So, some self disclosure here. I love to read blogs — lots of blogs. Mainly mommy-blogs, some food blogs, and friends and family. But mainly mommy-blogs. But sometimes, I get fabulous ideas, so it’s not such a confession to talk about. The latest one was an idea for a homemade play kitchen. I’ve been looking for a kitchen for Elle, but all I can find are big, plastic, and expensive. So, when I spied this little knockoff, I couldn’t help myself. But here is my last confession — I don’t have the patience for perfection, so it’s not an exact copy of the other kitchen, cause that looked too hard…

It first started with a trip to Ikea. The Rast table is only $15. While I was there I picked up a few sets of cabinet knobs and a set of pots/pans, and cooking utensils.

Once home, I set up the table, drew two circles (for stove burners to come), installed 4 knobs (2 for the stove, 2 for the sink) and called it good for the day. Ella was more than happy to play with this skeleton version for about a week. But Mama wanted to get it finished!

So, off to a few more stores to finish the project. I got some material at Jo-Ann for the curtain (the online kitchen put a wood back on, but I decided to hang curtains on both sides, so it could be more versatile). I opted against hanging a curtain rod, because I was afraid she would rip it down. So I drilled holes on either side, and bought some cute ribbon that matched the fabric, and hung the curtains through the ribbon on both sides. I got some black paint to finish off the burners, and put the great selection of Melissa and Doug wooden food (thanks Spencer!) in a basket under the stove.

So, the real part that was giving me trouble was the sink. The website had decided to use a jigsaw to cut out a circle, and lower a metal bowl into it. But we live in the city, and the only power tools we own are the aforementioned drill. And no one else we knew owned tools either. So this totally wasn’t a lazy decision, but I decided to go less traditional with a modern bowl sink. Which was especially convenient because it was on sale at Target. I glued that on the shelf, and added a lovely faucet made of PVC pipe. I have to admit, deciding on which pieces of PVC went together, were tall enough for the sink bowl, etc. was a bit of a challenge. But I didn’t want to ask some guy at the hardware store “can you help me make a pretend faucet?”

The last thing I did was add a couple more knobs on the side to hang her apron and a towel (she loves wiping counters and such). This is the apron I found her on Etsy from Bugabookids

And here is the final result: