Assorted Fake Drinks for a Play Kitchen

What youll need:Styrofoam cupsThin cardboardFelt, fabric or cellophaneWhite gue When I was a kid my sisters and I played for hours in our pretend kitchen. Mostly, we had play foods to lay on play dishes, but on occasion, my Mom would bring us some real beverages or foods to "play with". Of course, we gobbled up the goodies, but in the meanwhile, we pretended to cook and serve them. But, sadly, and eventually, we had to resort back to the pretend items. Nowadays, creative people have come up with all sorts of ways to make fake foods and such for a pretend kitchen.

Its really easy to make a variety of beverages when you use common things. You dont have to be an expert crafter to make them, either. One way to make a fake beverage is to start with a Styrofoam cup. Turn it upside-down and draw around it onto a piece of thin cardboard. Cut a tad off the circle, all the way around, to make it just slightly smaller in diameter than the cup.

Cut a circle of dark brown or black fabric or felt. The circle of felt should be a bit larger than the cardboard circle. Lay the fabric over the cardboard circle then push it, covered side first, into the cup. This is done only to ensure that the piece will fit in the cup after the fabric is glued on. If not, trim the cardboard a bit more. When youre sure of the fit, glue the felt onto the cardboard, and glue the edges of the felt to the backside of the cardboard. Apply white glue all the way around the edge of the covered circle. Push the piece into the Styrofoam cup until it is wedged. Make sure that the piece is sitting level then allow the glue to dry. You can use other colors of felt or fabric, in the same manner as the coffee above, to make lemonade, soda or other beverages. Or, instead of felt or fabric try colored cellophane. When you wrap cellophane around a cardboard circle, then push it into a Styrofoam cup, you can make more colorful, sparkly drinks. You dont necessarily have to use Styrofoam cups to make play drinks. Use coffee cups, drinking glasses and other things - as long as theyre unbreakable. If you can see through the glass, fill it with wadded paper, quilt batting or other lightweight materials before gluing in the fabric-covered, cardboard circle. It only takes a few minutes to make each beverage, and since it is so addictive to make pretend drinks, your daughter will soon have many. Now all shes waiting on is a few "customers" to show!