An upcycled play kitchen for Makay Boom!

For Christmas, we decided to make a play kitchen for Makay Boom. What started as a old Ikea kids' table left behind by the previous owners of our house, ended up being a toy she will surely cherish forever.

About a month and a half after we started working on it, we got ourself a play kitchen.

Here is the before and during:

 Makay had no idea what it would become.

 We framed it with scrapped plywood from Handy Grandpa D's work. Makay saw it and said "Hourray a tree house!"  (Doh!)

 We put on same caster and cut out a spot for a Dollar store stainless steel bowl, that would become a sink.

We caulked and primed it!

The the hunt for parts began: A tap from Value Village (5$), scrap decorative paper for the back splash , a scrap piece of wood for a shelf, two handles left over from our kitchen, an old picture frame for the oven opening, a broken Ikea shoe rack for the shelf in the oven, Ikea curtain rods ends for knobs and stainless steel trivets from the Dollar Store for the oven coils.We also used some leftover paint from our basement bathroom. It even has a light in the oven! Good call Daddy. Good call!  As gifts, we gave her pots and pans, ustensils as well as fake food. And we sewed a potholder for her. Her kitchen is now decked out!

And here is the After:

We added some trim to the bottom later on...I wish i was 2 years old again!

The kids all loved it at Christmas.

 

We made her an apron as well!

This is the kitchen in the grown up kitchen

 

She proceeded to cooking...

The whole kitchen. including the accessories cost us 50$ and nothing feels as good as seeing your child smile and play with a toy you made for her....

Merry Xmas Makay Boom!

xxxx

Merry Xmas!

Christmas has come and gone and it was a good one! We try to alternate christmas between each family. In 2009 we were in Mauritius. In 2010, Makay was just born and we remained in Montreal. In 2011 in Winnipeg and this year we spent Chrismas with the Armahs in our new home. Nothing better than having everyone over for our first Christmas in our new home.

Makayla wore her pretty Christmas dress that she picked herself and in all the holiday pictures from this point forward we bet that she will be wearing this very dress. Seth, Makay and Annie (as well as our sous-chef, Zinnia) slept over. We prepared brunch :  Crepes, sausages and fruits as well as supper: Traditional turkey dinner. It was great!

The kids put out cookies and milk for Santa and the big guy really enjoyed it! He even left a note and foot prints behind. The kids almost fainted when they saw that (Good trick,Daddy Bear).

The kids received a bunch of gifts, but the hit was surely Makay's play kitchen made with love. We ate plastic food for the whole afternoon. See it in our next post!

We were truly blessed this year and we appreciate every minute of it.

Merry Xmas everyone!
Roaarrr de la tanière
xxxx

Thrift find: Widdicomb awesomeness!

While searching on kijiji and craigslist for a  dresser, we  saw this dresser for 50$. We called and got the dresser for 40$, only to find out that its a widdicomb design original. A very worthy (pricey) piece of furniture that we get to cherish for ever!

Jen, from montrealdigs.com wrote a beaufitul post on our find and it was tweeted on kijiji....How awesome!

Thanks Jen!

And i go back to my thrift digging!
from a happy and vintage satisfied Mama Lionne!
Roarrrr
xxxx

Kijiji Canada ‏@Kijiji

Love hearing about what @montrealdigs readers score on Kijiji! RT @montrealdigs: Reader score! Widdicomb chest for only $40! Sells into...

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10:04 AM - 11 Dec 12 · Details

7h MontrealDigs ‏@MontrealDigs

@Kijiji Such a steal - can't wait to see what colour Yannick refinishes it in! Thanks for the RT.

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And here is Jen's beautiful post:
http://montrealdigs.com/2012/12/11/full-potential-t-h-robsjohn-gibbings-for-widdicomb-chest/

Full Potential | T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Chest

11 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by Montreal Digs in My Take

≈ 5 Comments

Tags
1stdibs, Craigslist, Furniture, Home and Garden, Interior design, Kijiji, Kijiji Montreal, Mid-Century, Modern, Montreal, T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Thrift, Thrifting, Vintage, vintage furniture, Widdicomb

The rich are always with us, and we should learn to enjoy them -T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings
Remember this ring pull wood dresser buried at the bottom of last week’s post? In that horribly photographed and described Kijiji ad? I listed it because it was $50 and thought it had potential… hoo boy, did it ever!
A very savvy Yannick emailed me later that week with photos of a T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings design for Widdicomb Furniture that looked identical to our Kijiji friend.
Sure enough, off she went Saturday morning, and came home $40 later with an iconic midcentury chest, that retails between $4,000-$5,000 at high-end dealers today.
Sure, her chest is a little beat up: lots of dust, scratches, nicks and one drawer frame that needs re-glueing (how such an expensive and well-made furniture piece wound up so abused mystifies me.) But it’s still got that all-important Widdicomb label. Minor surface prep and a glossy bright lacquer finish later, that chest is going to be spectacular – here’s what she’s aiming for:

Don’t believe how much these go for? Below is a small painted version, asking $4,500. Or how about the long dresser for $4,800. There’s many more similarly priced examples out there.

Frankly, I’m going to be scrutinizing all the T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings pieces for sale on 1stDibs, so the next one dings my radar a lot harder.
This article is also a great primer on Mr. “the slow growth of an imaginary hyphen in one’s name is an indelible sign of social progress” Robsjohn-Gibbings’ fascinating life and body of work.

T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings holding a chair. Courtesy of the Archives of American Art. TERENCE HAROLD ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS PAPERS, 1940-1965

Yannick’s been scouring Kijiji for a good midcentury dresser for awhile now. I’d say her search was well rewarded.
You can follow her progress refinishing the dresser by visiting her blog Je t’aime pour la vie.
Enjoy it for many years to come, Yannick!

Infinity scarf sensation!

My friend Jackie was wearing this gorgeous infinity scarf! I wanted one!

So, I found a tutorial  (http://www.comeonilene.com/2011/10/17/american-apparel-circle-scarf-knock-off-tutorial/ ) and i made one! Found some knit cotton for 7$ and i sewed  it together....Mélanie Labelle, I know you want it!!!

Don't i look happy?

xxxx
Mama Lionne!

Makayla du haut de ses 27 mois!

Notre petite ange grandit et développe sa petite personalité avec ferveur!

Elle a une opinion sur tout les sujets, sait exactement ce qu'elle veut, adore choisir ses vêtements et a un sens de l'humour hors du commun! Et ohhhh qu'on l'aime!

Bisous de la tannière!
xxx

Our basement:A fresh start!

Should the wood paneling have been a thick nice solid wood, we would have though twice about painting it.

But it was banged up,damaged and the basement looked so dark and gloomy. Two weekends of intense work, two coats of primer and two coats of Betonel's cheese cloth paint later, phase one of the basement is complete!

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

 

Come back to see how we dress this place up!

 Bisous de la tanière.

xxx

Bisous bisous spatule: Pizza aux pommes de terre

Peu de personnes connaissent cette recette qui n'est pas une recette! On y met ce qu'on veut. Une pâte de pizza maiso on congelé, beurre à l'ail fondu, des pommes de terre tranchées mince, sel et poivre, bacon, onion vert, mozzarella et parmesan.Voila! Il est essentiel de le servir avec un peu de crème sûre :)

À plus tard durant la semaine!
Roooarr de Mama lionne
xxx

Thrift find: The perfect night side table.

We love a good thrift find. We look for well made wood furniture with character.

Makayla's room is small and we wanted a small table.

Doesn't this little thrifter look happy with her 5$ table?

xxx
Mama lionne the thrifter
Roooaaarrrr

Halloween 2012

On a eu l'honneur de magasiner en compagnie d'une vraie princesse, de manger avec une vraie princesse et de s'adresser à une vraie princesse pour l'Halloween 2012. L'entendre crier à tue-tête " Trick or treat! Joyeux halloween!" en déambulant à pas de course dans la rue c'était trop mignon! Pouvez-vous deviner laquelle des citrouilles est une création de Papa Bear Romeo?

xxx
Roooaaarrrr

La princesse

La couronne de princesse

Dans le bedon de Makay: compote de fruits et yogurt grecque

Une recette de notre chère Béa fait fureur dans notre petite tanière: compote de fruits rapidement faite en coupant des fruits avec un peu de jus et de zeste d'orange! Une fois cuit, laissez refroidir. Servir avec du yogurt grecque nature, des noix de grenoble, des canneberges sechées et un filet de miel. 

Un grand bol en fait un déjeuner parfait, un petit bol le dessert idéal! C'est le meilleur moyen d'utiliser les fruits qui commencent à être un peu moins frais!

Merci Béa!

L'Agente Bouclette

xxx

Bisous bisous spatule: Feuilleté de saumon et d'épinard

Au menu ce soir, feuilleté de saumon et d'épinard et petite salade verte!

 Le dessert fut improvisé mais délicieux. Les restants de la pâte à feuilleté ont été transformés en torsades de cannelle et de sucre accompagnés d'une trempette au chocolat et au beurre d'arachides.

L'agente Bouclette était très heureuse de ce repas rapide!