Creating a Play Kitchen on a Whim

It's 10:00 AM on Christmas Eve and my 2 year old is asking me to heat up some pretend soup for her stuffed toy. This is her newest idea of fun - feeding her purple puppy that is buckled in the high chair. For nearly a year I have been coveting a play kitchen for her (and let's be honest, for me too), and now I discover this tutorial on a day with an already overflowing to-do list. I'm pretty sure you can see where I'm headed: straight to the garage to gather my supplies.

My goal: turn this

into this (well, it's cardboard equivalent)

Image Source

in time for Christmas morning. I can proudly say mission accomplished! Here's how:

I used 3 boxes from the CSA we tried out this summer and some other random bits of cardboard that hadn't made it out to the recycling bin yet. Also gathered from around the house:

a round storage container for the sink
the pump from a soap dispenser for the faucet
bottle caps for the stove knobs
a page protector for the oven door
string and packing paper for the handles
tape (and tape, and more tape)
hot glue (when i didn't think the tape was doing it's job)
ruler, pencil, pen, utility knife, and scissors

We did make one purchase for this creation, and that was some velcro for the oven and fridge doors. I set to work in the playroom, right in front of the kids. Why? Because I can, for this one last year. Next Christmas Eve, mommy's frantic crafting may raise a few more questions. The Toddler even helped, handing one of my cast-off cardboard pieces to her sister when she started getting fussy.

Start to finish, the entire thing took about 4 hours, and that was including a lunch break and a couple of nursing sessions with the baby. Honestly, I love the final product. Toddler does too, and that makes my heart sing!