Mission: Mud Kitchen

It took longer than I would have liked to get the mud kitchen up and running, but it's done and I'm so happy with the end result. It's beautiful, sleek, minimalist and MUDDY. But it started as a rusty, industrial metal cart, two stained enamel bowls, and a metal sieve. All of the components were bought at my new favorite thrift/salvage shop, Givits, for a mere $30.

The cart needed a bit of TLC. I sanded it, washed it, sanded it again, and washed it again. Luckily it was still structurally sound, just rusty. Then I painted it a beautiful blue to match the teeter totter. My handy husband cut me a piece of plywood for the top, and cut holes in it to sink the bowls down in to. I sanded the wood and painted it light gray. The bowls just needed a bit of elbow grease to come clean. Some baking soda and water scrubbed the rust stains and dirt away and they looked beautiful again...for now!

The kids were ready to dig in, so they transferred some nice soft dirt from their digging bed into their new mud kitchen, added some water and "blueberry" pebbles from the patio, and made blueberry soup and blueberry pie. I'd say this project is a hit!