Thursday 21 March 2013

DIY: Play vet kit.


My daughter has an abundance of stuffed animals, lots and lots and lots of them. She is rather fond of caring for them, so I figured what better to make her than her very own play vet kit. Here is what I whipped up for her, I feel it has all the essentials any young vet may require, and it only took a couple of days nap times to put together.  

Vet kit essentials:
Vet-esque tabbard. (With vet badge, red cross logo and pocket). 
Vet head wear. (Mirrored/ light thingy... OK I admit I have no idea what it really is).
Pet bed. (For poorly sick animals to rest).
Clipboard, medical notes and pen. (Ever so important).
Stethoscope.
Thermometer.
Pills.
Syringe.
Bandage.
Water bowl. (Integral again)
Fish and bone. (Animal food to make them strong).

Essentials:

So how I made it... The tabbard and basket were both made from various coloured felts and the black and white fabric is cotton (from Ikea). I sewed it using embroidery thread. The basket base is stuffed with fleece. (The animals need comfort of course). The head wear comprises a disc of felts attached onto a loop of thick elastic. The fish and bone are felt and embroidery thread, stuffed with cardboard, and a googly eye glued on. The bowl is a used food container (nato bean soup if you wanted to know) covered in washi tape with a felt cross. The pills, syringe and bandage are from my medicine box. The stethoscope and thermometer are from a nurses costume (she has another doctors kit so I put this aside) and the clipboard is roughly an a5 piece of hardboard, sanded. A wooden clothes peg was glued on, with washi tape on top of that. The medical notes I drew, then popped into photoshop to add the text. I can keep printing these out as she uses it. She's learning to write at the moment so she loves filling out these. Naturally I have made it all colour match, as I like a bit of colour matching and it is all based around the stethoscope and thermometer which I had first.

Basket and contents:


The kit has found a home in this lovely basket from a play tea set, contents of which have been a long time AWOL. I popped a felt red cross of the front with fabric glue and bonus... it colour coordinates too, perfecto. The whole kit didn't cost me a bean as it was all from bits and bobs I amassed from around the house, but if you wished to make one yourself, I think it would not cost much at all. I have seen stethoscope/ thermometer sets in Pound land.

Clipboard with note detail:

Here is the clipboard which the little lady has filled out one patients details. Poor thing having that condition EEEOEOO, sounds dreadful. ha ha. She is into repeating letters.

Waiting room:

The little lady has made a permanent waiting room in one corner of her room. and note the arrival of the pet carrier, which we have since picked up in a charity shop for £2, bargain and perfect vet accessory. 

Recuperating:

Poorly animals, lucky they have such delicious looking food to make them better.

Uncreased:

and I have included this last photo just to show the tabbard prior to it becoming ever so creased. This was a work in progress shot, I actually took so many photos of this set up until now but each time I missed one item out and then had to redo it. Typical. My next goal is to get an actual photo of the little lady playing with the kit, I can assure you she does, little chap too, and it is greatly enjoyed, but can I get a photo? No. She is so not into photos at the moment. So anyhow once I do I will add it onto the post. I wouldn't hold your breath.


Cost: Free.
Supplies: Felts, cotton, embroidery threads and elastic to make all the fabric items, using relevant tools. All else from rummages through toy boxes and medical box.
Time taken: 2 x morning nap times= 5 hours.

So I hope you like it, if you have any comments or suggestions for the kit please feel free to share. And if you would like a detailed instruction of any items I would be happy to share. 

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