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