This blog post comes from my sister - Samara Bassett. Samara is a high school teacher and wonderful mother to my adorable little niece. This is a great post on values and creativity.
There are many challenges you face as a first time parent. Amongst the sleepless nights and endless questions I felt an overwhelming pressure to make the “right decisions” for my daughter. Thankfully time and experience have taught me to trust my instincts and no decisions are forever. As long as my husband and I keep our values and goals in our hearts and make decisions with love; hopefully our daughter will learn and grow into a happy productive woman. It was a priority for us to approach parenting in a sustainable way. I anticipated this would be a challenge amazingly sustainable parenting has not only been simple but also economical.
I have even gotten creative with some of her toys. The following was inspired by a play kitchen I saw on pinterest as you can see from the very close resemblance. I half assed looked on craigslist for a TV stand but couldn’t find that special item. Then driving to meet a friend I saw a TV stand out on the side of the road. I forced my husband to pull a u-turn so we could grab it. It always amazes me what I have found on the side of the road.
I brought my treasure into the high school where I teach and begged the wood shop teacher Tim to help me transform it. I left it with him and 2 hours later he had built shelves, built the microwave door and stove doors and cut out the sink hole. I was blown away with what he did in such a short time; I guess that’s why he’s the pro.
At this point I decided to try to complete this project using recycled or used items. Amazingly I was almost able to completely do it. The stove knobs came from an appliance repair shop. The kitchen sink (bowl) and curtain (dress) came from the local thrift store. The white and blue paint came from our stash in the garage. I did have to buy a tiny pot of black paint, the number stickers and shellac new.
Overall I love how it turned out. My little girl plays with it all the time and her friends are drawn to it every time we have play dates. I did notice I forgot to put a zero on the microwave console when we were trying to microwave my girls “apple soup” for 60 seconds, adds to the charm.
The best part it the whole project cost considerably less than buying a new play kitchen. I think the total was around $60, not counting the case of beer I bought Tim.
If you are interested in making your own - Here is the link for directions
There are many challenges you face as a first time parent. Amongst the sleepless nights and endless questions I felt an overwhelming pressure to make the “right decisions” for my daughter. Thankfully time and experience have taught me to trust my instincts and no decisions are forever. As long as my husband and I keep our values and goals in our hearts and make decisions with love; hopefully our daughter will learn and grow into a happy productive woman. It was a priority for us to approach parenting in a sustainable way. I anticipated this would be a challenge amazingly sustainable parenting has not only been simple but also economical.
- Our cloth diapers have saved us hundreds of dollars and kept hundreds of diapers out of the landfills.
- Making my daughter’s baby food gives us piece of mind that we are giving her pure nutritious food that costs us a fraction of the jars and processed foods in the stores.
- I can also make wise choices in terms of her toys and clothes.
- Thankfully we live in a family filled area so there are of of opportunities to buy used which saves us money and saves a lot of plastic from ending up in the landfill.
I have even gotten creative with some of her toys. The following was inspired by a play kitchen I saw on pinterest as you can see from the very close resemblance. I half assed looked on craigslist for a TV stand but couldn’t find that special item. Then driving to meet a friend I saw a TV stand out on the side of the road. I forced my husband to pull a u-turn so we could grab it. It always amazes me what I have found on the side of the road.
I brought my treasure into the high school where I teach and begged the wood shop teacher Tim to help me transform it. I left it with him and 2 hours later he had built shelves, built the microwave door and stove doors and cut out the sink hole. I was blown away with what he did in such a short time; I guess that’s why he’s the pro.
At this point I decided to try to complete this project using recycled or used items. Amazingly I was almost able to completely do it. The stove knobs came from an appliance repair shop. The kitchen sink (bowl) and curtain (dress) came from the local thrift store. The white and blue paint came from our stash in the garage. I did have to buy a tiny pot of black paint, the number stickers and shellac new.
Overall I love how it turned out. My little girl plays with it all the time and her friends are drawn to it every time we have play dates. I did notice I forgot to put a zero on the microwave console when we were trying to microwave my girls “apple soup” for 60 seconds, adds to the charm.
The best part it the whole project cost considerably less than buying a new play kitchen. I think the total was around $60, not counting the case of beer I bought Tim.
If you are interested in making your own - Here is the link for directions
