before you fluff- into the shapes you want- I do either curved edges (seen on the tea & cupcake party poms) or pointy ones like these.
Ok on to where these poms ended up for the party!
In the playroom corner:

Over the food/cake table:

I also used vinyl cut from my silhouette machine to decorate a few places
The play room window:

The kitchen mirror as you walked in had a vinyl pirate ship & a banner:

Those pirate banners were super easy! They were pirate boy foam crafts that came 6 in a kit ($1 a kit at JoAnn’s)- I bought 2 kits and put them together. The pennant was a freebie from the Cottage Industrialist (also got the pirate hats and eye patches there) and printed them on cardstock.
Here is the pirate dress up station you saw the sign for before:
 
Those parrots are printed on cardstock after being colored in Photoshop (you could just use markers after printing) with a clothespin on the tail to clip on your shoulder. I got the parrots from Family Fun.  Besides the pirate hats and parrots there are eye patches, red & back sashes (just plain bandanas) and tiny ‘party favor’ telescopes.
I made pirate themed food signs which you can sort of see in this picture of the food table:

I kept the food simple this time and did a ranch veggie dip with veggies and a really yummy fruit dip with cut up fruit (not pictured) as well as cheese and cracker platters (also not pictured). For drinks I did raspberry iced tea from a mix and a super yummy lemonade.
I also bought two ($2 each at JoAnn’s) pirate ship foam activity kits and put them together- one was on the buffet with the drinks:

Outside I buried pirates treasure (some of which is scattered on the food table above) in Little Man’s sandbox for the kiddos to search for and we also tied a piece of wood to two cement blocks for a ‘plank’ to walk. I did buy some ‘water bomb’ balloons that were shaped like- you guessed it- cannonballs but we didn’t do those. All of this is not pictured because I didn’t take pictures of it without kids in the pictures and I don’t share pictures of my kids or other’s kids on the blog…sorry!
Last but not least was the pirate ship cake I made for Little Man:

The sails & waves are paper and the pirate and treasure chest came from a toy Little Man had.
Here is a list of pirate party ideas I used to help me come up with all the fun ideas!
Pirate Ship Cake & This cake also
Buried Treasure & Invite Ideas
Pirate hats and eye patches
Steph’s Pirate Party blew. me. away. (walking the plank idea came from here)
Every pirate needs “dress-up” station came from here.

So thanks to all these people for sharing their ideas online and for Google for bringing you to me so I could throw a cheap & fun pirate party for my Little Man!!
I hope you all enjoyed this ‘walk’ through my Little Man’s 3rd birthday!
Have a happy day,

I am linking this post up to:



Pssst! I'm trying to reach 100 followers (see over there on the right sidebar?) so I've decided to try a little giveaway. 
If I reach 100 followers by Tuesday August 10, 2010 (one week) I will giveaway the pirate banners, pirate 'coins', little party favor telescopes, the un-opened package of cannonball 'water bomb' balloons, a small package of pirate themed foam stickers (opened but I didn't use them), and possibly the 2 foam pirate ships if I can figure out how to ship them without breaking them. I will choose one winner randomly from the comments on Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010.
You would have an almost complete decorating kit for YOUR pirate party if you win...just by following me and leaving a comment here. Make sure you tell your friends because I have to be at 100 followers in one week or the giveaway doesn't happen :) (see? incentive!) This is open to USA readers only but if you are from outside the US feel free to follow anyway you'll be helping out!

What I Did This Weekend- Pirate Edition

 

Hi all! Welcome back for What I Did This Weekend #2! This weekend was all about Little Man’s 3rd Birthday party! Which was a Pirate theme (first talked about when I showed you the Pirate Party Invitations)!

While I was working on a project I’ve had on my list for over a year (post to come soon!) I was outside spray painting in the dark (it needed one. more. coat.) and when I came around the corner of the house to go back inside something hopped out of the lawn right into my path:

A huge toad! This picture doesn’t show you how big it really was! Now I’m not afraid or grossed out by toads or frogs but this one scared the willies out of me because it came from no where and jumped right in front of me! After I freaked out for a second I whipped out the iPhone and took a couple pictures because he was kind of cute!

Other than the toad this weekend was all Pirate- all the time!

Here are a few sneaky peeks of the party (post to come later this week!)

Birthday Banner (cost me all of $5 for the whole thing)

The “Every Pirate Needs” sign above the ‘dress up’ table.

Ok so that’s what I did this weekend! Next weekend has my Aunt & Uncle’s vow renewal (35 years!), my niece's 2nd Birthday party (I’m making the cake!), and my husband’s grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary party! Busy weekend ahead!

Ok so tell me what did you do this weekend? Any surprises?

Have a happy day,

Pirate Birthday Party Invitations!

I was going to wait and show you the Pirate 3rd Birthday Party when it was all over with and complete but then I thought- why not just show you the invitations and the rest in another post? It will break it up so you aren’t reading a huge long post (unless you like that….?) (Here's Pirate Birthday Party Post 2)
So Little Man is turning 3 and I decided last year (at his Thomas the Train Birthday party) to do a Pirate theme this year! Next year he’ll probably help choose his theme.
I started by searching for any Pirate parties online and found a bunch that had good ideas! I took the invitation in a bottle inspiration from here.
Here is what the invite looked like from the front:

I blurred out our names/address/etc. but it does say “Join us on the good ship our last name”

Here is the back:

I always like to give present suggestions, mostly because I hate getting a bunch of plastic, noisy toys that I’m going to have to ‘hide’ after he goes to bed because they aren’t something we want him playing with, but also because sometimes adults just don’t know what a kid likes or wants. I always appreciate it when I get an invite with suggestions on it because it makes MY life so much easier…I won’t have to worry that the birthday child won’t like my present.
These invites were designed in Photoshop Elements and all the images you see came from that program.
So I had Military Man stop by the store and pick me up a 6 pack….of IBC root beer. We drank a couple, made root beer floats and then poured the rest into a pitcher. I rinsed the bottles out and dried them. Then I printed my invites on resume paper I had (it was almost linen like) to give it a authentic ‘lost map’ feel. I also burned the edges with a lighter. I rolled them up and stuck them in the bottle. I tied some twine around them and used a free tag printable to write the names of who they were to.
Military Man took 4 to work to hand out and the other two went to others. I ended up mailing 6 more invites (no bottles lol).
Here is the finished product (sorry for bad iPhone photo- my camera batteries died just as I was about to take the pic!):

So there is the beginning of the Pirate Birthday Party!(Pirate Birthday Party Post 2)
Let’s try something fun: leave me a comment telling me what your favorite party theme has been (could be yours or a party you went to)!
Have a great weekend,


Linking up to: