Where have I been???

So I am kind of in love with the website Pintrest.  I found this super cute kitchen on it and decided that I would use it as my inspiration for Madi's kitchen that I had planned on making her for Christmas.  It is done from an old entertainment center which made it less expensive than starting from scratch. 

So, after several attempts to snag one on KSL, my sister said they were getting rid of theirs.  I offered to trade her for our old TV stand and she said yes!  Yea!  I finally had one!  (this isn't it but it is similar)  So, in  Oct., I started working on it.  My brother, Derrick and I spent a day getting a back on it, removing moldings and doors and cutting the shelves for the fridge while my amazing SIL, Annie, played with my kids.  Then it never worked out for me to get down there again to work on it until the second week of December.  Since I have the awesomest family ever and one aunt in particular, I was able to get it almost finished by Christmas.  So, here's the story...

I would love to say that I did it all myself, but the reality is, a lot of people helped and a lot of hours went into it.  My uncle has a wood shop under his garage so my aunt said to bring it there.  She watched my kids while we worked on it.  My uncle helped us a ton and Jalene, (my aunt) helped on it to.  They let us stay at their house three different weekends working on it.  They stayed up late and got up early to help us and let us use their tools and wood scraps to add fun details, saving us a little money which was such a blessing!  Chris and Annie spent several hours helping us as well.  I am not sure what I would've done without them.  I can't thank them enough!

Anyhow, when we got it home, the Saturday before Christmas, a little before midnight, we brought it down stairs.  Because the thing was such a beast and way heavy, and since Madi had already seen it, we decided to put it right in the playroom to do the finishing details so we wouldn't have to move it again.

We ran into a little problem.  It was too big to get into our playroom.  We could bring it straight down the stairs but couldn't make the turn.  We tried every possible angle, every possible move, and tried for three hours to get it in before going to bed.  When we started, we thought it was too deep for Madi so we put our back wall in about six inches to make it shallower.  Little did we know, it actually saved us in the end because we had to cut five inches off the back to finally get it into the play room.  Derrick took the circular saw to it and we got the back cut off and it glided right in!  Yea!!!

So, this is what it looked like when we got it in.  Next came a long week of finishing and getting it to a point that it actually looked like a kitchen. 

Madi was a good helper and loved it even before she knew it was hers.  She kept saying it was mommy's kitchen.  She bathed her dog in the sink and even climbed in herself a few times.

Come Christmas eve, this is what we had done.  It was good enough for us.  We still had lots of finishing to do but at least it looked like a kitchen. 

Madi loved it and was thrilled when we told her it was hers, not mommy's.  She has had a great time playing with it. 

She has even played IN it! :D 

Since Christmas, we have added handles, a faucet, some rags, a window valance and a few other details.  I need to finish her canisters and some towels, hot pads and oven mitts and get the vinyl up (I just sent my order in a couple days ago) so, as soon as that is done, I will post a finished picture.  It has been so fun to do and I have loved making it with Derrick and all the others that helped.  Thank you Andrea for letting me steal your apron for a week and thanks to Stacie that found the darling candlestick turned chandelier.  Thank you to everyone else that had any part in it.  I love how it turned out and I know Madi loves it!  When we were at Wal-Mart yesterday she saw a play kitchen and I asked her if she liked that or hers and she didn't even hesitate before shouting "Madi's!"