Yep, I will admit, I am a Martha Stewart wannabe. Or rather, maybe I am addicted to pinterest with all of the DIY ideas out there! Seriously, people. There is so much craftiness out there.

I know this is a photography blog. I have vacillated {I can hear Jeff now making fun of me for using the word vacillate. It is one of my favorite words to use and now I just say it a lot just to annoy him} between writing my own personal blog and keeping this one purely professional, but honestly, that isn’t me. I have said before that I can’t separate the two. I strive to live my life transparently and real, and I want this blog to be a reflection of that and my heart for Christ, my family, photography, and my passion for any sort of creativity. These are the things I love the most in my life. They are the things that move my soul. And, quite honestly, in regards to my own creativity, there are times when I tire from just taking pictures. I KNOW in order to stay fresh and continue loving what I do, I have to dabble in other creative things. Those are the times I have to get my sewing machine out. There is something about feeling like I accomplished something when I create. Maybe, that is because now, in this season of my life, sometimes not being able to fully finish anything is a daily reality. Laundry half put away. Dishes still need to be done. House almost picked up. When I am working on a project, I feel restful. Accomplished.

Plus, gift giving is my FAVORITE love language. I am so moved when other people surprise me with a little gift. And, I LOVE giving gifts to others. Earlier this year, I made a quiet goal to try and make homemade gifts for everyone this year. Not to buy from a store. But, rather to use my hands to create something for them. I haven’t been perfect at it… in fact, I am often late at the gift giving part. I just gifted my sister in law and my mom with some homemade flower pins last week and their birthdays were in AUGUST! Sorry guys!

That is not to say that I have tons of time to do these types of things. Working on Grace’s kitchen set kept Jeff and I both up till midnight many nights last week. But, it was worth it and deep down I loved it. I knew we were pouring out our love into this gift for her with our own hands.

SO… I wanted to show you the project Jeff and I made for Grace for her 2nd birthday!

Inspired from other DIY kitchen sets like this and this.

The Before and After…  We started with an old nightstand I scored from Goodwill for $4.99.  AND, on the day I was there, they were having a 40% off sale!

I sanded it down and Jeff chopped off the side things.  I already had paint in the garage, so he painted it and added a polyurethane coat to the top.  We bought an mdf board from Lowes for the back and screwed it to the back.  Jeff then took out the drawer and bought a board to be used for the oven door.

The sides…  On one side, we painted several coats of chalkboard paint and Jeff bordered it with some trim.  For the other side, I found a basket at the dollar store to be used as the fruits and vegetable basket.

I had wanted to use a real faucet, but we couldn’t find one cheap enough, so I got a wooden letter J from Joanne’s and we spray painted it silver.  Jeff used L brackets to hold it in.  The red faucets I found at a local antique store and to lift them up a bit and be able to turn them, we used wooden spools and washers spray painted silver.  The bowl for the sink, I already had laying around the house, so all Jeff had to do was cut a hole in the top to place it in.

The oven burners are wood circles found at Joanne’s, spray painted silver.  The black grates on top are popsicle sticks painted black.  And, the knobs for the burners were also found at Joanne’s.  All purchased with my 40% off coupons.

We just mounted a pre-made shelf to the back of the board.  And, I stuck some old vintage salt and pepper shakers I had lying around on top.  The rolling pin was part of the baking set from Ikea that my parents got her.

I made the flowers using this tutorial.  Really just fun yarn balls!  I gathered up a few sticks and hot glued to the pom pom balls.  Spray painted an old can and tied a scrap fabric ribbon around to look like a vase.

Found the red hook {again} at Joannes and sewed up a little dishtowel and oven mitt for her. Oh, and sewed up the skirt on the bottom, which she can store things in. This part bugs me, but Jeff is telling me to get over it. The skirt part is a bit un-even on the dowel rod. And, I can’t take it off to fix it, since he attached the dowel rod by nails, under the molding frame of the chalkboard.

And, this apron.  I LOVE!  I wish I had made one in my size.  I will admit, I didn’t sew up the whole thing.  My mom and I found a plain white child sized apron at Joanne’s when we were there and I thought it would be much easier to just make the ruffles and finish off the binding.  Also, I added a little fabric flower.  I have made a couple of aprons before and they didn’t turn out so hot, so I thought it would be easier this time around to just use a pre-made base.

And, here she is. Showing off in her new little kitchen!

Thought I would also show how easy it is to re-fashion an old plain shirt into something cute. These two shirts were in my stash and probably bought at Target a long time ago. I often pick them up when they are clearanced out. I have a lot of scrap fabric lying around, so I just added some lace and fabric flowers and wa-lah! Is that how you say it?=))) The other one, I’m not impressed by. It’s supposed to be an owl. Can you tell?=)

If I’m forgetting anything, let me know or if you have any questions, leave me a comment and I can try and answer! I SO appreciate all of the tutorials out there and wanted to share ours!

I must hit post, since I hear a little one up from her nap!

Happy day to you!

xoxo
Kelly