Card Table Playhouse

I'll admit - I'm guilty.

Guilty of stealing...

Ideas.

I'm one of those people who browse Etsy to look for craft ideas. I wish I had more time to be come up with original ideas but with work and kids, I don't have much time to think that way. It's kind of sad, really.

In searching for something fun for a cupcake party, I came across a felt card table "cupcakery" on Etsy. It was so cute that I wanted to make something like it. But instead of using felt, I needed something more sturdy (knowing how rough the 5 year old is). So I used canvas duck cloth for the outside and cotton for the lining inside.

This is a belated Christmas gift for my girls. My intention was to start this project in mid-September since I knew we would be quite busy from October through December. If you read my previous post, we have been hit hard with two family deaths in September and my project had to be postponed. So I started in the beginning of December. It wasn't nearly enough time to get it done by Christmas - especially while keeping it out of the sight of curious little eyes. It meant a lot of night sewing and cutting at my friend's studio.

I'm proud to say that I got this project done while it's still Christmas (since for us, Christmas doesn't end until 12 days after Jesus' birth) and BEFORE the new year.

Looks simple, right? Well, not quite. I pondered over the best solution for the scalloped roofline and had to figure out how to get everything I wanted in there. You'll see what I mean...

As you can see from the top, there's a "working" mail box and a paned window with a window box for flowers (I still have to put flowers in there).

Here's a look at the back and the other side:

You can slide half a sheet of paper in the frame (for a menu) and the teapots and cups are removable, made out of magnets, fabric and mod podge. I've sewn a slot to insert (and remove) 8.5x11 magnetic sheets.

Take a look inside. This is the back of the house:

The cookies, cakes and chocolate box (with chocolates) are removable. The shelves and table top have magnet sheets behind them. I made everything but the cupcakes - those were made by my friend Pam's daughter, Amber (who's also a cupcake aficionado) who resides in Minnesota.

Here's the left side:

There's a "storage bench" which is really a big pocket.

And the right side:

There's a "shelf" which is separated in three sections. The girls have already put toys in it.

The good thing about a playhouse like this is that it's fairly easy to clean and you can easily fold it up and put it away. But right now, it's probably going to be out for a while. Both the cats and the girls are having fun in it.

Catching up...

It's been quite a hectic end of the year with loads of work, Mya starting kindergarten, a few deaths in the family (so close together), a not-so-pleasant Mexican Riviera cruise, Solana's 1st birthday and Mya's 5th birthday. I did a lot of projects but wasn't able to document it as much as I hoped. It's one of those situations when you're under the wire and you just want to get things done so the picture taking goes by the wayside. I'm sure there are photos of the final product somewhere, but I have to gather them and post them at a future date.

I was able to get Christmas photos off of the camera before they were off-loaded onto another computer.

Here's this year's tree on Christmas eve:

I've used the same color scheme year after year. I grabbed some silk poinsettias from my Mom's supply of stuff from her old flower shop. It really filled the tree. We also have some fun ornaments in there, mostly tchotchkes we grabbed on our honeymoon and turned into ornaments and items from the girls' birthday parties. Can you spot the cupcake? It's made out of Sculpey. I'm a first-timer with the product and I over-baked it—It cracked, but it wasn't anything that a glue gun couldn't fix. I also covered up the biggest crack with a real cupcake wrapper.

Gingerbread houses for the neighbors:

These houses were about 4 inches on each side and 6 inches high. I didn't have enough candy canes and peppermint sticks so I broke up some mints for the corners—It kind of has a stacked stone feel, don't you think? The lights are candy and chocolate coated sunflower seeds.

I made 9 houses, and 8 went to the neighbors and friends. Mya had a house to herself to decorate (hence the reason why I didn't have enough peppermint sticks).

Christmas was a bit easier this year - no handmade gifts for my friends' kids plus we drew names for a gift exchange. It's so much easier than finding the right gift for 6 kids.