The Kiddie Kitchen

This past Christmas, I sorta gave my husband an ultimatum, Santa needs to build something cool, or I'm buying her this because my sweet baby girl has asked for nothing since we moved to this house (and got rid of the broken, 10 yr old, plastic one) except for her very own kitchen.

Well, Santa, could not have us spending money we don't really have and she was really, really good this year. He sure is amazing, that Santa, with all the other work he's gotta do, you know, besides the Santa-ing, he really must be magic to have pulled this off.

And, I know for a fact, that he worked on this late at night, in a cold garage. It's perfect. And, she absolutely loves it.

So, the details.

• The base was rescued from the discounted, damaged or returned cabinet pile at a local cabinet supplier. (Santa told me all about it, he knows how we like re-purposing things headed for the heap.)
• One door was turned and a handle added for the stove. A ledge of wood scraps installed around the inside supports a cookie cooling rack for the oven rack. 

• A piece of oak routered and stained to match was placed on top, we originally thought we wanted it painted, to look like a counter top, but all that wood is just too pretty.
• Real stove knobs that actually turn, magic I tell you, and foamy, sticky tape finish off the stove top.

• Custom, Santa built, shelving stained to match was attached to the back of the cabinet, extending above, to hold all the pretty little pots, pans and dishes. 
• The sink is a thrifted, stainless steel bowl that, my girl discovered Christmas morning, actually holds water so, I covered the entire thing with some of our leftover oil and beeswax mixture to save it from water stains. She doesn't seem to mind the missing faucet so, for now, it'll stay like this.

• The legs are store bought and add just the right amount of height for our growing 4 year old and her big brother and sisters.

The Secret Agent Spy Kit

This handmade, or rather hand assembled gift was my favorite. For my niece, the one who loves handmade, and her little brother we put together a spy kit.

The kids and I had so much fun finding trench coats, hats and sunglasses at thrift stores, and Pop pop's closet. Then, while taking the youngest on an emergency potty stop at the back of one of the stores, we happened upon the most perfect old suitcase. It even had a secret compartment!

It wasn't priced and the nice lady working in the store gave it to us for under $3.00. A steal, and perfect for all the gear. We hid our own secret missions in that compartment along with some purchased spy gear from Target.

I made a couple of felt mustaches and we printed some badges from the FBI's website for kids, added the directions and parts needed to make their very own periscope and, finished it off with a book full of fun ideas for kids wanting to be experts in the spy business.

I've heard that the spy games are a new favorite at my sister's house and rumor has it, the secret agents have even started recruiting the youngest members of the family.

Treasures From Grandma's House

I recently inherited some wonderful little treasures that belonged to my grandma. She passed away a long time ago, when I was in college. I don't think I would have appreciated them if I'd received them back then.

W.I.P.

So interesting

So excited to start this one. Our first and favorite read aloud chapter book was "The Wizard of Oz"

Funny, interesting, can't wait to dive in and see how things change (or how they don't)

Her luggage, with her initials still on it :)

Painting Therapy

When big brother has a favorite cousin visiting, he tends to leave out his usual favorite playmate. The one who puts up with his tackling and rough housing.

I've tried to point it out to him, I've tried getting him to include her in their games, but when there is another boy around, he really doesn't want anything to do with his baby sister. I guess I get that, but I can't help feeling bad for the poor little girl who gets left out.

Luckily, all it takes to put a smile back on her face is some time with mommy painting.

The little green dishes were found at a garage sale. I wanted to buy the tall container (there used to be two) and the lady made me take these 6 little dishes too because they were part of the set. I didn't know at the time that they were little ash trays, (shh, the kids still don't) but they are just perfect for painting. And they even have a cute holder to stack them in for storage.