Monthly Archives: April 2010

Food Glorious Food: Easy Bake Oven

Vintage Toys + Fun Stuff,

Kids, today’s my birthday.

Now, a lady doesn’t tell her age (bats eyelashes, smiles coyly…) but I can reminisce over past birthdays and what wonderful times I’ve had. I’m fortunate to not really need or want anything but when I was a kid, there was always one thing that made the list up until my 21st birthday.

An Easy Bake Oven.


image: Shazam791

Yes friends, the Easy Bake Oven, the queen of all vintage food toys (with the Snoopy Snow Cone machine in a gracious second place.)

I remember telling my parents—don’t think of this as much as a present for me, but an investment in my future as a bakery tycoon.  With this one machine, I had not only culinary dreams to live out, but an ability to turn this plastic encased light-bulb into my own baking empire. Watch our Mrs. Fields, Miss Dottie will take the helm!  Every chat with Santa, every birthday–heck, I’d even hit up the tooth fairy if need be–the wish was always for an Easy Bake Oven. But did I get it as a kid? Sadly no.  Boxed sets of Nancy Drew mysteries, yes. New pajamas, yes. But Easy Bake oven? No.

For some reason my parents didn’t buy me any fun cooking toys.  I do remember the toy ironing set they gave me (?), but no cooking toys, which is weird since I loved making mud pies galore as a child and was desperate to help my mom in the kitchen but was normally relegated to setting the dining room table. FIE!

This little lady knows she’s  THE LUCKIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD with her sweet Easy Bake Oven. Awww yeah!


image: Homemakers.com Dana McCauley

This is the version I lusted after in my younger days, the groovy plaid seventies version.  How rad would a plaid oven be today?


image: Squidoo

Oh—check this out—remember that pushing thingy? Awww yeah! And I love the cover of instruction manual for the EBO (Easy Bake Oven).  Could it be possible for that little girl to crank out all those baked goods from her old skool EBO in the aqua.  Wait a sec–are those pretzels? And is that a red velvet cake up front?


image: MirandaCeleste

To be fair, the actually baked goods that came out of the EBO weren’t all that good. Let’s just say in a world where Magnolia Bakery set the bar for cupcakes, I fear the EBO creations wouldn’t score that high.  I wonder how many Dad’s gagged down those little cakes out of pure love for their daughters?  I love this lucky little girl rocking not only the EBO but the sassy red tights and dress combo!


image: ScorpionsBB

Oh what love I had for that Easy Bake Oven. The dreams.  The wonder.  I wonder what the Peach will love? Perhaps something like this:

Happy Monday!

We have a wiener–I mean Winner!

Uncategorized

Congrats, Flo! You are the winner of our klt:works giveaway!

I must say this has been such a great giveaway and I think we are all big fans of klt:works and all of her gorgeous goodies from t-shirts to mobiles and all sorts of good stuff in between.

Enjoy your yummy stuffed little friend and awesome t-shirt, Flo and thanks for becoming a fan of Modern Kiddo!

Happy Friday everyone and have a terrific fun filled weekend!

Kiddo Rooms :: Georgia’s Darling Retro Nursery.

Best of Dottie, Kiddo Rooms, , , , ,

Oh me oh my! Oh my oh me. So last week I showed you a darling nursery that incorporated GREY WALLS. (Yep, it sounds unusual but trust me, everyone flipped for it, it was THAT GOOD!) This week I thought it would be fun to take a peek at another nursery. The twist?  Those pretty robin’s egg blue walls belong to a little girl!

This sweet room is a special one because it belongs to my clever partner in crime here at Modern Kiddo—Miss Dottie! Well technically it belongs to her darling little girl Georgia (she, of the legendary 99 cent jumpers!). I really love the color palette: pale blue with bold red accents. Soothingly calm-yet-feisty and fun. Hmmm, kinda like Dottie! I think you guys are going to love the fun vintage touches in here.

Remember what I said about hanging old vinyl on the wall? Check out those red vinyl 45s! Add in a little dressie and you have some fabulous wall decor!

I love the sweet 40s/ 50s influence in here—from the little clothing on the wall to the playful flag banner running around the perimeter of the room. Also love the quirky modern touches like those fun plasticky flowers on the wall. So great!


Ach du lieber! Zis cuckoo clock ist wunderbar!!!



Again, LOVE those vintage records on the wall. You’ll also notice some old skool Fisher Price and a fabulous Irmi storybook lamp (which we profiled a while back!).

I am obsessed with vintage suitcases so you can imagine my squeal of delight when I saw that saucy stack of red lovelies! How great are they? They are resting on top of Georgia’s “closet”. Dottie took her old office cabinet and transformed it into a a wee armoire. Super clever, lady!

And of course it wouldn’t be Modern Kiddo if we didn’t take a Vintage Kiddo peek into that awesome closet. Um, the gingham hat bloodhound?? What what WHAT?? Dying.

Thanks little Georgia for sharing with us your stylish and adorable space!

Change of Seasons. Change of Wardrobe.

Things We Like

This weekend, I plan to officially move the Peach’s winter outfits out her dresser and closet and into storage. I’m sure everyone Back East is already packing up their winter clothes to make room for the pretty pastels and short pants of summer. But before we pack up all of our winter wear, I’d love to hear what clothes got you through the winter with your little one.

For me, it was a gift from my friend Dana of five little fleece jumpers in fun solid colors that the Peach wore pretty much every day.

Best thing about  these little jumpers—they  cost 99 cents each from the local 99 cent store.

I also bought two fleece jumpers from the Gap on sale for $5.00 each. Paired with leggings and a long sleeved onesie, well, that was the Peach this winter.

So much for super fancy, but I think the Peach rocks them anyway! Now I’m ready for her to show off her Target Liberty of London haul in a big way this summer.

What got you through your winter? What was your kiddo clothing savior? An extra jolly pair of boots?  The  snuggliest legwarmers you hand knit yourself? That great pink gear furry snowsuit from L.L. Bean?

And what are you excited about dressing your little ones in now that it is warmer weather? We’d love to share your clothing cleverness with everyone!

MODERN KIDDO TIP: Cuteness can be found anywhere, you just have to keep your eyes peeled! Who would have imagined the 99 cent store would yield such awesomeness?

Dottie’s Kraft Korner

Crafts + DIY, ,

Well crafty cuties out there, it’s time for another:

This is an extra special one because it features my all time favorite blogger Alicia Paulson, whose snuggly blog, Posie Gets Cozy is such a wonderful crafty way to spend a few moments of your day.  Oh mercy–how I adore this blog!  It is the blog equivalent of hot chocolate and warm buttered toast.  And delights of delights–Alicia and her darling husband Andy are hoping to adopt one very lucky little girl!

How lucky is this girl, you might ask? Lucky enough to have a gorgeous wardrobe that Alicia is making for her little one.  Turns out our dear heroine set her crafty cap on sewing the “Most Adorable Baby Wardrobe in the Whole Wide World” and I must admit, I think she’s meeting her goal. Pulling dress ideas from all sorts of sources–from Japanese craft books to childhood reads to vintage patterns to favorite artists–and yet it all feels perfectly well matched together like any good wardrobe should be.

Let’s take a little look inside this sweet baby girl’s closet and check out Alicia’s home sewn goodness. All of the photos are taken by Alicia herself.

I love a good calico print of wee roses–like this darling dressie called, “Little Prairie” would totally work on Laura Ingalls.  OK–could I take a moment to talk about how much I loved Little House on the Prairie?  My obsession led to a job at Old Sturbridge Village later in life milking cows and cooking over an open fire. (That is another story best told over drinks…)

But back to the dresses. Like this citrusy ray of smocked sunshine Alicia calls “Lemon Layer Cake“.  I can’t get over the smocking. The hand smocking. And the little pink flowers in the hand smocking. Wow. Just wow.

This one is my favorites called Bouillabaisse.  Who doesn’t love a good ruddy tomato red? And mix it with bias tape–well color me yours! What I particularly love about this is that Alicia bought the fabric from Goodwill along with a matching hardcover copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking covered with its signature fleur de lis.  And thanks for hipping me to Swedish tracing paper. Is there nothing that isn’t awesome that comes out of Sweden?

And back with the hand smocking on this pretty dottie dress Alicia calls “Watermelon smock“. I love this contemporary take on a dress that would have been at home at the turn of the last century.

The Strawberry Ruffle dress is so springy and sweet and includes an APRON. If this isn’t something that Anne of Green Gables would have worn, well, I don’t know what is!

Me thinks I am not alone in my love of all things Swedish. Clearly Alicia has been bitten by that bug if she is creating such a endearing dress as this one called “Swedish Sunshine“. I love how she’s paired lace with the gingham. Well played, Alicia!

Oh, but this is just the start of a very wonderful journey of sewing for her baby and beyond.

Good luck Alicia with your impending mommyhood! May it be full of sweet little sugarfoots that must be kissed and tickled and fluffy baby hair. And pigtails and giggles and dresses dresses dresses.  And thank you for sharing your dresses and dreams with us!