I'm Dreaming of a . . . DIY Play Kitchen

Edited 01-16-2012 to add: I've done it! I finally finished my play kitchen. Please come check out my DIY Play Kitchen Reveal here!

My son is 19 months old and is just beginning to discover imaginative play. A few months ago, he decided that his stuffed dog needs to be walked outside on a regular basis but that was really the extent of pretend play until last month. Over Thanksgiving while my sister and I were cooking in the kitchen and wearing our grandmother's vintage aprons, my son came in the kitchen and decided he needed to wear an apron, too. We happened to have the apron my grandmother made my brother when he was a little kid so we threw that on him and he was happy as a clam. A few days later, he was carrying around baking pans and pretending to mix things up inside. That's when it dawned on me: he would totally dig a play kitchen.

So I started checking out play kitchens (to purchase) online. Most of them where huge chunks of plastic OR super expensive. Not our style and not in our budget. So I did what any crafter would do: I turned to Pinterest...and then I cruised Craigslist for a week and bought this:

(This is the photo from the Craigslist posting)

Several bloggers have been making play kitchens at home from cast off furniture. A lot of them are moms to boys who needed non-pink play kitchens or green moms on a budget who didn't want to sink money into a huge piece of plastic. Since I definitely fall into both of these categories, I can learn from these ladies!

Reasons why I'm loving the idea of a DIY Play kitchen instead of one from a box:

• I'm saving money
• I have complete control over the look and color theme of the finished piece (which is important since the downstairs of our home, where it's going to go, is an open floor plan)
• I can choose green materials to reduce toxins and VOCs
• Way more love goes into making something than buying it

If you're dreaming of making of play kitchens, too, check out these awesome inspiration pieces. These are all links to real blogs that show awesome in-progress pictures as well.

Chelsea from Finding Joy made a great play kitchen for her son, Jarvis.

 Amy from Giggleberry Creations blogs about the awesome play kitchen her parents made for her daughter.

Britt from Britt & Her Boys blogs about the play kitchen she made for her son including how she did a lot of the details like the "granite" countertops.

Jenna from SAS Interiors made this great play kitchen from an old nightstand. Perfect if your kitchen needs to fit in a smaller space.

Read through the great links above (they all show useful in-progress photos) or check out my "Play Kitchen Palooza" pinboard where I'll continue adding great play kitchen and play food ideas. And of course don't forget to check back here over the next couple weeks (or better yet, subscribe by e-mail!) to see the big reveal of MY play kitchen and, of course, learn how I made all the details that's going to make mine unique.

Thanks, also to the great bloggers featured above who shared their work with the world. Please grab a featured button if you'd like:

<a href="http://creativecarissa.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiklZr_Hri2zrZPhH-zN8NNyq6pEdZTgy-Rcud5hiRQiD_geRrQiXRwXiydjUqfA42RYEjke7JoQA2_vGlVBh3g7GadFxK3q2nnFZ0yC5AEv86c3o5l36hOBeqz164TxXzugVmQDxje50I/s150/featured%252520button%252520150%252520px%252520copy.jpg" alt="Carissa's Creativity Space" width="125" height="125" /></a>

Snowy Wonderland Christmas Ornament

I bought some great Christmas ornaments at Michaels a few weeks ago. I was actually looking for plastic ornaments (I do have a toddler) and thought that's what I bought....until I sat down to craft with them! I'm probably going to bring most of them back but I did really like the four pack of round, kind of flat ornaments I had and decided I'd make something...we'll just have to hang them up higher on the tree!

Here is how it came out:

Snowy Wonderland Christmas Ornament

I really like how painting the front and back of the ornament gives it some dimension. It's almost like you're looking across a snowy field to some trees in the distance.

Supplies

• Glass or plastic Christmas ornament with removeable top
• Martha Stewart self-adhesive holiday stencil pack
• Paint brushes
• Paint in the following colors:
• Green satin finish
• Green glitter
• Metallic silver
• Red
• Clear with white or clear glitter (like 'sugar cube' from the martha stewart line)
• Epsom salt
• Funnel
• Glass or craft adhesive

What I Did

Obviously not all the supplies are pictured, but this is what the stencil pack and the kind of ornaments I used look like (in case you need them for reference when you go shopping to make your own awesome ornament!). All these supplies are available at Michael's.

Paint the Tree Line

I cleaned the ornament so there was no grime that would keep the stencil or paint from sticking. I took the tree line stencil of the sheet and stuck it on the back of the ornament. The baseline of the trees was about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. The self adhesive qualities of these stencils are great. They stuck to the curved surface really nicely and kept the paint from seeping under.

I painted the trees with a green satin paint and then painted over it with the green glitter paint while it was still wet. Then I peeled up the stencil and moved it over to do a second set of trees.

After I peeled off the stencil, I used my paint brush to fill in the gaps between the groups of trees, so it was one continuous foresty line

Paint the Front

Normal people would have waited for the back to dry first but I'm impatient. So I just carefully held the ornament at the top and bottom so I would not smudge the paint on the back (that tissue you see is actually on the floor...it's not touching the ornament).

I took the large tree and the "Merry Christmas" stencils from the same pack and placed them on the front. The tree line you see in the picture above are trees that are actually painted on the other side of the ornament...I didn't place the big tree on top of them.

I used the same satin green and glitter paint from the previous step. Painting on glass requires a little extra paint than on fabric so I made sure to use my visible brush strokes to my advantage by kind of feathering them out in layers to make it it look like layers of branches on the tree.

I peeled away the tree stencil and painted the Merry Christmas with metallic silver. Once I removed the stencil, I filled in some of the gaps with a fine paint brush.

Once that stencil had been peeled off, I painted a really thin coat of glitter paint to simulate snow (it's the "Sugar Cube" paint from Martha's glitter paint line) on the shoulders and across the back of the ornament. And by thin, I mean really thin. I dipped into the paint, wiped it off on a paper towel and blotted any glitter that remained onto the ornament. So kind of like dry brushing. But with glitter paint.

Let it Snow!

I really carefully removed the top and used a funnel to fill the ornament with epsom salt up to the level of the tree line along the back.

Finishing Touches

Once the salt was in, I decided the front looked a little bit too plain, so I added the date free hand using a thin detail brush and red pearl paint.

And while it probably would have been fine, I was a little nervous about how much more the ornament weighed now that it was 1/3 full of salt so I used glass and metal glue to glue the cap down once I reinserted the top/pin.

I'm really happy with how it turned out 

I'm sharing my project with these great parties. Many of them are a collection of great holiday ideas!  Come join the fun. 

* Christmas Cheer Party at Hi Sugarplum* Holiday Happenings at What Che Said * DIY Holiday Crafts and Ornaments at Centsational Girl * Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff * Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog * Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou * Mad Skills Party at Mad in Crafts * Dare to Do It Yourself at Newly Woodwards * Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z * Holiday Link Party at Momnivore's Dilemma * Handmade Christmas at Cup of Delight * Weekend Show Off Party at Ladybird Lane *

  

full disclosure: I had been sent the Martha Stewart paint and stencils as part of a campaign they did last month, for which I wrote this post on how to make stenciled holiday place settings. I have not been compensated for this post, though I am using leftover free product from the previous campaign. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

2011 Advent Tree

So I'm a little behind with my Christmas Advent Calendar. I'd had this idea (or something similar) a while ago but since it required purchasing 24 books (we only owned 1 Christmas book before starting) it took a little while to find an affordable way to do this.  FINALLY this week Dollar Tree got Christmas books. And even better...some of them came in a two-pack! Woo hoo! Fifty cent books baby!  *Ahem* Sorry. Let me stifle my inner book nerd and regain my composure.

Anyway, Dollar Tree finally getting Christmas books was a huge relief since even the books at my local Goodwill were more than I wanted to pay.

So what did I do with them?

I have 24 different books or small presents wrapped and numbered under a small tree in the corner. I could not find 24 books I liked, so I do have some small presents like bubbles, coloring books and markers for 6 of the items. Next year I'm hoping to have all books (Christmas clearance shopping here I come!).

So we get to open one present a day and after Christmas, we can pack them all books up to reuse next year.

What about the gift wrap?

The gifts themselves are representative of the gift that God gave us when he sent us His son to live amongst us and save us from ourselves

I used plain brown paper wrapping to represent the humble way in which the Christ child came into the world. Despite being a person of great value, He was born in a plain, humble way: In a manger and without fanfare or glitz

I adorned the humble packages with scarlet yarn. Scarlet yarn is talked about a lot in the Bible for the building of the tabernacle. When God gave instructions for how to build the Tabernacle, he had the artisans use scarlet and other colors typically reserved for royalty. So how fitting, then, to tie in the scarlet as we celebrate the time when God came to Earth to dwell (literally: "Tabernacle") amongst his people?

I wrapped the yarn in a different way for each package:

Here's my budget breakdown:

• Christmas Tree- On Hand (from our first Christmas)
• Tree Skirt - On Hand (just draped a red tablecloth around the base)
• 24 books / presents - $12 (from the Dollar Tree)
  (you could also do this for free or supplement the books you already own by getting some from the library)
• Brown Wrapping Paper - $1 (from Dollar Tree in shipping supplies section)
• Scarlet Yarn - On Hand (although I did see some at the Dollar Tree while I was there

Total Advent Tree Cost: $13

(not too bad considering I can keep re-using the books and tree)

Credit where credit is due:
I love giving shout outs to the people who inspired me even if my stuff ended up totally different from theirs. So...thanks to KatherineMaries.com for sharing the great idea to use books to countdown to advent and Jessica from Mad in Crafts who is also doing beautiful scarlet Christmas decorations, though from a different chunk of scripture.

I'm sharing with these great parties. Come join the fun!

* Holiday Happenings at What Che Said * Holiday Link Party at Momnivore's Dilemma * Christmas Cheer on Hi Sugarplum *  Handmade Christmas at Cup of Delight *

A Green Family's Gift Guide

Have you seen the piece that Fox did this week on the 7 foods you should never eat? These are things green moms have been talking about for a while, so I'm glad to see it getting some mainstream attention! Seeing lists like this can be overwhelming, though. I mean, how do you live without canned tomatoes?! (ps I have an answer).  If you have a green family on your list who is interested in cleaning up their family's food act, these might be some great presents to consider giving (or putting on your own list for Santa!).

What: A Pressure Canner (and canning supplies)

Why? Commercially canned foods almost universally contain the hormone-disrupting chemical, BPA. High acid foods like tomatoes, cause even more BPA to leach into food than with lower acid ones. BUT you can can your own tomatoes, beans and more at home. In glass jars. This severely reduces the amount of  BPA that your family is exposed to - especailly if you are big on canned food items like diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Where to get it: This pressure canner from Presto  is affordable and basic. For a little bit more you can get a canning starter set that includes everything you need except for jars. You'll want to make sure you get a pressure canner that comes with a pressure gauge. You can pick up jars in varying sizes at your local grocery store.


What: A Glass Popcorn Popper

Why? Chemicals that line bags of microwave popcorn like PFOA are linked to human infertility and certain types of cancer. Manufacturers are promising to phase these chemicals out by 2015. But let's be honest. That's a long ways away. In the meantime, do microwave popcorn the non-toxic way with this rad popcorn popper  (which on my personal Christmas list this year). There are a variety of air poppers on the market, too. But this one won't blow a fuse and it can also go in the dishwasher.

Where to get it: This is pretty much the only glass popcorn popper I've seen on the market. Pair it with a sampler of different kinds of popping corn. You can pick up fun popcorns at Whole Foods or Target, or get a ready-made sampler from Etsy Seller DellCoveSpices.


What: A CSA Membership

Why? Many kinds of non-Organic produce like apples and potatoes still retain traces of the pesticides used to grow them on or even in the fruit or veggie itself. Plus when the fruits and veggies at your corner store had to fly halfway across the globe to get there, the carbon footprint is high and their nutritional value is reduced. Enter the CSA: CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture." You pre-pay a local farmer for a share of the harvest and every week you get a box full of locally grown (many times organic) produce and sometimes eggs or milk, too!

Where to get it? Check out Local Harvest for more information about CSAs and for help locating a CSA program in your neck of the woods.


What: Glass Food Storage Containers

Why? Even if you use BPA-free plastic containers for your leftovers, other hormone disrupting chemicals called phthalates can still be lurking. In fact, some BPA-free plastics have even higher levels of phthalates than those that kept BPA in the mix (read: bad news). In a world of green-washing and marketing hype, go with glass. Know for sure that you're keeping crazy chemicals out of your leftovers and use pretty containers that can also go in the freezer, microwave, oven and dishwasher.

Where to get it? The Pyrex set above is available online and at most department and home stores like Target or Bed, Bath and Beyond. Other brands make similar products but Pyrex is the one we use and love in our home.


What: Non-Toxic Nail Polish

Why? Most nail polishes contain a long list of highly toxic ingredients like formaldehyde, phthalates, actone and more (read more about it here). These chemicals don't just go on your nails - they get into your lungs even long after the polish is dry as the chemicals continue to off-gas for days. Keep toxic chemicals off your hands and out of your lungs by using non-toxic polishes like the ones from Piggy Paint or Gaiam.

Where to get it? Amazon sells lots of colors and gift sets from the Piggy Paint line. Also check naturals stores like Whole Foods or your local cloth diaper store (the Cotton Babies store in Vancouver carries these!). Hint: "Like" Piggy Paint on Facebook as they frequently post promo codes for discounts on certain colors or sets.

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I hope I've given you some great ideas as you shop for loved ones or put together your own wish lists. If you're a green mom or dad, leave a comment and share what you're jonesing for this year!

This is a non-sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine. No free products or compensation were given by the companies mentioned above for including their products or naming them in this guide. Some of the links above are my affiliate links. See my affiliate links note in the sidebar.

Easy Upcycled Sugar Jar

This is a pretty simple project...but sometimes those are the best kind. It's not elaborate or fancy but fills a need and looks cute doing it. PLUS I had everything I needed on-hand so it was a zero-cost craft. Love that!

A couple weeks ago my church ran out of sugar on Sunday morning for the table with coffee. Yikes! One cool thing about my church is that it's smaller and so every pitches in to make things happen. A call was put out on facebook to see if anyone could grab more sugar canisters (kind of like these:)

...which is what we'd been using. They are admittedly un-cute. Plus the store name dropped in the post where more of these was available to purchase wasn't anywhere near my house. But come Saturday night nobody else had stepped up to volunteer to bring sugar. I had plenty of sugar at home....just not in a canister or other cute container that can sit out on the table.

What I did have, however, is a collection of glass jars that I like to use for crafts or storing leftovers. I went to my glass jar stash and found this baby which use to house organic apple sauce from Trader Joe's:

Perfect! Now it just needed a label. I pulled up Microsoft word on my computer and found a font I liked called "constantia".

Leaving it up on the screen of my computer, I grabbed a sharpie and free handed the letters onto the glass. I could have printed it off, taped it inside the jar and traced it....but I didn't want to chance waking up my sleeping kiddo (the printer is about 10 feet from the door to his room). I think it turned out alright:

Easy peasy! The lid screws on tight for storage plus this will be easier to refill (and cost way less to refill) than the disposable canisters we were using before. Green, frugal, free....it just doesn't get much better!

I'm sharing with these great parties. Come join the fun!

* Creative Juice Thursday at Momnivore's Dilemma * Hookin Up with HoH at House of Hepworths * Crafty Soiree at Yesterday on Tuesday * DIY Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty 101 * Lil' Luna Link Party at Lil' Luna * Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans * Show and Tell with Blue Cricket Design * Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage * Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring  * Weekend Show Off Party at Ladybird Lane * Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest *

Peppermint Pretzel Rods - Nailed It!

My good friend Niina who blogs at the Niche comes over to my house once a month or so with her husband and daughter. We usually make dinner together while the kiddos play together. Once dinner is done, we bust out our favorite card game of all time: Dominion.

This week, when they got to my house Niina told me she brought pretzel rods, chocolate chips and Andes mint baking chips because for dessert she wanted to try and recreate some dipped pretzels she had seen on Pinterest.

Photo and tutorial of non-fail pretzel rods from Rhodey Girl Tests

How hard can this be, right? Obviously we don't need to look at the recipe.

So we dumped the bag of chocolate chips in a glass measuring cup and put it in a pan of boiling water to do something kind of double boiler style without, you know, a real double boiler.

And it started to work but the chocolate needed to be thinner.  Thinking the thickness of the glass was what was preventing it from getting meltier (that's totally a word), we popped it in the microwave.

And a weird thing started happening....the chocolate actually started clumping together and getting lumpy and hard.

So we put it back in the "double boiler" but it was no use. The chocolate itself kind of tasted like fudge but wasn't going to be suitable for dipping.

So we moved on to plan B: I had some pink colored "white chocolate" candy wafers in the back of my pantry. The instructions on the bag specifically said you could microwave them.  So we put them in a bowl and microwaved in 30 second intervals until they were melty. But after dipping a couple of pretzels, we realized it really wasn't very runny so we tried microwaving some more to make it melt again....and the same thing happened! It started getting clumpy and hard. We managed to salvage some of the clumpy dip...got it on the pretzels and sprinkled it with chopped andes baking mints.

 And they tasted awesome. But they were definitely not a pretty sight. Puke on a stick, anyone?

I hope I've inspired you to laugh at your own cooking and craft blunders this week. For more awesome Craft Fail moments, check out my friend Heather's website --> CraftFail.com.


This craft fail was too bad to not share with:

* Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans * Friday Free for All at Young and Crafty *

Shutterfly Houseparty and Giveaway!

This Giveaway is Now Closed.

Congrats to Winners Kim D, Jennifer S and Ciji C!

A couple weeks ago I was delighted to be chosen as a Shutterfly Holiday Card House Party host!

What does that mean?

It means Shutterfly sent me a box of fun goodies including samples of their holiday cards as well as goodies like free promo codes for cards and calendars. All I had to do was have people over to my house to check everything out!

A couple weeks ago, I had friends over for coffee and apple pie and we took at look at all the fun goodies from Shutterfly. I love love love Shutterfly's cards (we've ordered birth announcements and holiday cards from them in the past). Whenever I've ordered cards or photobooks or prints from them before, I've been delighted with their quality. And of course the only thing better than things from Shutterfly is FREE things from Shutterfly!!

Shutterfly sent me enough goodies for all my guests to go home happy AND I have a few left over. You know what that means....

Giveaway Time!

I am giving away Shutterfly party packs to THREE different blog readers.

What could you win?

Each party pack includes:

• A promo code good for 15 personalized holiday cards from Shutterfly.com
• A promo code for a personalized 12 month wall calendar from Shutterfly.com
• A $10 shopping card from Plum District

 (Shutterfly promo codes must be redeemed by December 15, 2011. Plum District card must be redeemed by January 31, 2012.)

How to Enter:

Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite kind of holiday card is.
(cards with photos, cards that come with a newsletter, serious cards, funny cards, multi-holiday cards, Christmas cards, Hanukkah cards, New Year cards, cards with snowmen,  etc. There is no right or wrong answer!)

Get Bonus Entries

You can also earn bonus entries for doing any or all of the following. After you do each one, leave a separate comment letting me know which thing you did to earn your bonus entry. 
Don't forget your e-mail so I have a way to contact you if you're a lucky winner!

• FOLLOW Carissa's Creativity Space with Google Friend Connect (that's the box that has the "join this site" button on the right side of any blog page underneath "My Fabulous Followers") or tell me if you already do
• LIKE Carissa's Creativity Space on Facebook (or tell me if you already do)
• SUBSCRIBE to Carissa's Creativity Space via e-mail or with Feedburner (or let me know if you already do)
• FOLLOW ME @Carissa_Marie on Twitter

Other Contest Details and "Small Print"
This is a sweepstakes style giveaway. No purchase is necessary. Odds of winning are based on number of entries. Sweepstakes entry period is 7:15am (PST) on November 28th, 2011 through 11:59pm (PST) December 2nd, 2011. Each person may enter a maximum of five times and win only once. Three winners will be chosen at random using random.org. Winners will be notified via e-mail provided in comments on December 3rd, 2011. Winners will have until Monday, December 5th at 5:00am (PST) to respond to e-mail with a valid US mailing address to which the party pack will be sent. If winner does not respond in time, an alternate winner will be chosen, also by using random.org. Dollar value of goods redeemable by each prize pack is approximately $70. Taxes, shipping and handling fees will apply and will be the responsibility of the redeemer. Entrants must be above 18 years of age and have a United States of America mailing address. Shutterfly promo codes must be redeemed by December 15, 2011. Plum District card must be redeemed by January 31, 2012. While the promo codes are party packs being given away were provided by Shutterfly in conjunction with HouseParty.com, I have received no compensation for this blog post. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.