Someone's trash....

I look around Nashville all the time to find cool pieces that need some TLC. But the fact that we have an apartment and our deck is hardly existent...always holds me back. I really can't wait to have a backyard. And besides...it takes me months to complete anything....I have so many projects, and I literally only work on them whenever I can....maybe once a week. So, if it's big...I just won't take the challenge...I cant imagine hauling everything out of Nashville in 4 months... I'm already selling and giving away stuff...no 16ft mover truck for us. Once was good enough.
And besides I like to take my time with projects, it would make me more mad to hurry and finish it and have it looking bad.

A few months ago...someone on Craigslist was giving away a little tikes kitchen. It had been used outdoors but was not faded and it was missing the plastic faucet.....oh and it was yellow and purple. Since it was nearby, I went ahead and got it. I thought I could repaint it and that would be it.

Didn't look so bad right??

It wasn't until  I actually set it down, that I realized how dirty it was. This could not be in my child's room, there could be some bad bugs in there, for all I knew. So for most of the time, I spent it cleaning. Then I figured out how to break it apart. Holy moly....you need some strong arms for that one. I pinched myself a couple of times, AND I was sore for days.


Big pieces...good right??

Geez....maybe I bit more than I could chew...

Oh Lordy...
 

Once I broke it open, all hell broke loose....there were so many thick spider webs (probably with egg sacks) I was about to die. I decided to drown the suckers...cause they were not welcomed here. I filled up dom's tub with the hottest water I could and submerged the parts for most of the day.

DROWN....DROWN

Once I thought it was fine, I took them outside to dry, but the weather was not cooperating ( too cold), so it stayed outside for weeks in pieces.
Then, one nice Saturday morning, I went ahead and painted it in pieces to make sure I got all the nooks and crannies. I had bought the paint earlier on one of my seldom trips to Walmart. I think I spent like 9 bucks for 3 cans...it has to be the one that bonds to plastic...I think they call it "fusion" and it has a plastic house on the label.

I had to figure out a way to paint it without spraying stuff everywhere. I found our moving tarps and made a corner for the pieces. So I painted one at a time. I started with the smallest pieces first to see how it was going to turn out. It takes an hour to dry....but 7 days to cure...not sure what that means, but once I painted all of it...it sat outside for weeks...the smell was too much for me. 

The weather was cold still, so there it sat for a few more weeks. Then, we got a nice weekend and I decided to finish putting it together....THAT was the easy part I was looking for. I did it all by myself. I, then, had the bright idea to cover the holes on the back, so the food baskets wouldn't fall thru the back. I used cereal boxes (yeah...they finally were good for something) and modge podge some nice paper on it ( scrapbook paper is the best...it's thick and cheap). And also made some burners for it, since I was already working with the glue and paper. Somebody suggested to use a picture online and just print it, but I never actually found one I could print....so I had to use my imagination. Besides...this was supposed to be a cheap project.
 



I love the backing.

The back...pretty good huh? some cereal boxes, modge podge
scrapbook paper, and some double sided tape.

 



Burners were modge podge on the surface as well.

So, this is what it looks like now. And Dom loves It! We play food all the time. He likes to let me know that we have the same fruits in the kitchen and likes to match them up....whatever to make him smile....he likes the play pizza and cookies and tries to eat them all the time...poor guy....I guess it means he doesn't get enough of them in real life. Oh well...

The last touch would be to make some microwave buttons

So, somebody's trash, ended up being our treasure!