A Tale of a Play Kitchen.

Many moons ago I came home with a handmade play kitchen from the thrift store.  I thought it was kind of cute, but it definitely needed some tender lovin' care.  Kerry took one look at it, and for the first time in perhaps his life said, "I am not working on that."  Gasp!  He had a better plan.  One that involved him building the girls a kitchen.  That was months before we bought the farm.  His plate has been a wee bit jammed to the max since then.  Unfortunately, the girls' kitchen had slipped through the project to-do list.  About a month ago, I stumbled upon another kid's kitchen on Craigslist.  I learned my lesson and showed it to Kerry before pursuing.  He thought he could work with it, so I pounced on it drove through a snow storm to pick it up late one afternoon.  Here it is in all of its glory.

It was totally mismatched, as the previous owner had painted the fridge "stainless steel."  The sink was marked and cracked and the Dora stickers, oh the Dora stickers!  I mean, I love me a Dora sticker, but they were everywhere (mainly on the inside).  Anyways, it definitely needed some work.  We have unintentionally spent the last month collecting things for the bitty makeover.  Namely, a new sink, new paint, a backdrop, and an old rotary phone (still geeking out over that find).  I had an idea in my head, and Kerry ran with it.  Again, this is what we started with on Saturday morning.

We surprised the girls after their afternoon naps with this.

 

We both agree that it has been our most favorite project to date.  I love that it was collected and well thought out.  Intentional, perhaps.  A trait I want my girls to know us by.  My favorite parts are the vintage wallpaper from Rosies Wallpaper and the floral bowl from Marshalls.  Oh, and there is a serious tie between the old $3 print and the 1980's rotary phone, both of which Ona and I found yesterday while thrifting.  I could go on and on, but I will leave you with waaay too many photos.

Ona's reaction was pretty priceless.

With less than five minutes in.

Special shout out to so many who have gifted the girls kitchen inspired accessories to go with that "kitchen we are making them someday."  Per usual, our someday has finally come.  

Oh, and I most certainly need advice on how to keep play food and utensils organized.  Moms...tips, tricks?