Monthly Archives: June 2010

Widdle Wednesdays: Kiddo's First Birthday


If you’ve been around Camp Kiddo for a while, then you already know all about our conflicted stance on The First Birthday. On the one hand….your child is ONE, my friends. Will they reeeeeally remember (or even care?) that you personally captured marzipan owls from the sugar plum forest and handcrafted 73 different types of petit fours to replicate an authentic Parisian patisserie for the dessert table? Mmm. Prolly not.

Then again, HALLELUJAH sistah! you made it past the first year raising your beloved child and YOU DESERVE TO HAVE AN AWESOME BLOWOUT TO COMMEMORATE A YEAR OF NO SLEEP AND POOPY DIAPERS! We like to think of the First Year Birthday Party as more an homage to the parents. And frankly, I can’t resist a good party…soooooo guess what? We’re going to check out some awesome little parties today. Whoo hoo!

First up? Sebastian’s Spectacular Sailor birthday. I feel like parent’s of boys need to be even more creative than girls when it comes to parties. For some reason most people think little boys are all about dump trucks and dinosaurs and little girls get most of the sassy SWAG. That’s why I was totally head over heels when I saw this little man’s gorgeous fete over at Twig and Thistle.


Sebastian’s mother is graphic designer extraordinaire, Katie Phipps. I thought this little crafty invite was just amazing.

Ahoy matey….the lovely Katie made all the decorations herself. I love the nautical flag banners and thought the simple newspaper hats were  crazy charming (and who doesn’t love to wear a fun paper hat, I ask ya?).

Hand crafted pom pom tissue flowers add lots of color—and are really fun-n-easy to make.

Mmmmm. I love Swedish fish and these made a super cute cupcake topped—I think I might even like them better than the fancy shark! But of course the best part was little Sebastian himself, in his vintage sailor suit.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweet Sebastian! Yer mama did ya proud! To see even more of this adorable party, please swing by Twig and Thistle.

OK, next up we have something completely different:

Aubrey’s Milk and Cookies Birthday Party
Everyone knows cupcakes are hot, but really nothing beats the most basic, delectable cookie. I’m really loving the new trend of throwing Milk & Cookie Parties and I was completely taken with Anne Power’s amazing First Birthday for her little girl Aubrey.

I thought this was an especially clever idea: the party favours were little mini Frappuccino bottles, turned into milk jugs—served on ice, of course. Also, can we please discuss how awesome Baby Aubrey’s mock-cookie “Smash Cake” is??

Anne explains:

“The favor bottles were re-purposed Frappuccino bottles. I washed them and removed the labels. The lids were kind of tricky to get completely clean – some elbow grease needed for sure. I printed new labels for both the side and lid. I used 1% milk for 1st birthday – get it!? I also used the bigger side label to thank the guests for coming. Attached to the bottles were little bags of cookies and a brown and white pattern straw.”

Anne offers up this great tip: LAMINATE all your bottle signage! When you’re tucking bottles into ice, the condensation will turn your labels to mush in no time.

Mmmm. Is it wrong that when looking at all these pictures I just want to holler, “MMMMmmm COOKIE, cookie cookie cookie cookie!!!!” in a Cookie Monster voice??

Such a sweet day….and I have to say Anne’s little girl Aubrey is crazy cute—check her out in her little polka dot dressie!

I think what I love best about this party is that you can go as fancy or as simple as you like. Sure the cake and all those details were spectacular, but you could easily create a totally delicious simple cookie bar with a big tub of mini milk cartons too. Have you thrown (or been to) any creative kiddo birthday parties lately? Please let us know!

To see more of Anne’s fun designs, and get even more details on this party, be sure to swing by her blog A Party Style. Thank you Anne for sharing sweet Aubrey’s day with us.

OH and PS…..don’t forget that this whole post is coming from the woman who SKIPPED HER SON’S BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR. Yes, poor Wolfie never had a party this year, so I’m officially giving you license to not do much of anything when that first birthday rolls around. I promise you, your bebe will NEVER remember….and when you tell him or her that you rented a flying dragon/unicorn for their first birthday, Dottie and I will TOTALLY back you up.

Widdle Wednesdays: Sassy Swimsuits for Babies.

Yes, my friends, it is that special time of the week:

I know we are already in swimsuit season, but I’m always looking for a good sale in July before the stock goes way down and can be enjoyed throughout the summer.

There is something so cuddly and cute about these  vintage styled swimsuit from May Oleon or should I say “Modern Kiddo Heaven”.  They have quite a few charmers like this one to choose from at Meme du Pariel.

A is for apple–but I think in this darling swimsuit I think it stands for awesome! And the fact that it comes with a matching swim cap.  Well, excuse me for a moment while I buy this one. From My Rocking Wardrobe.

You gotta love Old Navy for combining great style with great prices. And in the swimwear department they do not disappoint.

I’ve written about the extreme cuteness of Pink Chicken swimsuits in the past, but I haven’t written about them being on sale at ChiChi Bean.

With the name Dottie, you know I got a thing for polkadots, so when I saw this little dotty gem from Banana Cabana I had to giggle with delight and include it in our round up. And TuttiBella has them on sweet sweet sale to boot!

Quicksilver is a great brand for boys swim trunks and I’m totally crushing on this lightly tiki inspired goodies that are now on sale at Honey & Heroes.

Although I’ve been passing some of the cutest swimsuits ever at Target, I’m happy to say, they still have a grand selection and at great prices too.  For boys and girls!

These  koi trunks from Moster Republic will have Daddio wanting a pair in his size. Too bad–all this cool fashion is for the under one set.  And on sale right now at ArtBebe.

My friend Meredith calls  her sweet fair-skinned little one her sweet little piece of chalk.  For these little ones, coverage is key.  Fortunately idat has these terrific sunsuits that keep little ones skin safe from the harsh rays of the sun.

And Euro favorite, Boden is having a sale on some sweet baby swimwear too–like these great lobster swim trunks and these button koot swim pants. With the ruffle. And a full belly.

Even the most pristine penny pincher needs to splurge every now and then–so why not on one of these swimsuits from Floatimini.  I just can’t resist a ruffly bottom. Can you?

What is your little  wearing when they hop in the pool this summer? Do you know of any good baby swimwear sales?

Brilliant Giveaway—from Draw Pilgrim!

If Alix and I are the masterminds behind ModernKiddo, then Pilgrim is our outward smile. The reason you probably stayed past your first glance and hopefully read on for a bit.

You see, Pilgrim made the ModernKiddo logo and for that we are eternally grateful. She captured our hearts in graphic design and was the spark that started it all for us.  But now you can have that smile too. Did you know Pilgrim has a grand Etsy shop full of graphic go-go goodness that you can happily get your hot little hands on fer yourself? Yup–she does, AND with her help, we are giving away a wonderful $50 gift certificate to Pilgrim’s  Etsy shop so you can splurge and bring a bit of down under goodness from Pilgrim for yourself.

Alix hipped me to the amazing  Aussie graphic artist, Pilgrim, awhlie ago and I just fell head over heels for Pilgrim’s deliciously fun style and highly addicted blog, Draw Pilgrim.   She is also clearly one of the sweetest as well as most talented ladies out there.

Her style is a big bear-hug to my favorite and most delightful parts of the sixties and seventies.  I crave her joyous and colorful designs on a gray day. Or a day when I want to smile. Or actually any day.

I mean, how could you not smile when you see this matroyshka card?

Don’t you want to choo choo choose this widdle train full of circus animals?

And let’s not even get started on her utterly brilliant alphabet series that should be in every little cherubs room?

Mmmhmmm… Exactly.  Pilgrim is one talented lady.

Now, how do you win this wonderful giveaway, you ask as you wipe the drool off of your computer screen from looking at all of these wonderful bits of beauty from Pilgrim?

Enter by doing any of the following:

  • For one entry, add Pilgrim to your Twitterfeed. Trust me, she’s a most charming twitterer, so you’ll enjoy her on your feed!
  • For another entry, leave a comment on Draw! Pilgrim and tell her we sent you! You’ll be utterly smitten with her blog.
  • For a bonus entry, and of course only if you agree, click on the SocialLuxe 2010 BlogLuxe Awards and vote for ModernKiddo under Best Eye Candy Award. Whoohoo! Then leave us a comment, so we know you did it.  It’s the black top button in the far left column. It can be done once a day, so if you do it on another day, leave a comment on MK and we’ll count that as an extra entry.

Thank you Pilgrim for giving my heart a home here at ModernKiddo. You took our sweetest dreams and changed our lives with five smiling kiddos that makes me raise my hand to my heart with joy every time I click our URL.

Good luck and hurrah for Pilgrim!

Vintage Kiddo Retro Roundup

Oh Monday, I know you are not the most popular day of the week.  People dread you and even the Bangles wrote a song about what a rough day you are. But fret not, friends—I have rounded up a love bouquet of vintage goodness for you all to chase away any Monday moodiness! Hurrah!

This little dress is perfect for a sweet summer day, don’t you agree? And that little ruffle is so on trend, don’t you think?

Great find from Dirty Birdies Vintage!

Speaking of summer, I am head over heels for rompers or jonjons. They are so nice and light and keep the Peach cool on the most sweltering days. And this jaunty sailor romper is a grand one for this summer.

From: Recy.

And RocketGirl hipped me to another fabulous seer sucker one, but I can’t find the link. Miss Jody would you mind posting it? It is so darn cute with a carrot on it.  UPDATE: Found it! Voila!

From the fabulous vintage trunks of Phofer

Jeans and little boys just seem to go together, but it’s nice to mix things up a bit of pattern. Like these sweet plaid pants. Imagine with a pair of converse and a cool Threadless t-shirt.

I like your style Oakmom!

I love these little darling blue leather shoes!  Imagine them with some homemade shoe laces made out of pretty flower  bias tape, eh?

The Peach has a true love of kitties, as many little girls do—so I know this charming little jumper will go fast. It’s KITTYTASTIC!

I’m crazy about this terrific boho embroidered shirt.  It could so easily be dressed up or down–imagine with a great little skirt in a matroyshka print or even just with jeans.

You kill me, Apple Vintage with these great finds!

I don’t know why, but I just can’t say no to some vintage country goodness–like this nice and large size 14 vintage cowboy theme shirt, featuring cati and cowboys.  It’s made out of canvas, so it could be a really cool summer jacket for a boy (or a rather petite lady)…

From the fabulous Stiletto Girl Etsy shop.

If your kiddo loves dinosaurs (and really, what kid doesn’t) this groovy green sweater would be a great buy!  I don’t know what kind of dinosaur this is, but I think itsa kickassasaurus?

Lishyloo, you have done it again. It is taking ALL OF MY ENERGY not to buy this one myself.  Truly, I must love you readers something fierce because this little dress is just too good to be true with a lion tamer on it.  I wonder what the designer was thinking…”Hmmm… instead of doing a lion, I’m going to do a lion tamer…yeah…” And the red piping that just makes me nearly weak in the knees.  Please someone buy it and then post a photo of your little one in it.

From everyone’s favorite LishyLoo!

I think every boy should know how to tie a tie.  Actually, I think every girl should know how to do it too.  But I think these already-tied vintage ties for little boys are quite genius!  Those prints are just shy of spectacular.

From Etsy Shop LillyQueenVintage.

And one last bonus item that is just too good to not post.  And I must say, I picked this out after reading about Birdie’s new glasses.  As a girl who has worn glasses since I was in second grade and as an adult who owns probably a more than a dozen of vintage frames, I think it is never too early to start  mini myopics out there on the right path—with an awesome pair of glasses. Like these from Midstatevintage.

I hope you had a lovely lovely weekend. And remember: THREE. DAY. WEEKEND!!!

Oh, and for any of our new-found fabulous friends from the EVO conference, stay tuned—we are planning a darn-tootin-rip-roaring wrap up some time this week.

Meet Maya! Our Weekly Kiddo

Greetings from Park City, Utah my friends. Wait, what….Utah?? Yup, Dottie and I have hit the road where we are at the fabulous EVO Evolution of Women in Social Media conference. Dottie and I are actually both speaking (on two different panels) and we are so thrilled to be here. Park City is pretty gorgeous and the weather is perfectamundo…..take THAT freezing cold San Francisco summer!! We are having a blast (tons of amazing and inspiring people here) and we’ll give ya a full report on Monday. But today is Friday and that means it’s WEEKLY KIDDO time!

This week we have a special little girl allllll the way from Australia. In fact, she kind of resembles our little Modern Kiddo logo a bit.  Her mum is the wildly talented Kate Vale, of Tea and Jam photography (seriously folks, pop over to their blog and take a look at these pictures!). Little Miss Maya is one of those kids who not only has amazing style but has a colossal personality that just leaps off the page. Her mama tells us that she loves animals, is wildly creative and is a budding musician (it’s true…I’ve seen video of her composing the best New Wave inspired tune on her wee little keyboard!). From her luscious mane of red hair to her mega-watt grin, Maya is truly fabulous. Let’s take a look at the magnificent MAYA and her ecclectic style!


I love this look so much…hot pink tutu with wellies and a big ol’ flower on her lapel? My kinda gal!


Such a sweetheart. I love the mix of stripes with florals.



How cute is this child?? I’m telling you I just want to spend the day with her giggling and making up songs. Thank you so much Kate for sharing this gorgeously spunky girl with us!

As a side note, Kate is the editor of the beautiful new magazine MAEVE, that is taking the blogsphere by storm! If you haven’t read it, YOU MUST! Not only is it gorgeous, but (ahem) I have an article in the first issue! Whoo hoo! It was a huge honor—check out the section “Me and My Bestie” and read about how Dottie and I met. The next issue of MAEVE is in the works, so be sure to subscribe. You can do so on their blog right here.