DIY Play Stove, Play Grill and Storage

While we were visiting family across country a few weeks ago, both my boys highly enjoyed playing in my mom's classroom - especially the play kitchen she had. The last year for both of their birthdays, my mom got them Melissa and Doug Wooden play food sets that they both love! One set even came with the box doubling as a grill top with Velcro strips on it so the food stays on it.

This is so cool that the box doubles but I had an issue with my youngest standing on top of the box since he had to play with it either on our couch or the floor. There had to be a better way where he could play with it and I didn't have to watch him to make sure he wasn't standing on it. Play kitchens are really cool but on the pricey side - enter Pinterest to the rescue! As per norm, there were a ton of ideas! Most of them were made out of nightstands or small dressers and that was a little bigger and more money than I was wanting. Then I came across this one and it seemed perfect! Link Here This lady used a normal, plastic 3 drawer storage cart that you can get just about anywhere, took vinyl cutouts and made it into a play stove! I don't have a vinyl machine, so I decided to use good old felt and hot glue!

I traced and cut out grey circle, then straight black strips and glued them together. Once they were dry, I glued them on top of the storage drawers like a stove-top. Done! My kids now have a place to put the play food they already had within the 3 drawers and a play stove on top. We took a trip to our local Dollar Tree and found some play food and cooking utensils to had to their collection. 

And a basket that I had another idea for but my kids like it more for their play food, I can always buy myself another one for what I was going to use this one for. 

Now to re-use that box that has a grill on it. I decided to just buy PVC pipe and elbow connectors to make a stand for the box to sit on. My husband actually helped me out with this project by cutting all the PVC piping for me and he made my vision come to life! It is perfect! I also decided not to glue the pipes together so when/if I need to break it down to store it, I can. It turned out great! And now my kids have 2 play kitchen sets for under $35! 

Happy Mommy-ing!