2009 Projects Are DONE!

So the only project I really carried over into the new year was this play kitchen for the girls......... This was a HUGE undertaking for me because if I see an idea that is clever, cute and doable, I immediately put it on the TO DO list, which inevitably grows to the point of IMPOSSIBLE. This kitchen was almost certainly destined to go incomplete forever. However, I mustered up the courage and spare time, and finished it one week ago today.

It started out as this cute, but DEFINITELY USED play kitchen with Dora and Diego stickers all over it that we bought for $20 off of Craigslist:

Before:

So the first step was to clean it and rid it of the stickers, tightening all the loose screws along the way. Once done, I resolved to add a cutting board/bar table to the side. The wood was collected at the IKEA Scratch 'N' Dent section for $0.39 and we already had the 90 degree braces so it wasn't much of an investment.

Next, I saw a picture of a kitchen with a backsplash and thought that would be a cute addition. After another trip to IKEA's S 'n' D, I came back with a large piece (around 4'x2') of 1" particle board and a 3' tall, but skinny, piece of wood, each marked at $0.29. The smaller piece of wood was to stabilize the cutting block.

I covered the larger piece with scrapbook paper I had and then covered that all with Con-Tact Paper. (There is probably a better way of finishing it off, but I already had that on hand.) I didn't attach the board to the rest of the kitchen so it is more portable when we move.

The next thing was to add a kitchen timer into the empty stainless steel hole on the original backsplash. Found one at Ross, and wrestled it into the open hole. Didn't quite fit, but I had a backup plan--my go-to project solution: the hot glue gun.

The last thing to do was to add the kitchen window and make the curtains. I had spied this decorative plate frame at a discount store and thought it would work perfectly. It was only $2 and it already had a rod that, if rotated and re-inserted, could serve as a curtain rod. I made some quick curtains with some fabric I had saved for something fun like this and the project was COMPLETE! A breath of fresh, project-free 2010 air!

Ta Da:

Siena already had all the right tools, she just needed the work station.

Talk about an AWESOME Christmas present. My mom got Siena these wooden condiment bottles and a market bag full of Velcro-y, peel-able produce... the COOLEST food you can use in the kitchen, by far.

Siena really loved it, but I had to throw this random frown pic in because it cracks me up. She cooks in her kitchen all the time now, mostly whipping up birthday cakes and soup. After I eat, she indulges herself on her imaginary cuisine and pretends to nibble at it very daintily. Why can't she have these manners when she eats her real food? ;^)