DIY play kitchen hanging sign inspiration

The girls' play kitchen is tucked into a corner of our living room and always seems a little lonely amidst all the "real" furniture. So I decided to make a hanging sign to add some life to the blank wall above the kitchen and transform the beloved toy into a tea shop. (The shop motto is "Bate, bate chocolate!" which means: "Stir, stir the chocolate!" It's a quote from a Dora the Explorer, which Cricket always says while mixing concoctions in the kitchen.) Here's how to make a hanging sign for your budding entrepreneurs. 

Supplies:
2 dowels (cut slightly wider than the sign)
Ribbon
Fabric
Hammer
Nail

Optional:
Sewing machine for hem
iPad/computer/Photoshop or other design program

I drew the tea cup on my iPad using Paper 53, then added the border and text on my computer using Photoshop. I sized the file (18x21 inches) so I could make the sign by ordering one "fat quarter" of fabric from Spoonflower.  To simplify, you could skip this step and draw the sign by hand.

When the fabric arrived, I hemmed the edges with my sewing machine, leaving a narrow pocket on the top and bottom to slide the dowels in. I cut the dowels (okay, okay, I had Jeff cut them) so they were about 1-1.5 inches wider than the sign on each side. Then I put a nail in the wall, tied the ribbon onto each side of the top dowel and played around with the ribbon length until I had it right. Et voila: a hanging sign!

Click here for more DIY ideas. You can also check out my Getting crafty and Activities for little ones Pinterest boards.