It seems there is a never-ending supply of the hutch part of dressers at Goodwill, thrift stores and on the side of the road. After driving by a curbside hutch for days I finally hauled it into my mini van totally unsure of what I would transform it into. I love providing opportunities for imaginary play for my kids. This puppet theater/snack shop is the perfect prop for hours of fun for them.
* This is a repost from September of 2009*
This is what it looked like when I found it. I was in okay shape. It was dirty and nasty but it seemed well constructed and it had a fun shape to it.
Supply List:
Old Hutch
Paint
Primer
Scrap wood (I used plywood)
Circular saw or Jigsaw
Screws
5/8” drill bit
5/8” dowel rod
fabric and sewing machine to sew curtains
chalkboard paint
trim
Liquid Nails
sandpaper
electric drill
hammer
thin nails
miter box and saw
1. After I cleaned it I took off the backer board. It wasn’t stable enough to handle my crazy kids so I knew I had to stabilize it somehow. I got out some scraps of plywood and measured the width of the hutchy thing and that is how wide the top of my parallelogram is. Then I widened the bottom to give it the stability it needed.
2. Using a circular saw, I cut out two of them and screwed them into the sides of the hutch. This provided the stability it needed, it definitely isn’t tipping over.
3. Then I used a 5/8″ drill bit I drilled holes in the sides and inserted a 5/8″ dowel rod (cut to size) for the curtains to hang from.
4. Next I sanded the whole piece down and gave it a coat of primer followed by two coats of red paint.
5. Then I decided to to use the backer board as a chalkboard on the front. I cut it down using a utility knife since it was just a thin wood composite. After primering it and painting it with chalkboard paint I nailed it in place with thin brad nails.
Then I laid it out in place to make sure it looked perfect..and it did!
7. I sprayed the molding with black spray paint. Since there wasn’t anywhere to nail it in, I used Liquid Nails and clamped it in place. Some of the glue oozed out but I just touched it up after it was dry.
8. I made little curtains out of fabric I had on hand and hung them from the dowel rod.
and a snack shop…
You don’t need a hutch type thing for this project. Any small book shelf would work. This one I used an old laminate shelf and just propped it up higher.
Bookcases are perfect for this project because you have the shelves in the back to store stuff…
Do you love trash to treasure type projects? Want to see more. Click here to see more Roadkill Rescue projects.
