Mom Who Made the Play Kitchen Tells Us She Worked on It for a Week

Photo from @avas_kitchen/Instagram

It was the kitchen play set that got the Internet buzzing because at first (okay, even second) glance, it passed for a store-bought play set. But, as we all know now, it was made of cardboard and completely DIY-ed by one very resourceful mom. 

Rodessa Villanueva Reyes, a Pinay mompreneur who manages Ava’s Kitchen, noticed how her daughter, Audrey who is 16 months old, could spend all her time in a toy store playing with a kitchen set. She wanted Audrey to have one, but they were expensive. So she decided to build one herself and saw it as an opportunity to teach Audrey about creativity and resourcefulness.

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In an email interview with Smart Parenting, Rodessa said it took her almost a week to make the play kitchen, which she said was beside her home’s real kitchen. “That way Audrey could 'cook' alongside me." She worked on it at night when her daughter was in bed. “Every morning when the play kitchen was still under construction, we would go downstairs and Audrey would rush to her unfinished kitchen,” Rodessa told us. 



Photo from Rodessa Villanueva Reyes

The sink is actually a mixing bowl while the faucet's nozzle came from a liquid hand soap bottle. She covered the whole kitchen in bright blue vinyl and used floral gift wrapping paper for flourishes.  


Photo from Rodessa Villanueva Reyes

The play kitchen is actually built to resemble a mini café, and Rodessa even had a ribbon cutting ceremony for the "opening," inviting some of Audrey's friends. "I baked a cake and dressed her up like she was the owner of the café!” 


Photo from Rodessa Villanueva Reyes

This isn’t the first time Rodessa has poured her heart over a DIY creation for her daughter. She’s made Audrey a chandelier, crib mobile, a personalized door sign, and other knick knacks and decorations for her nursery. For Audrey's first birthday, she practically DIY-ed everything she could like invitations, decors, the cake, and party favors.


Photo from Rodessa Villanueva Reyes

Rodessa said she didn't expect the kind of response Audrey's kitchen play kitchen elicited, and was so surprised to learn it had been written about in news sites all over the world including in languages she couldn’t read.  

We asked Rodessa if Audrey knew her play kitchen was now famous. "Audrey is only a year and four months, I don’t think she even has an idea of what ‘being famous’ means. But I am sure of one thing, she knows her play kitchen is beautiful and is made with love by mom.”

Have an amazing DIY creation of your own? Send us a photo of it via our Facebook page and we may just feature it on Smart Parenting.
 

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