What’s a play kitchen without a pot holder?
Or a dish cloth (sorry about this picture, I took several, but couldn’t seem to get the camera to focus on the right thing)? This was another part of J’s present for his birthday.
J announced to me a few weeks ago that “Kitty wants a sling”. Kitty is J’s best friend (much to my chagrin as mentioned earlier). Kitty is a much loved (and often replaced) stuffed cat that most often stands in for J in play. It seems that he uses Kitty to help express some of his own wants and desires. (As an interesting side note, Kitty has always been a girl and is usually referred to as a “she”. Lately J’s been interested in the difference between boys and girls. He announced that Kitty is a boy, but still refers to Kitty as “she”).
Typically when Kitty or one of J’s other stuffed friends rides in the sling it’s usually in the front of his shirt which sort of looks like how L rode in the ring sling when she was much younger. He’s seemed content with that for awhile now, but the other week I had my Maya Wrap in the house (it usually rides along with us in the car) and it was in J’s reach. He tried carrying Kitty in my sling that day which seems to be what precipitated the request.
I had been considering making him one for awhile, but never got around to it. Since J’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks I decided to get one made. I used a pattern from Jan Andrea using velcro to attach the rings (Maya Wrap makes a kid sling which I found locally for around $12 and they use the velcro…I really liked the way it worked). I did my version (not necessarily original) of the centerfold for the shoulder folds and skipped the pouch Jan talks about since J’s stuffed friends are all big enough to ride in a sling.
The most complicated part was finding the craft rings – our JoAnn’s doesn’t carry them anymore and I had a heck of a time finding them in Hobby Lobby. I think it turned out really well and J’s going to love it!
This is J’s cuddly friend made from the “Friendship Doll” kit by Dancing Rain Dolls. I think it’s either the 12″ or 14″ doll, but I can’t quite remember which. My mom made the vast majority of the doll and the clothes. He’s got a backpack, but isn’t wearing it right now. Overall, while we were both happy with the finished product we weren’t as impressed with the pattern. The kit materials were great and of really good quality, but the patterns for both dolls left much to be desired. We also had some customer service issues with DRD which was unfortunate.
We call him “Buddy” and while J is only mildly interested in him, L LOVES him. She’s often carrying him around while also carrying Baby which as I’m sure you can imagine is no small feat for someone her size. J still prefers his stuffed cats and dog which I’m a little bit less than thrilled with, but it’s not like you can make him play with it!
I added in two other wool yarns to the mohair that comes in the kit. I think it looks really good, but I was amazed at how long it took to hook all the yarns in. Next on my “To Do” list is to make a sling for J to use with Buddy and his stuffed animals. I’ve got some fabric so now all I have to do is get some velcro and a couple of rings from JoAnn’s. I’ll post pictures of the finished project when I get it done!
Isn’t she cute? This is L’s friend, Baby. Original, eh? L’s only a year old so since I first referred to her as “Baby” it just stuck. This is from the Snuggles Doll pattern from Dancing Rain Dolls. My mom got the patter and made the doll (we used the pre-made inner heads because neither she nor I felt that adventurous) and I made the hair.
I found the “pattern” in the kit for the crocheted cap left much to be desired. I ended up taking a pattern I found online for a hat and adjusted it accordingly. This was actually the second head of hair I made (J’s was first) and I was pretty well tired of the whole thing – that and it was Christmas Eve so she’s pretty sparse when it comes to hair. I think it looks really cute, but I don’t think that it’s holding up as well as J’s is so every once in awhile I still consider adding more.
The only thing that matters, though, is that L adores her!
Remember the earlier post on play kitchens? After showing my parents the post from “Our Sweet Life” and they couldn’t *wait* to get started on one for J and L. I thought I’d post some pictures so that you could see what it ended up like. Here’s one showing it from the front. Notice the books on top? Those are J and L’s board books, but J says they’re up there because they’re his cookbooks!
This one shows the play kitchen with all of its doors open. The fridge on the left (with storage on the bottom for dishes, apparently), and then of course the main unit with the oven and storage for more dishes under the sink.
This one shows the countertop with two burners, controls for the stove and oven (these don’t turn), the sink (a recycled toothbrush holder which would have been installed in the wall of a bathroom), and faucet (the knobs really turn and the faucet is an old bathroom one minus the stopper lever-thingy).
This one shows the side of the fridge. It’s a metal panel that can be used (when J and L get older) for magnets. That piece is courtesy of my future brother-in-law. The eggs are stored on top the fridge in this case because L likes to eat the carton.
This one shows the towel holder on the side which has seen better days. I’m still not quite clear on why J had pulled it off (although I can’t say as I’m surprised). We got the loop back on, but it’s not the same.
Today I got some baskets form a local natural toy store that had a clearance/damaged item sale. The handles were broken, but they were thin enough that I could cut them off. Thankfully what remained was not sharp. They replace the plastic container that was used to store the food. I’m also working on making a dishcloth and hot pad for the play kitchen. I’ve got them crocheted (I’ll share later), but need to weave in the ends. I also picked up a 5-piece utensil set when we stopped at Ikea on our way back home from visiting the in-laws earlier this week. When we were there I totally spaced on getting some kind of canister to put them in. I’ve still got to work on that. My mom would like to put up some curtains, but we’d like to see if I have some leftover from the panels I’m making for the kitchen patio door (reusing the fabric from the kitchen windows at our last house). The only other items I’d like to possibly get includes a toaster, some pretend tea bags, and a wood cleaning tool with rack set that I’m having difficulties figuring out where I saw it last.
To outfit the kitchen we have the wooden and felt play food J got last year for Christmas (a fruit and veggie set, a fruit set, a fruit and veggie set you can “cut”, and a felt breakfast set). I think they’re mostly from Plan Toys. I’ve seen the stuff from Melissa & Doug and J has gotten some of that from my in-laws in the past. To be honest we haven’t kept it – I just don’t think the Melissa & Doug products are of decent quality. It all seems so cheap when you compare it to the other items we have. He got a “sandwich making set” from hubby’s sister that’s still sitting in its package while I decide what to do. I’m thinking I’ll probably try to sell it (we never get receipts) and pickup some of the things on our wish list instead. If not, I’ll likely donate it to Goodwill or something like that – I fully admit that the items on the list of things I’d like to get still are most definitely not “needs” by any stretch of the imagination (orthat our children don’t necessarily “need” any more toys for that matter) and I’m sure there are children in our community who’d love to play with it.
The dishes are my compromise plastic item. They’re from a company called Green Toys, are phthalates/BPA/lead free, and are made from recycled milk jugs. J got the Cookware & Dining Set for Christmas. We got the tea set at the sale today. Ours was missing the creamer container, but I didn’t think that’d be a big issue. I figured J would get a kick out of it because he had used the cups from the other set to drink his “orange tea”. For Christmas J also got some bread you can “slice” and a carton of four eggs.
Of course, you might be wondering…why call it “Josly”? It’s a combination of things my children can relate to and totally thought up by my Dad which makes it even more special! As for the cost…I wasn’t privy to all of the details, but from my limited understanding I’d say it was around the $50-60 range. I’ve seen a number of store bought kitchen options since my parents made this one (including an MDF pink thing my mother-in-law bought for the niece at one of those big box stores) and I still love this one the best!
I had wanted to take part in SouleMama’s cap project, but got nervous about the pattern since sewing on stretchy fabrics is not exactly my strong suit (not quite sure how to do it on my machine). I’d been following the project, though, and noticed today that she posted a final tally. Can you believe that 5523 hats were made?
You should definitely check out her post about it – the pictures and her words were very touching. What a wonderful story of craftivism!
I have had every intention to sit down and post some pictures and do a final after Christmas wrap up, but it seems lately like there isn’t enough time to do it! My sister and her fiance are in town (from Colorado) so it seems like we’re doing six months of catching up. Poor hubby feels like he hasn’t had any time off this last weekend because we were so busily bustling about. It’s a good kind of busy, but that doesn’t change the fact that it can be tiring. Both J and L are definitely showing the effects in spite of getting decent amounts of rest. I keep reminding myself that it’s all worth it and that there will be plenty of time to rest after my sister goes back to Colorado.
In the meantime I sit here at the computer dressed in my cozy sweater (a cotton/acrylic blend) which although not homemade is still very warm and has definitely helped me not to feel quite so cold. Especially since I saw my gas and electric bill. We keep the house at 64 degrees F in the day and 62 degrees F at night, but my bill was $172 for both the gas and electric (for 413 kwh). It just seems like I should be able to keep my house warmer for that cost! I know it’s a combination of our old furnace and our 1950′s era house (although we do have newer windows). Unfortunately we can’t afford a new furance so we’ll just have to keep plodding along with this one.
Right now I’m working on searching for some amigurumi patterns. The kiddos got this really great play kitchen made from recycled kitchen cabinets for Christmas and I thought some wool play food might be a nice addition to the wood play food and recycled milk jug play dishes that we already have. I found some neat patterns over at BitterSweet that you should definitely check out.
I need to get something for L for her birthday coming up on the 4th. I know she’ll only be one year old so she has no concept of birthdays or presents. I also know she’ll receive gifts from the family members coming to her birthday party, but I would feel bad if there wasn’t something there for her from hubby and I. Hence the online searching for amigurumi patterns. I have a little bit of wool/soy blend yarn that I think will work well.
Originally, I had wanted to head to a semi-local natural toy store, but the day we had planned on going because we were somewhat in the area didn’t end up working out. I’m still dreaming of heading up there, but am not quite sure I’ll make it before L’s birthday. It’s about an hour away so to drive up there just for the toy store seems like a stretch. We have to do some shopping for my sister’s wedding dress coming up on Friday and will be within a stone’s throw away. So…maybe then?
Want to know/do more? www.raisehopeforcongo.org
Our local food pantry collects shoeboxes for the homeless filled with personal care items. When I saw it listed on their website I was really excited as we’ve been looking for a similar, non-sectarian project to the one that Samaritan’s Purse does.
We’re going to do one a pay period at least until Christmas. I’d like to continue doing it all year round, but first I have to find out if they do it all year or if this is only a seasonal project. This one is meant for a child. I thought we’d rotate between an adult male, adult female, and two children’s boxes since that matches our family. The box is filled with all sorts of things, though not necessarily products that we’d use with our family. Next time we place our Frontier buying club order I plan on picking up some of those items as well.
