Robot Diaper Cake

another cute baby, and a robot-themed diaper cake

(And fully lined).

After!

During...

Kitchen Re-Do

When I was seven, my dad (a teacher) worked with the shop teacher at his school to make me a kitchen playset out of plywood. When I got older, we gave it to my cousin. It was kept in her country carport/basement for many years, getting exposed to many winds and weathers. I forgot about it.

A few years ago, it was dropped off at my mom's house when they cleaned up the basement. I'm really glad they did this, instead of just throwing it away. I dragged it out to mom's front yard, and scrubbed it down with soap, water, and a hose. Then I let it dry in the sun, and drove it 5.5 hours back up to my house.

Now I have two little girls, and I decided to make it over. My dad had painted it with yellow house painted, rather sloppily I might add. The plywood was a bit soft, and the hardware was all rusted. I sanded it down all over, and changed out the hardware. After a lot of cussing and swearing (and nearly dragging it to the curb several times), it has been primed and repainted. I added some details, like a steel panel for magnets, a stencil, some vintage-looking knobs, and a faux oven door viewing window. I also lined the shelves with polka-dot shelf lining, which I tacked down with a little glue. My older daughter loves it and plays with it every day. (The four-month-old is, as you might imagine, largely indifferent.) For Christmas, I've bought a pink refrigerator to go with the set.

I was going to replace the dishpan, too, but I noticed that the date is on the Rubbermaid label: "1981." I kept it to show that she looks pretty good after 29 years!

before...

Back From the Dead!

I don't know about you, but life keeps getting in the way of my crafting! (Or maybe it's my knitting addiction that's getting in the way.) Either way, I haven't had much to post here about lately.

Lucky for you, my daughter is unsatisfied with almost every item of clothing I've bought for her in the last three years or so. She much prefers coming up with her own fashion ideas, then instructing me on how to create them. Today's post comes from a copy-cat tank top she begged me to make based on one I got from Ann Taylor Loft a number of years ago.

I liked the idea of my top - fairly plain at first glance, but just enough beaded detail on the shoulders to keep things interesting. Unfortunately, I wasn't willing to admit in the dressing room how ill-fitting this top way, and I now have to wear a second top underneath it to keep from flashing people on the street.

Anyhoo....back to Maya. She loves to emulate anything "big girl" and so demanded I sew beaded detail to the shoulders of her plain pink tank top. It was a very easy project, cost about $4 in supplies (that's the shirt + the beads, people!) and, as you can see from the pic, Maya is super pleased with the result. I guess this will be our "twins" outfit for summer 2010.