Homemade Toy Kitchen

Since my daughter Therese enjoys playing with toy kitchens, I thought I'd make one rather than buy the glammed-up, plastic kinds in the department stores.  The inspiration for this toy kitchen came from the book lent to us by my sister-in-law (Children's Rooms: Practical Design Solutions for Ages 0-10).

The book's version was nice and basic - made out of a brown box, silver packaging tape and black paper for the controls.  I wanted to make an exact copy but I thought I'd use the pink packaging tape I had on hand (from the pink flamingo mallets we made for Therese's "Alice" birthday party) and cover the slightly worn-out box with yellow, pink and green paper.    

Part of the fun in putting it together was sourcing all of the add-ons with my hubby - the pots, pans, cooking mitts, mini tongs, purple baskets, S-hooks, foil pans, etc. from the local grocery store, hardware store and Divisoria, the local market district in Manila!  I think we did a pretty good job! 

On S- hooks: Oven mitts, strainer, detachable purple basket with mini tongs, ladle and server  

Stovetop made out of foil pans (held in place by double-sided tape).  Controls are black kettle cover holders!  Underneath is one of my best finds - aluminum foil tape!

Detachable purple baskets holding sponges and mini plates.  

The "oven" is on one side of the box and on the opposite side is the "ref."  Inside the ref and oven are shelf racks to serve as the oven grill and ref shelving.

The purple baskets are detachable so they can serve as "shopping baskets" when Therese and her cousin Sophia "go to market."

I love that the girls keep busy playing with this kitchen set!   

Here's a photo of them "cooking" white beans!  

And Therese checking how the "doughnuts" are doing in the oven.

A rough guide to the oven and ref measurements.  Do adjust the measurements to the size of your box. : )