Accessorizing a Play Kitchen

Several months before Christmas, I found a play kitchen for Katy on craigslist.  Chris and I hid the kitchen in a closet, and I started making felt food.  My success making felt food inspired me to make other kitchen accessories using cardboard, old cans, and old bottles.  By the time Christmas rolled around, Katy's kitchen was overflowing with goodies.

Here's all the felt food I made, including one super-sized banana!

Some of my favorites are the carrots, corn, green beans, strawberries, broccoli, and ice cream, which are pictured individually below.  I'll link tutorials I used if possible.  Sometimes I looked at several tutorials and then combined them to get the result I wanted.

The green beans were so easy to make.  I cut a 9 x 12 sheet of green felt into two inch strips.  Then I rolled the strips nice and tight until I had the desired thickness.  I cut off the excess felt from the strip and then sewed the loose edge down to the rolled green bean.  I made a can full of green beans in no time.

The orange slices were a melding of many tutorials.

I used a tutorial from WhileSheNaps to make the strawberries, but I modified it by using embroidery floss to sew in small stitches to resemble seeds before using my sewing machine to sew the strawberry shape.

I can say with confidence I have made the one and only ear of felt corn I will ever make in my entire life because it was so time consuming.  I followed a tutorial from WhileWearingHeels to make the corn rows.  I sewed the rows to a large rectangular sheet of felt, sewed the felt into a tube shape, stuffed it, and then sewed round pieces of felt on each end to cover the stuffing in the center (these four steps are more difficult than it sounds).   I made the corn husk by cutting six leaves from green felt and then sewing two leaves together around the edges with my sewing machine to make three nice, thick leaves that wouldn't stretch easily.  I then sewed straight lines with green thread on the leaves to give them a husk texture.  I sewed the three leaves together by hand, constantly refitting them on the corn as I went.  I tied off the bottom of the leaves with a gathering stitch.  Like I said, the corn was the most time consuming piece of food I made, and I have no intention of ever repeating it.

Unlike the corn, the carrots were super easy to make using a tutorial from SunshinyDays:

The broccoli turned out great and I sure wish I could find the tutorial I used to make it...

I used a free pattern and tutorial online to make the ice cream container as well.  Someday I'll find the tutorial and give credit where credit is due...

Katy's kitchen is also stocked with cardboard boxes, cans, and bottles:

I printed labels from the internet and attached them to old tin cans using a tutorial from PiecesByPolly.  This inspired me to attach labels to old spice containers filled with small, shakeable food, like salt and pinto beans.  I filled the spice containers, used hot glue and a round piece of card stock to seal the salt and beans inside the container, and then liberally applied hot glue to the cap before screwing it on one last time.  Katy LOVES opening the old spice containers and pretending to sprinkle food out of them.  

I found printable cardboard food from ElaineChen.  I strengthened the boxes by filling them with layers of cardboard glued together as suggested by PiecesByPolly.  Stacking cardboard for the boxes inspired me to stack round pieces of cardboard to make a felt cake, which I decorated with felt, ribbon, and a removable candle.  The cake fits perfectly inside of one of Katy's tiny baking pans.

I also sewed Katy an apron using a free tutorial from AnnKelle.com.  I modified the material sizes to fit a small toddler, but I loved the tutorial overall.  The finished apron looks very clean on both the front and the back, and I was able to use a piece of fabric that I was dying to incorporate into a project.  Sadly, Katy refuses to even try wearing the apron.  

Finally, I made Katy a feeding chair for her baby that attaches to the small counter in her kitchen.  I was inspired by a cardboard chair I made for her around the same time I made her cardboard car.  While the car didn't hold up very long, the chair was surprisingly durable.  I sewed a cover for the cardboard chair using an old baby blanket and loads of trial-and-error. The finished product is functional, although not my prettiest work.  Katy enjoys feeding her baby whiles she "cooks", however, and that's all that really matters. 

The moral of this blog post is beware of making felt food.  It will suck you into the time consuming world of accessorizing a play kitchen for a toddler who will no doubt throw, step on, and crush everything you make.  So far everything I made is holding up but it's only been one month...