Surprise project for Em

My FAVORITE gift every year is the homemade gift that Deke and I give to one or all of the kids.  Projects that Deke and I build or make together especially for them.  Last year I found instructions online and we made a balance beam and uneven bars for Ave's american girl doll.  This year we knew exactly what our surprise project would be.  Emma had told us that what she really really wanted for Christmas was a bakery and a play kitchen so she could bake cakes like Carlo's bakery.  I had seen a lot of cute play kitchens on Pinterest but she kept talking about wanting a bakery most of all.  So I started doing research and saw a couple of really cute ideas and started watching craigslist to see if I could get an old entertainment center that we could re purpose.  One day after about a month of daily checking I saw a posting for a wooden play kitchen and desk.  I contacted the seller and by the end of the week we were picking it up from him.  It was wood and in great condition and he only wanted $60 for the set.  New condition these are a couple hundred dollars each and I was so excited to get such an awesome deal.    

Not to mention I could already tell that they would turn out much more realistic that a plastic play kitchen from the toy store.  Our neighbors Ashlee and Brian let us store them in their garage and sneak over in the evenings to work on them.  It was so fun to go over and work together and spend time together.  I love doing projects and building things with Deke, we always have so much fun.  The above pictures are the before and here are some of the in progress.....

The desk had an ugly mirror on it that we removed and then cut out the wood to create a window then Deke added some trim around it.  He built some small shelves to hold the baskets of food.

We painted one cupboard door with metallic paint and I added chalkboard vinyl to make it look like a double oven.

The paint on the burners had started to wear off so I took a Sharpie marker and went over them and they looked brand new again. 

I bought some wood circles at michael's and painted them like cookies.....

 also wooden balls that I painted and put in mini muffin foils to look like truffles and some on lollipop sticks to look like cake pops.  I spent several nights sitting up watching home shows and painting away all sorts of yummy treats.  Deke would come in and shake his head smiling asking me what I was making for the bakery now.  I was having so much fun trying to make all the little details feel as realistic as I could for her.

We found a small wood sign at hobby lobby that was shaped really cute and knew it would work perfect for the top.  I painted it and added some vinyl lettering and thought it turned out pretty darn cute.

Found some fabric to match the colors in the sign and sewed a small curtain for the kitchen.  It is really starting to come together.  The other night we called Santa and got his voice mail which said to leave our name and our christmas list.  Each of the kids took a turn leaving a message, soon it was Em's turn.  "Hi Santa it's me Emma Burch and for Christmas I just really really reeeeaaalllly want a bakery or play kitchen and nothing else" I looked at Deke, "Merry Christmas Santa!!!" she added and then passed the phone on to Hudson.  I couldn't stop smiling, I am so excited to give it to her I can hardly wait!!!