A Toddler Kitchen from (Mostly) Repurposed Items

Finally!  It's done.  Or at least, done enough to blog about.  There's one final detail that can't be done for a couple of weeks, but I've basically finished LW's stove!

I got the idea for this back around Christmas.  LW was just starting to get the idea of "cooking," and it seemed like something she'd really enjoy.  Our Christmas visit to my mother-in-law's house confirmed it: she'd found a toddler kitchen somewhere, and my daughter really went crazy playing with it for the two days we were there.  One of my mom and dad's presents to her was some toddler cookware, so when we got home, I started looking around for something that could function as a stove.

Now, truth be told, I really have my heart set on either buying or building something like this one by Camden Rose.  But we didn't, don't, and won't have that kind of cash kicking around anytime soon, and until my father gets his real woodshop up and running (he has the tools, but needs to build the shop to house them and move it all out of their basement), building won't be happening, so I needed a good interim solution.

While looking around our own basement for inspiration, I uncovered and remembered this:

(I know the picture is dark.  I took this photo right before we started working on it, we were at my parents' and I didn't have my good camera, so had to settle for my husband's phone)

This ugly, beat-up TV stand has been in my family for nearly my whole life.  My grandmother picked it up at a yard sale when I was maybe 7 or 8, I think she used it briefly (or maybe not?), and then it was my parents' TV stand for years.  Around the time I was 18, my brother and I got them an entertainment center as an anniversary gift, and the TV stand was retired, only to then go off to college with me.  It followed me to my first apartment, back home again, then to our apartment when we got married.  Shortly after LW was born, our landlords gave us their old stand, which was much nicer, so this one again was retired.  Really, I was planning on junking it, but fortunately hadn't gotten around to it yet.

Pictures don't really do adequate justice to how junky this thing was.  Made of that wood veneer particle board, which had gotten water damaged and was all bubbly across the top, it probably wasn't worth much when brand new, and I think my grandmother got it for for around $5, over twenty years ago; suffice it to say, it had seen better days.  This picture was actually taken after the first modification: whoever put it together in the beginning, put the bottom shelf at a weird sloping angle (perhaps it was supposed to be that way, to hold VHS tapes?), so I removed two of the screws and put it back on flat.

We (my journeyman carpenter earlier in life, father and I) removed the top piece, and I sanded it down.  Then we cut a circular hole on the right hand side, cut a new backpiece as the existing one was broken, and put everything back together.  I painted, painted, and painted some more - four coats in all - and here it is.  As my husband said, "Wow, who knew it could look that good.  We should have painted it a long time ago!"

Despite sanding it flat, the bubbles reappeared once I put the paint on - probably because those areas swelled more with the moisture.  But after the fourth coat of paint, they weren't really that noticeable.

Also providentially (for me, anyway), my aunt's faucet had broken recently, and my dad went over to fix it while I was visiting.  I quickly pleaded with him to save the faucet for this project.  This was fortunate, as these faucets are quite pricey new, and I hadn't been able to find a used one.  This also added to the multi-generational and sentimental value of the piece, because my aunt lives in what was once my grandparents' house.  They both passed away years ago, but this is the faucet that they used for years and years, and which I remember using at their house whenever I visited while growing up.

Of course, it was pretty obvious that it'd been in use for years when I first got my hands on it:

That's about 30+ years of mineral accumulation.  It polished up nicely, though, as you can see in the next photo, where I've polished just one side for comparison:

My dad used a hacksaw to cut the copper wires off from the bottom; here it is all polished and ready to go.

We drilled two holes in the top of "stove" to screw it down, and after the paint finally dried, I attached it.  We also purchased a stainless steel bowl for the "sink", which I left unattached so that LW can take it in and out (I think this is her favorite part), and also so that I could fill it with water or bubbles and be able to dump it easily.  Here it is, attached:

For the "burners," I found these wide, grooved coasters on Amazon.  They are just the right width for her pots, and the grooves made them the closest thing to real that I could find. 

I spray-painted them with a glossy, "metallic black" spraypaint; it has little gold flecks in it that worked perfectly to make the finished product look real.  The bonus was that I "thrifted" the spraypaint from my parents basement, where I think it was originally purchased to make a costume for a 4-H sheep costume class, and probably hadn't been used since.

Painting:

The finished product:

I attached these to the stovetop using wood glue.  I also added a towel bar on one side, and hanging pegs on the other (these, unfortunately, were purchased, not thrifted).

Then, I used this fabric (also purchased) to make cafe curtains to cover the front (hanging on an expandable , adjustable curtain rod):

Voila!  The finished product:

Towel bar:

I also made LW a matching short apron and a coordinating potholder, which conveniently hang on the hanging hooks (I may add one more hook, if I get around to it):

Note, I am very purposefully NOT showing closeups of the potholder.  It would most certainly have earned a white ribbon, had I entered it in the fair growing up.  But I didn't have a pattern, I've never made a potholder or quilted anything before, and I was in a hurry to finish during LW's nap.  It's functional, if a bit stiff, she doesn't care if it's perfect or not.

Also, a not-too-close shot of the apron, for which the former caveat also, somewhat, applies:

It's a little crooked, not really as wide as it should be (sort of a front flap rather than a wrap around), but a good prototype for future attempts.  And, not too shabby given that I wasn't working with a pattern, and just eyeballed the pleats on the bottom. 

The only thing remaining to be done on the stove it to attach stove knobs on the front panel underneath the burners.  These too were repurposed: they were once the knobs on my parents' stove in their trailer, before my dad built our house.  This part can't be done until the next time I visit them, however, since I need my dad's drill press to make the holes.  I'll post a final picture in a couple of weeks.

The final cost tally for the project (which I'm going to call the Grandparents' Toddler Stove)

• Frame: my parents' old TV stand - a posthumous contribution from my maternal grandmother.  Free.
• Faucet: my paternal grandparents' old faucet.  Free, but priceless.
• Stove knobs: my parents' (thus LW's grandparents) old stove.  Free.
• Paint: 1/2 can @ 12.99 = $6.50
• Towel bar: $8.00
• Hooks: $4.00 for two
• Fabric for curtains: $8 (with 40% off coupon, at Jo-Ann's)
• Curtain rod: $9
• Burners: $9
• Stainless steel bowl: $5

The whole thing came to just under $50, which is less than even a plastic toddler kitchen would cost.  This one should, hopefully, last until we can make one of those lovely wooden heirloom sets.  Of course, now LW needs a refrigerator...

One of the unexpected perks, from my perspective, is a new, out-of-sight storage place for some of LW's toys.  And it looks pretty cute, sitting in the corner of our living room.

But the best part will be watching LW play with it in the months and years to come.  Already she loves moving the faucet, turning the faucet on and off, and taking the bowl in and out.  She also cooked us some of the felt ravioli I made for her.

Now, to find some good patterns for many more kinds of felt food!

Happy crafting, everyone!

A quickie recipe I thought I would share

Last night I was tired, not in the mood to spend much time at the stove, and didn't have much food in the house.  This is a combination that, to be honest, most often results in a pizza being magically delivered to our door.  But in the interest of frugality, I whipped together the following instead.  Husband pronounced it good, and I thought I would share :)

Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Frozen ravioli (I used a spinach/ricotta stuffed variety, but just cheese stuffed is good as well, and I bet pumpkin ravioli would be awesome)

Handful of fresh sage leaves (we harvested straight from the garden = super fresh and delicious)

Several tbsp of butter (adjusted based on how many you're serving)

Parmesan cheese

Garlic salt

Prepare frozen (or fresh, but if you're short on time, the former is a lot easier) ravioli according to package directions.  I use about 1/2 a bag for two of us.

While ravioli is cooking, put a couple of tbsp of butter in a frying pan, and melt on med-high heat.  The sage soaks up some of the butter, and you want enough extra floating around to well coat the ravioli when you are done; I used about 3 tbsp or so for the 1/2 bag, so use more or less depending on how much ravioli you are cooking.

Once the butter is melted, throw in your washed, dried, fresh sage leaves.   Sprinkle with garlic salt to taste, and then stir while cooking over med-high heat.  As soon as the sage starts to curl and get crispy, remove sauce from heat and set aside - it will continue to cook and crisp a little once off the heat, so make sure you don't overcook it.

Drain ravioli, toss with sauce to coat, and finish by grating some fresh parmesan cheese over the top.  Do not remove the sage leaves - these are the tastiest part!

Serve with a side salad (we had yummy fresh lettuce from the garden, plus tomato and cucumber from the store), and a loaf of crusty bread; make a dipping sauce for the bread by grating fresh garlic into a bowl and pouring some olive oil over it.

Tada!  Dinner ready in 15 minutes or less.  Beat that, Rachael Ray :)

What about you all?  Any good, quick, go-to meals for those nights when you are just so tempted to do takeout?

Ramblings on mindful purchasing, and truths from my ten-year-old self...

Somehow today I got to thinking about advertisement, and how our whole culture has been so profoundly shaped by the whims of giant companies.  It used to be there was a demand for something, and people would make that something and sell it; now we've got it backwards, with companies dreaming up things that they think we need (or that would just garner them a profit, if they could only get us addicted to it), and then influencing our minds with fancy-shmancy advertising until we are convinced we need that thing.  Take soap, for example.  A little bit of research today on laundry detergents (thanks to Karen, I'm looking into soap nuts) made me really realize how brainwashed we've been by the good folks at the chemical laboratories who are churning out our cleaning products.  We really believe that something has to have a billion chemicals, a heavy smell, and a ton of suds in order to get something clean.  Maybe that really is true (I haven't tried the soap nuts yet), but certainly in the days of our forefathers, they didn't have access to cleaning enzymes, fabric brighteners, etc, and they seemed to do just fine.

Anyway, it just makes you think about why we buy the things we do.  About the power of "brand", and the psychology of purchasing.  One of the best decisions my husband and I made, going into marriage, was to forego cable t.v.  We do *have* a t.v., I'm not opposed to t.v. on principle, but we were cheap, and didn't want to fork over $60+ a month for a ton of channels we'd rarely have the time to watch.  Plus we figured it'd be better for us to choose to watch what we wanted to watch purposefully, rather than be sucked into mindless surfing every night, "because it's there" and because we needed to get our money's worth out.  So we do Netflix, and watch a few programs online through their respective networks, and that's it.  An unexpected benefit is not being exposed to all that advertising, the endless stream of commercials telling us about things that we Just. Must. Have.  As a result, I rarely notice new products until they reach the grocer's shelf, where it's a little easier to make an informed (rather than pre-formed, by the manufacturer) decision as to their utility for my life.

I've found, since I've been trying to operate within a much more frugal budget, and at the same time trying to be more "green" in the things that I do buy (though still a long way from the choices I would like to or probably could choose to make), that the things that I "must have" have significantly shrunk in number; I am slowly detoxing from the consumerist mindset.  There are still things that I'd really *like* to have, but I am learning (albeit very slowly) that things do not equal happiness, and therefore that I shouldn't seek things as a means to try and find it.

For instance, I got more joy out of laying on my back in the yard today while LW crawled all over me and "showed" me flowers and grass, than buying any of the things on my "want" list would have brought.

One of my goals for this summer is to really live those simple, free, pleasures to the hilt - to reawaken my inner ten year old, who knew that all the treasures necessary for a great summer could be found in my grandmother's attic, kitchen, and rag-bag.  I want to rewaken that person, so that she in turn can help me teach my own daughter the same timeless truths.

Wordless Wednesday: the "I'm currently obsessed with frugality" edition