Play Eats: Melissa and Doug play foods review

We have several sets of Melissa and Doug foods. We started with the Cutting Fruits box and then split the Cutting Foods box with my niece (I mentioned before the carrot that I thought was a hot dog creeping me out). While their products are now made in China (some people have a problem with that), I do trust that this company is safe. Everything in these two sets is wooden and I did expect some of the paint to wear off (although it's really not bad at all considering how much use these have gotten). The velcro that holds the sections together is strong and we haven't had any problems. I don't have any problems with either of these sets (or any other Melissa and Doug items we have). I do see different levels of quality with different items, however. The watermelon seems to be made of a much softer, lighter wood and some of the foods have much less detail than others. Overall, for the price, these sets can not be beat. Some craft stores even carry this brand. Top a 40% or 50% off coupon to that and you can really get a bargain. Also check stores like TJ Maxx.

Our favorite set, by far, is these Bake and Decorate cupcakes. I got these from Amazon this Christmas during one of their daily deals for $10. They are awesome. The little icing tops are made of plastic and the tubes of icing are actually dry erase markers. These have kept the toddler busy for hours. As long as you erase with a paper towel shortly after decorating, these clean very easily. The first time we used them we left the marker on overnight and we had to really rub to get it off. The velcro patches hold wooden candles but we never use them. I had thought I might sew some felt berries to use instead but, well, that hasn't happened yet.

The Verdict: Melissa and Doug foods are good quality toys at an excellent price point. If you can catch these on sale, even better. They hold up well to heavy play and are good for a variety of ages. Most of the food sets come in a little crate which is excellent for storing other stuff.

For the rest of Play Eats, click here.

Play Eats: Garden Fresh Fruits and Veggies play food review

We bought this set (brand uncertain) because they are called "peel-able." We really liked the idea of being able to learn about how the fruits and veggies have layers and the peas seemed cool. While the pea pod certainly is one of the best parts of this set, the veggies aren't "peel-able." You can pull apart the pieces but the plastic is hard, and peeling implies some flexibility.

So this set was not used for the first year we had it because it was just a hot mess for chubby hands. Now that Z is almost 3, it's getting a lot of use. The only odd thing is that the scale of these pieces, while play scale, is not relative to the other pieces in the same set. They are otherwise very realistic: the peach has a pit (painted), and the orange has sections.

The verdict: We paid almost $20 for this set. It's now down to just over $15 at Amazon and eligible for free prime shipping so an excellent deal. It comes with a knife and an adorable little canvas bag. In a year of heavy use, nothing has broken and everything is still looking quite new.

Play Eats: Haba play food review

Overall, I'm impressed with the quality of Haba play foods.  I bought these "dog dogs" for Z for Christmas. I also bought a cute set of biscuits for my niece (also ten bucks).  Both sets are very nice and the tins are a nice bonus. I've also seen Haba foods at fancypants toy stores in the bigger cities that we visit and they are well made, some of felt, some of wood.

But seriously? These sets were ten bucks.  Each. 10 bucks? I photographed these with the quarter so you can see how small they are. Amazon sells a potato for 5 dollars. One potato. That's just not in my budget.

The fault isn't entirely on Haba, however. The website I bought them from (a site that has a bunch of similarly overpriced kids stuff) did not include the size. But I've never seen play foods this small so in my mind, they were much larger. (Note: The Haba foods not in tins seem to be more realistic to a play food scale).

The verdict: I feel that there are a lot of companies making play foods that are at much much better price points with similar quality and better scale. But if you are looking for quality over price or any other factor, go for Haba.

Play Eats: Beautiful Felt Eggs

Katie of Hippos and Dinosaurs brings Play Eats to the next level today with a Felt Egg tutorial. You can "decorate" them for Easter or just make them white for your kitchen. She has even uploaded a pattern that you can print out. Katie is super talented and her blog is full of great projects that you can make for your kids.

I know that a lot of readers don't have sewing machines (or don't want to lug them out of the closet) and this is a project that can all be done by hand. In our kitchen we just have a couple of plastic eggs from last Easter and although they are cheap and easy (I even included them in the repurposing post), they are really hard for Z to open and close. I'm thinking when I make these, I might leave a seam open but finished so that we can hide things inside. What do you think?

Click over to Hippos and Dinosaurs for the full tutorial and pattern. Don't miss this play loaf of bread or the rest of her felt food tutorials.

Thanks so much to Katie for stitching up this awesome post. Of course, all photos are courtesy of Hippos and Dinosaurs.

Play Eats: Whip up a batch of fabric pretzels

Today's awesome guest post is courtesy of Jess from Craftiness is Not Optional. She has done some amazing tutorials on her blog so I was so excited that she agreed to design something new for Play Eats.

These fabric pretzels look super cool but look how easy she makes it. They are a really great idea. My kid is starting to get into junk food (we've been lucky enough to hide it from her for a long time) so these are on the radar.

Click over for the full tutorial.

Thanks so much to Jess for baking up this batch. Make sure you check out her other play food tutorials here and these awesome upcycled kitchen canisters. She is super talented.

All photos courtesy of Jess.

Play Eats: Sew Some Pots and Pans!

Today the amazing Sabra of Sew a Straight Line brings you a tutorial on how to sew a set of pots and pans for your play kitchen. I seriously don't know how she comes up with these clever ideas. She does such a good job writing tutorials that her projects become super easy.

Check out these action shots! Clearly, her boys are psyched to have such a fabulous and talented mom.

It makes me want to have a boy. Maybe.

For the complete tutorial, click here. I think I might just make some of these to store stuff!

Photos courtesy of Sabra and her boys (who appear to be wearing cooking related shirts!). Thanks so much for participating in Play Eats!

Play Eats: PBK Play Kitchen review

There are a ton of play kitchens out there and in every price range imaginable. PROJECT : project correspondent, Carolyn, who you know from her amazing nursery furniture rehab project (original post here), has offered up her Pottery Barn Kids play kitchen for review:

My daughter's play kitchen began with one consignment store purchase made by my mom, before my daughter was a year old.  She picked up the Pottery Barn Kids Classic Kitchen Stove for $40 and it came with pots, utensils and oven mitts and potholders.  It is the perfect size for smaller kids- my daughter was able to pull up and play on it before she was walking and she still loves it at 3 years old. It is very sturdy and all of the knobs turn and the timer/clock clicks when you turn it. My parents added to her kitchen collection the following Christmas and bought her the matching fridge. It was very exciting for Eloise to have such a large package on Christmas morning and the fridge was an immediate hit.

Pottery Barn Kids had discontinued making the Classic Kitchen pieces, but brought them back for the 2009 Holiday Season.  We live very close to a PBK store my mom bought it there when it initially went on sale and then had the price adjusted after it was marked down again to $99. Which I don't think is a bad price for a new non-plastic/non-particleboard play kitchen piece. I love that it came fully assembled!

I had looked into having a fridge made by someone on Etsy and the total cost including shipping would have been more than $99. Even though PBK is not a local business, they do have a store less than 5 miles from our home, which serves as a great pit-stop/play area when we have to go to the mall.  Both pieces are very sturdy and well made.  I like that the pieces are heavy and stable enough to withstand being pulled up onto by smaller children.  The fridge came with a "tip resistant kit" so I guess if we were better parents we could have attached it to the wall, but we have never had any mishaps.  The doors have magnetic closures and both have withstood being pushed upon and are still very sturdy. The appliances are constructed from wood for the frames, handles, knobs, etc. and MDF for the panels. It would be great if they were all wood, but the MDF is definitely nicer than plastic and particle board that many play kitchens are constructed from. The pieces are very simply designed and don't have any extra decoration, which is nice. Even though there is a lot of pink on the icebox and a few pink touches on the stove the boys that visit our house love to play in the kitchen.

The stove was in good condition when my mom bought it, but there was some wear on the faucet. The stove with its knobs, faucet and stove elements has been exposed to a lot more play than the fridge. I have noticed that that kitchen sets now sold at Pottery Barn Kids have metal faucets, not wood. The use of metal pots on the stove has probably added to the wear. Overall we have been very pleased with both pieces.

Thanks so much to Carolyn for this very thorough review! Of course, all pictures are courtesy of Carolyn and her son who is demonstrating that even boys can play with a kitchen too. Even though the set is discontinued, it attests to the quality of a PBK piece and all will help as these kitchen sets are going to be popping up on Craig's List all the time as kids grow out of them.