My son, Maslow, LOVES to help in the kitchen. He loves to get out the pots and pans. He loves to sort through kitchen utensils and gadgets and pull everything out of the cabinets so when I started brainstorming ideas for Christmas I knew he would light up at the sight of his very own kitchen.
My quest for the perfect kitchen began in early December and just a few days later I was at IKEA an hour before closing hunting down the Duktig play kitchen. This project started like most of my projects--once I got the idea in my head it was GO TIME. Once I got started, I couldn't stop. I worked right up until Christmas Eve when I got to set the stage for Christmas morning. That feeling is pure magic. Of all my roles--wife, mom, architect, interior designer, creator--being SANTA is at the top of my list!
Aside from having the "remodeled" IKEA kitchen my husband made a refrigerator and I got to make all the accessories. I knew I wanted Maslow to have some food to play with, but I wasn't a huge fan of the plastic stuff. Also, I didn't just want him to have whole loaves of bread or whole carrots and pears--I wanted him to have ingredients! I wanted him to be able to create and mix and experiment. I started pinteresting and what I found was the most beautiful felt play food. Lightbulb. I can make that! There began my obsession with making ALLLLL the play food I could imagine and there began hours upon hours of sitting at the sewing machine until the wee hours of the morning.
Some of my favorite store-bought accessories are:
- Melissa and Doug Coffee Set from his Aunt Kelly, Uncle Marcus, and Cousin Trey
- Pillowfort kids dinnerware
- Melissa and Doug Pots and Pans
- Umbra Buddy Hooks
- Melissa and Doug Condiment Set
A few of my favorite aspects of the project were:
- The faux marble treatment I did on the countertop. I found a great tutorial here.
- The chalkboard backsplash
- Personalized food labels printed on label paper on our home printer
- The reversible personalized apron I stitched up with some manly fabrics and leather nametag
I absolutely loved this project. In fact, I was a little sad when Christmas rolled around and I was "done", but seeing the look on Maslow's face when he saw his kitchen on Christmas morning was the best feeling. He loves it.
