Monthly Archives: October 2010

Coming Soon::Real Life Goes to the Pumpkin Patch

Real Life : Alix, Uncategorized

Coming Soooooon!
OK, so I’m running a little behind on today’s post….but today we’re talkin’ pumpkin patches. We hit a really cool area here in California this past weekend and I wanted to share some photos with you. But I kind of fell asleep WAY early last night (I’m a night owl, which is when I get this crazy bloggin’ stuff done….but last night I conked out at 9:30!!). Anyway, never fear it’s comin’! Also, today is the LAST DAY TO SEND ME YER HOMEMADE COSTUME PHOTOS! The Costume Parade is going up this week! Did you make an amazing homemade costume that you are dying to show off? Or did things not go quite as expected and you have a spectacular craft fail? Send ’em all my way! Alix [at] modernkiddo.com. Read more about it HERE!

Besty of Etsy: the Halloween Edition

Etsy Love, , ,

If there is one day of the year we should be most appreciative of Etsy, it is Halloween.  Because sometimes the thought of making your kid’s Halloween costume is just too much. Yet, you don’t want to do the run of the mill boxed costume from Target.  Well, here are some gems for you all!

There is always the one kid that raids his home’s toilet paper supply to do the Mummy right? Well, save yourself some grief and just get them this brilliant mummy costume by Etsy seller, Hello Avocado.

Orca costume or turtle costume are available as kits so you can still say you made it! by Etsy seller, DIY Costumes.

The classic ghost from bedsheet costume sounds like a good idea until you fall down your steps because you can’t see. Well, this clever Etsy seller KidatHeart01 improved upon the ghost costume and even upped the cute factor!

I’m sure the tutu trade is getting a real work out right now as girls and frothy tutus seem to go together. But check out this great spider web tutu.  For the little goth in any girl.  If your child is delighted by this, I would suggest you hide your Morrissey albums stat. From Tiara’s Tutus.

Sometimes all you need is a good accessory to get your costume rolling.

Like this great wolf hat.  All you need is a pair of brown pants and sweater to finish it. Easy Peasy.

And it’s great with Little Red Riding hood costume, like this great cape. Both from Corduroy’s Closet.

Look we’ve all been there. The cute ballerina costume worn with a turtleneck.  Afterall, this holiday is at night in fall.  Any mother worth her salt is gonna try to keep her kid warm. Best solution I’ve seen so far?  This great Tinkerbell leaf wrap. Love it. Again, from Corduroy’s Closet.

I love this little lamb costume.  Great reason to get your self dolled up as Mary in some rocking cute outfit.  And check out the floppy ears of it all!  From Charlie Designs.

I gotta admit I love the old Willy Wonka so much more, than the Johnny Depp one so I was a complete fool for this genius Halloween costume. From Frogs & Flowers.

I hit the jackpot with seller, photo117!  Check out this great Elvis costume.  Or help your little one get a head start on rocking the Ren Fair with these great costumes.

But really, why should all the kids have all the fun? I had to include these.  Let your inner Sasquatch roar! Or you inner Loch Ness monster, if you’d like. I would totally go have drinks with Etsy seller, Miss Nessa.

Happy Halloween Etsy shopping, folks!

Vintage Kiddo :: Creepy Cool Retro Halloween Costumes

Vintage Kiddo Photos, , , , ,

So I was shopping the other day and wandered into the Halloween aisle. I was kind of bummed out and horrified by all the creepy masks—the weirdo from the Saw movies, the Scream ghoul, super slasher monsters. I thought to myself, “Where is the childhood innocence? Who lets their kid dress up as a crazy murderer?? These masks are terrifying!” I shook my head thinking, “It’s not like back in the day when we were kids!”

Um…..OK. So I’m not sure when you last looked at old school Halloween masks, but shut mah mouth because some of these are positively terrifying!!! The cheap plastic only adds to the appeal. Of course I still love ’em all. And frankly, they’re miles better than the Scream ghoul. Let’s take a look at come vintage kiddo Halloween pics. I swear each kid is better than the next:


Yes the clown is terrifying, but my heart belongs to the stressed out little Planet of the Apes dude on the end.


The vacant Snoopy. That draggy clown. The “phonin’ it in” Charlie Brown. All genius. Not sure what’s happening with the faceless Mr. Skelly. Is that kid just wearing a pulled down hat over his head??

OK. These little kiddos from 1951 are actually really cute.


I love that you can see her little dress in the reflection of the mirror. So sweet!

Here are the same happy kidlets one year later:

I’m amazed at this nonchalant baby…like it ain’t nuthin’ but a thang….If that devil child showed up at my door step I’d run screaming. I can’t imagine anything more terrifying.

Oh wait, that’s because this little creeper hadn’t showed up yet:


This poor child is like a Tretchikoff painting on acid.

I can’t stop starring at and giggling at this next kiddo:


That poor child….looks like a classic victim of the dreaded, “It’s freezing out there! You wear a coat under that costume or you’ll catch your death of cold!” I always hated when mom made us wear our coats under our costumes.

These guys are actually all pretty cute:

The Top Hat wearing ghost is oddly adorable. Wolfie would never have let me get away with that…

This next one kills me. Devils in a Red Granny Flannel Dress.


OK, check out the wig on the little nurse. Hee.

I love this one. What child decides that they want to be George Washington??

Count Chocula? Cheap Bear in a Micky Sweat shirt? Love these guys…

Mod Darth Vader looking suspiciously like an Ewok….

And finally, my favorite of the bunch:


The Colonel Sanders girl? I mean….c’mon now. Seriously, I can’t wait for Halloween.

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Don’t forget, there is still time to send me your Best and Worst Homemade Costume Photos! Check here for details! We’ll be posting the Costume Parade on Wednesday!!

Vintage Kiddo Retro Round Up! The Halloween Edition.

Kiddo Style: Vintage, , , , , , , ,

Hi hi Everyone!

Well, it’s officially Halloween time here at the Modern Kiddo HQ—in fact we have our spooktacular header thanks to our gal, Pilgrim. Three cheers for Ms. Pilgrim for rocking our worlds! In honor of this time of year, today’s weekly vintage clothing round up will feature all vintage Halloween costumes—and early enough so you can purchase them in time for October 31st.  If I do say so myself, we’ve got some real pips in here!

So, let’s start off with a bang with this little gem.  Oh wow wow wow wow. Wow.  This is spectacular. I love the feather. It’s like she just hopped off that circus horse. From Etsy seller, Get Lucky Vintage.

Who hasn’t enjoyed the delights of a Ben Cooper Halloween costume when they were young? Well, your little one can still enjoy that full face mask experience and fancy hospital-tie, shift costume too! Like this vintage Cinderella costume from eBay seller,   stvinsthriftybin. I gotta say that when I think dressing up a Cinderella I might not choose to have a pumpkin carriage on my dress. But that’s just me.  Regardless the kitsch factor on this dress just hit eleven.

This little vintage find is dedicated to my parents who bought the same train conductor overalls for my brothers 45 years ago to wear when they would play with their trains.  And that were handed down to me for one Halloween to wear to go as a train conductor.  These  vintage kid sized train engineer overalls from eBay seller, 3744Paulette would be perfect for any Thomas the Tank Engine loving kid!

I love this little black vintage dress that with the right accessories could totally become a wonderfully witchy dress, yes? From  eBay seller Volta-Vintage.

How could I not include at least one vintage cowboy shirt for potential Halloween costume. And this one is a real pip.  Because nothing is cuter than a being a little bit country on Halloween.  From Ebay seller, Jessiebelle999.

You can’t have the Lone Ranger with out the awesomeness known as Tonto.  I’ve always been Team Tonto, so this great fringe shirt just made me smile for miles.  From eBay seller, MargosMedley.

I found not one, but two great vintage kiddo navy uniforms.  For the right little girl, she could be Shirley Temple with that outfit.

Now if I could only find the cop and a construction worker we’d have a great Village People costume party.

Seriously, you gotta love Ben Cooper–that guy will turn any misc. one hit wonder into a costume. Case in point–Bat Fink.  For those not in the know, Bat Fink was a short cartoon that mocked Batman and the Green Hornet that ran in the 1960s and was totally an underground hero until it was recently picked up by Cartoon Network.

It is totally the hipster cartoon reference to make any kid wearing this would get knowing nods from the cool kids’ parents. It totally trumps going as DJ Lancelot.   Hey! This inspired my Halloween costume. I’ll go as a Hipster Dinosaur! From eBay seller, asisterfun.

OK, I have to share one more vintage witch costume with you. And it’s a doozy.  I mean, the cats alone. From Etsy seller, Iciernia.

Now you might remember in my homemade Halloween post a couple of weeks ago and my bitterness over my mother’s lack of sewing skills over a chicken costume.  Well, I think this vintage chicken costume was what I had in mind. And it is genius.  That lace covering totally looks like chicken feathers. It is spectacular in all of its chickeny goodness! From eBay seller, onealphafem.

Can’t decide between going as someone from Star Wars, Dukes of Hazzard or Strawberry Shortcake? Well, lucky for you, eBay seller Coocoostarwarsfan has all three of them with a starting bid of 49 cents!

Now this vintage dress is a great base for so many Halloween costumes. You could do Marie Antoinette, Martha Washington–or even pull it back to create a bustle for a more Victorian look–Madam Curie anyone? From Etsy seller, Magnolia Vintage.

Help your little girl connect with her inner Annie Oakley with this great cowgirl costume. In a big girl size 12 to boot! Start teaching her the words to “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” now… From eBay seller, abstuff.

Hoo Hoo Hoo wouldn’t want to go as a sassy hooty owl costume from vintage kid’s Halloween costume maker, Ben Cooper. From Etsy seller, Ira Mency.

When most people think of PAAS, they think of those fizzy tablets that color water for dying eggs.  But the PAAS marketing team saw that they needed to extend beyond Easter to another Holiday. Like Halloween with kiddie make-up.  I don’t know if I could put 25 year old lead-sodden paint on my kid, but the box is priceless.  That poor kid dressed as “The American Star” is just asking to have her candy taken from her,  but I totally dig Baroness Von Boo and Queen Astra! From eBay seller, rusty33150.

Be a clown! A cute vintage baby clown costume that can be snuggy in the stroller!  By Etsy seller, VaydaSophia’s Boutique.

This costume was totally bought by some mother who didn’t want her daughter rooting around her Hermes scarves to complete her gypsy costume.  “Here honey, why don’t you just wear this outfit instead…”  But isn’t the box killer?  And the mask is glow in the dark. How badass would that be to walk around with that gem! From Etsy Seller, GreenGables62.

If none of these gems float yer boat and you are determined to make your own Halloween outfit for your little one, check out this grand book–1975 Scholastic book on how to make no-sew costumes.  Genius. Nay, super genius! From Etsy seller, MidWest Girl.

How great are all of those?? Amazing! OK , we have a wee favor to ask of you. Voting was reset over at Top Mommy Blogs and we’d love to get back on top with a little help from our fabulous readers. If you are a fan of our blog, could pretty please click the special Modern Kiddo link below and then click once again on the words “Click to Vote” to register a vote for Modern Kiddo. (It never says our name, just “Click to Vote for the blog you just came from”.) We would appreciate it ever so much!!

PS You can vote once a day, if you are so inclined (and you’ll find the little brown “Vote for Kiddo” banner always hanging out on the left over there). THANK YOU SO MUCH! Be sure to come back this afternoon when Alix will have some more vintage kiddo fun for everyone. Happy week for all!

Winner of the Grace Hester Design Giveaway

Uncategorized

is….

Jenny Rebecca!

Three cheers for Jenny! We are so happy you came by and entered our giveaway for this gorgeous Grace Hester Book poster. Truly a wonderful piece of art for anyone’s room.

And thanks to all of you for entering the contest!  And a big super thanks to Grace Hester Designs for offering up her beautiful work to a Modern Kiddo reader.

But turn that frown upsidedown if you didn’t win because we have a rollicking good giveaway coming up soon.