I have been meaning to blog about my major Christmas accomplishment: to find and outfit an awesome play kitchen with homemade food and fun. I really wanted to do the kitchen for Henry but I didn't want cheap, plastic food and dishes. I saw play sets with 99 pieces for less than $10 but it all looked like it was going to fall apart. I spent about $20 on the food and feel like I got a much better value for the future.
I compiled a list of my favorite tutorials and products for my own reference but also so you can use them too.
We found our kitchen online. I wanted something small and unisex. I also wanted wood. I looked and looked and finally settled on
this red kitchen that folds up for easy storage. It isn't available right now but might in the future. It was easy to put together but it did take almost the entire evening. Luckily we put it together on Christmas Eve Eve. One part had a small damage that looked like they had tried to paint over it. But it was really small and I didn't want to try and return it.
It is small but it is perfect for two children to play at side by side and it doesn't take up a lot of room.
Every kitchen needs an apron and oven mitts. I just used fabric scraps in coordinating colors. I used this tutorial and free pattern for the apron,
find it here. It was really easy to make and I added the pocket. Next time I would sew a line through the middle of the pocket to make 2 smaller ones, things tend to fall out of this big one. I also chose this one because the neck piece is elastic and Henry can put it on by himself. The oven mitts are also a free pattern,
find it here. Super easy. The only modification I made was to quilt the fabric before cutting out the mitten shape, it was just easier for me to handle that way.
The chocolate bar and bag of popcorn came from
this tutorial. Henry loves popcorn so I knew this would be a big hit.
Papa Johns gave me this breadstick box for free and even though it is too small for my pizza, it is the perfect accessory. For the pizza I got inspiration from
this tutorial. I'll explain my changes below.
I wanted all my toppings to be sewn on as little pepperonis all over the house would be a nightmare, also Henry still loves chewing things up. So I started by cutting out all my toppings. I traced a cake plate to be the crust (cut 2, one for the top and one for the bottom) and then cut the sauce and cheese layers smaller, I just free handed these. I sewed the toppings to the cheese layer. I sewed the cheese to the sauce and then the sauce to the crust. Then I used my rotary cutter and sliced it into slices. I sewed each slice on the sewing machine along the inner edges leaving the outside open and sewing right sides together. I turned them right side out and then sewed along the cheese to create the flatter part of each slice. Then I stuffed polyfil in the crust and hand sewed the edges closed. So the crust is puffy like a real pizza. The only thing I didn't like about my method was I lost parts of the toppings by sewing them on first. Also make sure to cut out the crust an inch or so bigger than your desired final pizza size.
For the life of me I cannot find the original source for this idea. I am terrible at pinning things on Pinterest to the wrong boards. Oh well. So these wooden groceries are awesome! I had the only person I know with a table saw, my Dad cut out all these small blocks of wood and then sand them. What a great grandpa. Meanwhile I collected various food boxes and labels.
I painted each block to match the label and then mod podged everything in place. My mom also had the brilliant idea to do small milk cartons and they put a block of wood in each of these. The wood is painted white and the lids were hot glued shut again, yes, you can still open and "pour."
My favorites are the Party Pizza and the Angel Hair pasta, I painted the area under the cellophane yellow to look like spaghetti.
When I told my parents about the kitchen they wanted to help stock the cupboards. So here are some reviews of the products they bought that I love that we use in our kitchen. Some have been sent as gifts later in the year. None pictured but dishes.
Melissa & Doug Let's Play House: Grocery Cans: These cans are amazing. Each has a lid and they are interchangeable. The cardboard is sturdy and I think if Henry tried to stand on them they wouldn't crumble. They also have funny labels and each package comes with ideas on how to use them with your child. Creative play as a family. This is a great company.
- Melissa and Doug Slice and Scoop Sundae Set: This fun set has magnetic ice cream scoops and a scooper. The only problems are the dish is wood and really heavy and Henry destroyed the fake knife in the first few hours. So fun though and the scoops fit perfectly in our little bowls.
- Melissa and Doug Felt Food-Sandwich Set: If you are going to get one thing, I would get this set. It comes with 33 pieces of fun felt sandwich pieces. Veggies, breads, a pita pocket. Its awesome.
- Green Toys Cookware and Dining Set: I looked all over for quality dishes with lots of great reviews and I kept coming back to this set. They are solid, food safe and pretty colors. I love this set and couldn't be happier. Not only are they cute but they are durable and I know they will last a long time.
For the chips and the bag I used this tutorial as a guide,
find it here. They also have a complete sack lunch with sandwich. So cute.
Strawberries can be found
here, I sewed my seeds on after they were sewn.
Orange slices were super easy, I used
this tutorial and stuffed them with polyfill before sewing shut.
The corn in husk was from a blog which is marked private now, if you want the directions I have them downloaded, just let me know.
I just looked at some felt food on etsy and copied their ideas for the pancakes, donuts, bacon and eggs. For pancakes, layer one cream piece inside two tan to get the more realistic look. Also I opted for lots more machine sewing than some tutorials did, I am all about saving time.
This was the easiest carrot tutorial,
find it here.
The ravioli can be
found here, instead of felting I just machine stitched along the filling of each one.
Felt cupcakes can be
found here. I also got that bakery box to put them in from Publix. I wanted a cardboard pink one but knew it would get destroyed. This box also works great for sandwiches.
Master Chef sets the table. Seriously, we play with this food every day. We don't always use the kitchen but we have picnics, lunch and parties every single day. He loads it in his shopping cart and invites me to join him on a camping trip. We spread a blanket and pizza sandwiches with pancakes are served round. It is so fun. I don't regret any of the hours it took to make.
Oven mitts!
Apron shot and on the move. He hardly stands still for a minute these days.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
As I have been going through these again, I really did have a wonderful time to creating these toys.
