Join me, won’t you?

Step 13: Clearly, for aesthetic reasons, we needed to cover up the area below the sink, so the bottom of the bowl wouldn’t be exposed. We couldn’t tolerate criticism from other toddlers about the unseemly site. Ziva envisioned a curtain, a suggestion which I adamantly supported because that meant I didn’t have to build a door – which I certainly couldn’t do even if I wanted to. That’s not where Ziva’s ingenuity ends. For some odd reason, Ziva held onto a plastic toilet paper holder that came with a bunch of toilet paper (duh). When she realized we needed something with a spring to easily remove the curtain rod so we can remove the curtain when need be (either to replace it or clean it) she remembered that she had saved the holder. We put a nickel in there to hold the rod in place, I glued it to the bottom of the sink, drilled a perfectly sized hole in the other end, inserted the rod and we had a functioning curtain rod. Yay!

Step 14: It’s stovetop time. We initially planned on just painting circles on top of the stove but once we took stock of our supplies I realized we had more than enough MDF to elevate the stove top to make it more pronounced. I measured a nice rectangle and cut the piece of MDF with my table saw.

Instead of painting on the burners or cutting out circles I recycled a bunch of old cds and spray painted them black. I think we are going to double up on these for a bit more elevation.

We then painted the MDF board silver and using wood glue attached the stove top to the kitchen. I couldn’t find my clamps anywhere so I used our uber-heavy Kitchen Aid mixer instead to weigh it down. Worked like a charm.

Step 16: You may have noticed in the image above a few pegs on the side of the counter. If I had a shekel for everything I’ve purchased for our apartment over the years that ended up in a drawer or storage I’d have about 22 shekels. While going through our crap I found an old peg rack that I never installed. It was a bit too big to attach to the kitchen as is but luckily the pegs were screwed on so we were able to easy remove them. Using a spade bit I drilled four holes, squirted in a generous helping of wood glue and rotating with Ziva, held the pegs in place until they dried.

Now little Tzofi has a nice place to hang her utensils and pots and pans.

Step 17: When we painted the stove top we also painted the inside of the oven.

And that’s where the kitchen stands today. I’m pretty sure I’m done with the construction. We are trying to figure out the best way to have oven knobs that actually turn. We experimented with plastic bottle caps from our milk cartons but the screw is warping the plastic way too much.

8 plastic wheels: $6:00
MDF Board: $15.00
Metal Bowl for sink: $5.00
Shelving brackets: $5.00
Faucet and taps: $10.00
Black spray paint: $4.00
Silver paint: $6.00
Curtain rod: $2.00

Total: $53.00

Recycled materials used:
Night tables: Purchased nine years ago
Old compact discs
Peg board found in storage
Wood planks found on the street

Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part I

Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part 2
Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part 3
Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part 4

You should follow me on twitter here.

Onwards!

Step 11: You might recall that I found a think piece of wood on the street, cut it, and used it to stabilize and attach the two old Ikea night table’s together. I still had the second piece and decided it would make a great back splash for the kitchen. Using some sort of bracket I had in my trusty toolbox I attached it to the back of one of the night tables and the back of the sink.

And here is what the back splash looks like from the front.

We recently had proper closets installed in our bedroom and removed the piece of crap that was there for years. Despite my efforts, the only way the old closet was coming apart was through the wanton destruction of the thing. So I went all HULK on it. I believe I might have said “HARRY SMASH!” at one point. Good times. It was mostly MDF boards and I thought I might be able to use some of them, but they were far too damaged. Luckily the molding of the top of the closet and shelving was in decent enough shape that I saved it. I hadn’t thought about what I would use it for exactly but I figured it would come into good use at some point. And come into good use it did. Here’s what the molding looks like:

Step 12: I measured the molding and using my trusty saw cut three pieces to sit on the inseam where the back splash meets the counter and to fill in the space between the faucet and and the counter tops (formerly night tables).

While the two pieces between the faucet and the countertops were snug, I had to use a little wood filler to fill in the tiny space between the two.

So here is where we are at now. I’m not quite happy with how the molding on the countertop just ends abruptly. I didn’t permanently attach it yet because I need to figure out a solution to make it a bit more visually appealing. Perhaps with some fancy jigsaw action I’ll make a nice curve on it. Open to any and all ideas.

Total costs:

8 plastic wheels: $6:00
MDF Board: $15.00
Metal Bowl for sink: $5.00
Shelving brackets: $5.00
Faucet and taps: $10.00

Total: $41.00

Recycled materials used:
Night tables: Purchased nine years ago
Wood planks found on the street
Molding from an old closet

Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part I

Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part 2

Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part 3

You should follow me on twitter here.

Step 7: I measured and marked the center of the piece of wood and using several different sizes of spade bits, drilled, starting small and worked my way up until the hole was big enough to fit the faucet nice and snug.

I purchased very basic (and very cheap) faucet and taps at a local hardware store. Here’s my little munchkin modeling it for you. I told her to put it on her head.

Step 8: I then took another scrap piece of the night table leg and using the spade bit drilled holes for the taps. Both the faucet and the taps fit quite well.

Step 9: Using a strong adhesive I attached the wood holding the faucet to the piece with the taps and added another spare piece to use as the base.

Step 10: And finally, I attached the completed faucet and taps to the kitchen using the adhesive.

And there you have it. A completed sink.

8 plastic wheels: $6:00
MDF Board: $15.00
Metal Bowl for sink: $5.00
Shelving brackets: $5.00
Faucet and taps: $10.00

Total: $41.00

Recycled materials used:
Night tables: Purchased nine years ago
Wood planks found on the street

Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part I

Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part 2

You should follow me on twitter here.

Step 4: We found some nice thick treated wood planks that once belonged to a closet or something lying on the curb outside our apartment. The first piece I cut to size (using a lot of patience and my trusty jigsaw) and attached it with four brackets to the two night tables for both support and to work as a bottom shelf.

Step 5: It was now time to get the sink on. So that is exactly what I did. I got the sink on. Aw yeah. I thought this was going to be the most challenging action to get right but it proved to be much easier than I anticipated. I purchased a piece of MDF from a local store (this was one of my only purchases for the unit up until now), cut it to the proper length so it would fit nice and snug between the two night tables and had my trusty collaborator Ziva guesstimate the circumference of the sink and then drilled a hole smack in the middle of the circle. Several holes actually. I then meticulously cut out a circle in the mdf board. I purposefully cut less than I needed to for several reasons. First, I’m very inexperienced with the jigsaw and second – I only had one shot to get this right. Luckily, Ziva’s measuring skills were spot on (at least in this case) and I am apparently naturally talented when it comes to the jigsaw. After some trial and error and a lot of tweaking, I managed to get the bowl to fit in the hole nicely. The lips rest perfectly on the counter – which is now a sink.

Step 6: I firmly attached the sink (!) to the unit with brackets which brought even more stability.

I then stood back, smiled and called it a day.

Costs so far:

8 plastic wheels: $6:00
MDF Board: $15.00
Metal Bowl for sink: $5.00
Shelving brackets: $5.00

Total: $31.00

Recycled materials used:
Night tables: Purchased nine years ago
Wood planks found on the street

Next step: Figuring out how to properly attach the sink to the wood so Tzofi can’t just lift it out.

Building a DIY children’s play kitchen in 30 easy steps. Part I

You should follow me on twitter here.

It turns out that Israel takes on different appearances depending on whose eyes it’s viewed through. An early twenty-something steps off the plane and sees through wide eyes a sun-kissed land filled to brimming with young olive skinned honeys filling out olive-toned uniforms in all the right places, deliciously greasy buckets of shwarma meat seductively rotating on their spits, glistening bottles of Goldstar and milky glasses of arak, and idyllic kibbutzim whose apparent main agricultural product isn’t exactly found in the SuperSol, all set to the exotic high-velocity throat music of modern Hebrew. A thirty-something longtime resident of Israel sees exactly the same thing, except it’s through the windshield of a somewhat sensible sedan as he drives his toddler to daycare. It’s all about perspective, and to understand how one perspective slowly but surely evolves into another, you have to understand how one falls in love in Israel and stays there.

• 1974. Was born.

• 1982. The son of my chazzan (cantor) visited my synagogue while on leave from the IDF. I was somewhat in awe.

• 1984. When I was ten a friend returned from a summer trip to Israel. I recall asking if there were any amusement parks there. She asked her father, and he said there was one called “Ferris Wheel” in Rishon Leztion. Israel had suddenly become an appealing place for me to visit. I enjoyed Dollywood, so I figured I’d enjoy Israel too.

• 1986. Mrs. Osmon, my Israeli Hebrew teacher at Hebrew school, had it in for me and became one of my childhood enemies. She did not endear me to Israel.

• 1987. Two Israeli students visited my Hebrew school and brought with them a cassette tape of Israeli rap. I ran like DMC.

• 1986 – 1990. Through my involvement in USY, my connection to and knowledge of Israel grew. Fought incessantly with leftist teachers at my high school about Israel. Digested every book possible about Israel to use as ammunition, Exodus included. Saw movie. Had crush on Karen Hansen Clement. Worried about Israel and was glued to CNN during the Gulf War. The chazzan from my synagogue went to volunteer. Was in awe.

• 1991. Visited for the first time as a participant on USY Poland Seminar/Israel Pilgrimage. Holocaust bad. Israel good. Refused to wear sandals. Drank a lot of Kinley. Was in awe of the IDF.

• 1994. Ms. Carmel, my Israeli Hebrew teacher in college, had it in for me and became one of my adulthood enemies.

• 1994 – 1997. Became heavily involved in pro-Israel activism on the campus of SUNY Albany. Many debates with Anti-Zionists and Israel-haters. By the time I left they were still Anti-Zionists and Israel-haters. Started to hate myself. Was in awe of all of friends who made aliyah and served in the IDF. Decided that I too want to serve in the IDF.

• 1997 -1998. Made Aliyah. Got drunk a lot. Ate kubbe soup for the first time. Rejoiced. Enjoyed hummus as a meal. Naomi, my Hebrew teacher at ulpan, did not have it in for me. Left ulpan early to be drafted into the IDF. Served in the Armored Corps. Learned to love, then hate and finally respect tanks. Got dirty. Wasn’t as a good shot as I thought I was. Spent Israel’s 50th anniversary on guard duty. Thought that was cool. Lost 30 pounds. Began a life long relationship with baby wipes. Gained perspective. Listened to Berry. Met my future wife.

• 1999 – 2007. Bourekas, majadra, meorav yerushalmi. Cremshnitz, za’atar, Golan apples. Lahmajun, sabich, samboosak. Hummus. Worked at a myriad of start-ups. All failed. Not my fault. Got married. Strong relationship. Worked in print journalism and then ISRAEL21c. Learned that Israel is hi-tech and cures diseases. Started business. Business succeeds. Had baby. Was in awe. Baby succeeds. Named her Tzofia after my favorite line of Hatikvah. Am in awe.

• 2008. Hate the politicians. Left and Right. Secular and Religious. Frustrated with the leadership. Demand change. Understand why they don’t but wishing our greatest minds would run this country. Love my family. Love my friends. Love my country. Want to help fix it. Hummus still delicious.

The 60 Bloggers project is co-production of Jewlicious.com and the Let My People Sing Festival. It is published daily for 60 days to celebrate Israel’s 60 birthday.

It’s not a big deal yet it is a big deal. Not a big deal because I’ve been involved in taking care of her for the past 10 months, so at this point I should know what I am doing. Routine. Routine. Routine. Just stick to the routine Harry and you’ll be alright. She respects you, you entertain her and she is comforted when she is around you. Though if you pass another kidney stone, your arthritis flares up or your back goes out again you are screwed. As is she. What if she freaks out if Ziva isn’t around?

All of my fears were unwarranted. First of all I’ve been totally healthy. Though she obviously misses Ziva a lot (she is always looking around for her , especially when I say “Mama.” These past few days have been among the most rewarding of my life. Tzofia and I are pretty tight. We speak our own language (people think I’m insane), have a mutual respect for both Salacious B. Crumb and Ghoel the Wol Cabashite (Jabba’s minions who sit on the bookcase and with whom we bid goodnight to every night), love music and enjoy each other’s company tremendously. Tzofie has been saying Dada fairly frequently lately (Much to my dismay Nighthawk never really caught on) but for the past two mornings she has woken up in a joyous mood. This morning was a real treat. I heard movement in her room and she began calling for me with obvious excitement in her voice. I walked in and she was standing in her crib for the first time. When she saw me she gave me the biggest smile, yelled “Dada” really loudly and reached for me. I really don’t know how to say this without being sounding absurdly cliché and incredibly cheesy but it was a defining moment and a major turning point in our relationship. I feel closer to her than ever and can’t wait for Ziva to get back already to share in my joy and rejoin the family lovefest. And to change the nasty poop filled morning diapers. That would be helpful as well.

Thinking about heading out soon to blow some cash (actually a gift card) on a new digital camera for the lady (she needs one for her blog) and a pair of bluetooth earphones for myself. There is a Target next door so I’m sure I’ll walk about with a bunch of crap I don’t need. Like a bucket of milk duds.