HAPPY $50 FRIDAY MY LOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So my baby girl turned one in September. Oh it was horrible. I am like any typical mama. I am completely in depression that she is growing up sooooo fast. Why does God make that first year go so so quickly? It's absolutely heart wrenching to watch them get so grown.
First, there is that perfect newborn stage where they just sleep on your chest and grunt and act squishy. Then that amazing three-six month stage when they learn to smile and coo. The stage where they crawl around and laugh and say mama and dada. And then they're one. My daughter is now 18 months going on 18 years old. It's awful. She runs everywhere and talks non-stop. I'm a mess. Why does she have to grow up? I've decided I fancy arranged marriages now. It's perfectly logical that I elect her future husband. Oh I've never prayed for anyone like I pray for that sweet baby girl.
Back to the DIY story. She is growing up. And I need to grow up too.
And what do grown-up baby girls receive for their first birthday? A play kitchen, of course.
Well I wanted something that wasn't expensive. And I had a small desire for something that was cute. My friend Kayla says all my baby's toys are so "aesthetically appealing". Oh, hashtag blogger probs. Ugly toys really do mess up my photo shoots for y'all. What does one do with ugly toys in the background of pictures?
Well we can just come up with our own version of a kitchen. How about that?! Hashtag I'm not a control freak at all, am I?
Before I knew it, MiMi was offering to buy the grand-baby toy kitchen. So I told her to hold off until I found us a good project. MiMi knows a good fixer-upper and it would be a fun project to do together.
I finally found the one. My beloved girlfriend was having a yard sale to raise funds for her international adoption. And what was donated? A shabby toy play kitchen! I didn't snap this 'before' picture until after I had scrubbed the kitchen down with a good cleaning rag. So it actually looked worse then this.
It clearly has adorable bones. But could it be MORE adorable? Of course!
So this little DIY is how to doll-up a little garage sale toy kitchen.
This particular kitchen had some obvious flaws. Maybe you are in the market for a toy kitchen for your toddler. And the yard sale variety isn't cutting it. Think again! With a little help, any garage sale kitchen can be a vintage-glam kitchen!
Our kitchen had some minor flaws. It had no sink basin. All the shelves were missing from within the toy-oven and under the sink. The handles on the fridge were too small and some were missing. Other various handles and knobs were also missing.
We decided it needed:
A fresh coat of paint
A fun little sink skirt, which we would sew
New stove knobs
New handles on the fridge
A fresh coat of paint on the faucet
New hot/cold knobs
Wrought Iron hooks for little vintage enamelware pots and pans
A wooden crate to replace the missing basin
Accessories
So where did we go? Our neighborhood Hobby Lobby of course!
First we decided to finish removing the 'mostly-missing' oven and under-sink cabinet. We removed all hardware and my darling hubby cut a fresh board for the bottom of the cabinet. We then sewed a little gingham sink skirt out of 1/2 yard of fabric. I just hemmed all the ends. I then bunched the top of the skirt and used a utility staple gun to attach the skirt up under the wooden sink.
Next, we gave the entire piece a coat of white paint to freshen it up. I just used semi-gloss white Behr paint from Home Depot.
I also spray painted the old grey faucet an antique-red color to match the gingham sink-skirt. Valspar $3 spray paint did the trick. I threw away the old knobs and the old wooden hot/cold knobs.
We found some cute little drawer pulls in ceramic-red at Hobby Lobby and used those as the new stove knobs. Gosh, did they turn out cute! We also found hot/cold vintage ceramic knobs for either side of the red faucet. Drew screwed the new wooden crate into the bottom of the counter top as the new sink basin.
We decided upon cute glass handles to make the new fridge pulls. They were larger and easier for babygirl to use when she opened her fridge.
We then discovered a few rusty Hobby Lobby wrought-iron red hooks to attach to the side of the kitchen for utensils and pots. I had found some vintage red and white enamelware pots and pans at an antique store that just had to hang on those cute little red hooks.
It was sort of like the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". We just kept going with all the cuteness.
I'm pretty sure the kitchen turned out perfect. MiMi accessorized with wooden toy food and a baby-kitchen-aid from Pottery Barn Kids as part of the Birthday gift.
I think the after photos don't even do her justice!
AFTER
AFTER
Love Y'all!
Ashley