I love everything mini. It’s what makes me happy, I have to admit. I don’t know what it is about seeing things in miniature that just makes me smile. I think it’s just innate in me. It’s like how we all love babies and puppies. Everything is so much better and cuter when it is small. And the added bonus is that it is portable and that’s just convenience as far as I am concerned. Especially when it comes to DIY toys.

I was hanging out at Pinterest the other day. Yes, it is one of my hangouts. Some people go to the movies, some people go out for coffee. I go hang out at Pinterest. Some people are addicted to shopping and coffee, I am addicted to Pinterest…and shopping…and coffee. Okay fine, but there are worse things.

Anyway, I was hanging out at Pinterest and I came across the cutest idea for a DIY take along kitchen. The original is at MadebyJoel and you can find it here.

Ohmigosh as soon as I saw that, I had to set about making one like it. I was so excited, but I was also in awe at the creativity of some people. I mean, I’m crafty, it’s true, but for the most part, I am just faking it, mostly. But some people are truly amazing and MadebyJoel is a fantastic blog by one of those people.

I quickly set about finding supplies and let me tell you, they were not entirely easy to come by. I had to get very creative because some of the things that the tutorial expected me to do were just not possible. Remember, I am crafty. I am not skilled, especially with a scroll saw, whatever that is.

So I sat down to think and here is what I came up with:

Some of the basic supplies we already had because we have a mini dollhouse. The pots and pans and the mini cooking utensils were part of a set that we had accumulated.

We purchased the cute plates and bowls as well as the forks and spoons from Michael’s craft store. Michael’s has a ton of little charms that would work as well. We used the tiniest of mini pom poms for food as well as pieces of coloured felt that we cut into different shapes and sizes.

I have a ton of play food that I made for our mini dollhouse that you can find here, but I didn’t use it for this project. It is much better to just cut the felt into random shapes because it leaves tons of room for the imagination and we all know how kids love to pretend.

Except for the little eggs. They are so cute and just have to be incorporated. I used a bit of yellow marker to draw the yolk.

I also made the cooktop removable. I wasn’t entirely sold on the tin that we were using. We might get a different one in the future. I just have to buy some Altoids. (who even eats those!) HaHa! For now, she can just use the tin for whatever she wants, a table perhaps. She likes that she can take the cooktop off to use it.

Obviously my set doesn’t fit into the tin either. We got a little carried away as usual, and made way too many pieces for the set. HaHa! I always do that. Anyway it works just as well to store it in a small plastic baggie. Then I just throw it in my purse! How awesome is that? I can just carry it around in my purse and whenever we are waiting at a restaurant or something, she can just break it out and cook for everybody while we wait.

This is definitely a winner. My daughter just loves this set. It is better than anything that you can buy in a store. I highly recommend that you try making one of your own. Also, check out all of the other cool things at MadebyJoel.

Have fun!