Happy Holidays!

I cannot believe that Christmas 2010 is over and the New Year is only days away. Our Christmas was wonderful, how was yours? (Or the holiday you celebrate this time of year.) Christmas morning was so much fun. The girls couldn't wait and neither could we (me or the hubster). I think the girls were more excited to exchange the gifts they've been trying to sneak a peek at, than the ones from Santa. Because of this we ended up doing the family gifts first and this surprise was part of the family gifts. A loved it so much that when we wanted to open Santa gifts, she kind of-but not totally-threw a tiny fit. M and C thought it was pretty awesome as well. Everyone that came to visit over the weekend was given a personal tour of the playroom and it's new addition by one or all three of the girls. So as promised, here is the post on this pretty cool Christmas gift. Sorry it is kind of long.

Here is a little recap of what I did up until Christmas in order to be ready for the surprise.

Crocheted Cupcakes-pattern Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet

Crocheted Apples-pattern Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet

 

Crocheted Eggs-pattern Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet

$5.00 Faucet-Habitat for Humanity REStore

Free Entertainment Center-from soon to be brother-in-law

I took all of the above and a little more and turned it all into this.

Play Kitchen-Total Cost: $47.18 supply list at end of post.

Here are a couple pics I used for inspiration, but was NOT going to pay that much for.

$169.99-Amazon

 $250.99-Amazon

 

$249.00-$699.00 PB Kids

So...

First, I needed some tools. I needed a jig saw for the sink hole. And since I have wonderful friends, I was able to borrow one. Once I had the jig saw I needed a lesson on how to use it. So...called up dear dad and bribed him with a secret recipe. It worked. He was over here in 2 days and we made the exchange-jig saw lesson for secret recipe-muwhahaha. He must have really wanted that recipe, because as you can see I also learned how to use a holesaw.

Second, we needed to take the entertainment center apart and prime it with adhesion primer.

I had some luan board cut to size at Lowe's for free. I need two pieces: one to replace the glass in the door, and the other to cover the hole behind where the TV used to be.

We then painted everything pink. With the exception of the two small doors and the piece of luan for the glass replacement-these later became "stainless steel appliances".

I used a stainless steel bowl for the sink. Deadbolt locks became the knobs for the burners. Old PlayStation-1 games flipped upside down were used as burners, I painted the center red-so I guess they're always on and ready to cook up something tasty.

We changed the way the doors were hung so that they were more realistic. All hardware got changed from antique gold to brushed nickel.

There is a pantry on one end, which got filled with all the play food after the picture was taken.

And a refrigerator on the other end. This is also stocked and ready. I used a mirror for the "window" and we also put in an old wired telephone.

Supply List:

Entertainment Center-0 (given to us from soon to be brother-in-law)

Material for valance and small curtain-0 (leftover scraps from the curtains in playroom)

Primer-$10 (Sherwin Williams)

Pink Paint-0 (leftover from my craft closet-Sherwin Williams "Childlike")

Hinges-$2.94 (Lowe's-2pk for $1.47)

Burner Knobs aka Deadbolt Locks-$1 (Habitat ReStore-.25/each)

Handles and Knobs-$3.25 (Habitat ReStore)

Burners-0 (Playstation1 games from box in basement)

Sink-$4.99 (Meijer-mixing bowl)

Faucet-$5 (Habitat ReStore-cleaned up with Coca-Cola)

Mirror-$3 (Habitat ReStore)

Glue-0 (E6000 on hand in my stash-used to glue down burners)

Epoxy-$4 (Target-what we used to hang the mirror)

Silver Spray Paint-$3 (Lowes-"Aluminum")

Black and Red Paint-0 (Acrylic paint in my stash-used for burner centers and oven door)

Luan Board-$10 (Lowes-cut for free)

Grand Total: $47.18 savings of at least-$120 not too shabby :)

Have a great day!