Monthly Archives: December 2010

Modern Kiddo Presents :: Alix’s Retro Holiday Mix, vol. 2

Holiday Kiddo, , ,

By now your home should have been filled with the sweet sounds of a vintage Christmas! Thanks for all the kind tweets and comments—I’m so glad you guys liked my Retro Holiday Mix, vol 1. This week’s mix is a tad more lively (as opposed to smooth and groovy), and chock full o’ fabulousness that I know you’ll love.

For those that missed last week’s post, here’s the dealio! Over the past years I have wanted to digitize my vinyl as a way to preserve it—and so I could share it with others. I’ve transformed a fair amount of my albums to MP3 and thanks to the help of my super cool friend Spencer (from the awesome SAP Music blog who has one of the best record collections around) I’ve managed to build a fun menagerie of retro MP3s. I love cranking my old LPs around Christmas and wanted to share some of my favorite vintage holiday tunes with you! Some highlights of this mix include faves from my childhood albums: Sammy Davis Jr., The McGuire Sisters, The Pepperment Kandy Kids and the Jackson 5 (my top fave retro holiday album).

So without further ado, I’m pleased to present:

{PLEASE NOTE: Mixes are locked until December! }

MIX IS UNLOCKED!

DOWNLOAD ALIX’s RETRO HOLIDAY MUSIC MIX, VOL. 2 HERE

Meet Serenity! Our Weekly Kiddo.

Weekly Kiddos


After a two week hiatus, I’m pleased to report that the Weekly Kiddo is BACK! And wait til you see the little fashion diva we have for you today. The beautiful Miss Serenity has style galore! Her mama Angie is very artistic and runs a fun blog called Treasures for Tots! She is also the family photographer and took all these fabulous shots. Her mama dresses her in a stylish combination of vintage, Etsy finds and handmade goodness. Seriously you’re going to love this little one! So lets just get right too it….the fabulous Serenity!

Holy smokes I love this upcycled dress. Found via ChoosyChu. Ruffled leggings from Tag-You-R-It.

This awesome vintage jacket is from Modern Kiddo fave, 3 Ring Circus! Adorable up-cycled pants (they have a great bottom trim!) from CourtneyCourtney. Organic tee with original silkscreen from Wren Willow.

This amazing dress is from Etsy seller courtneycourtney. Angela is a big fan of this line, and i can see why:

“I guess what I like the most is all the attention to details and the creativity Courtney pours into each piece she makes. In my opinion, that’s what makes her dresses top quality. Each dress is different – no two are alike! No other little girl, in the world, will have a dress just like Serenity – it’s totally hers! How awesome is that?! As you can tell, I’m blown away by that fact! Not only does Courtney mix and match all kinds of fabrics and prints, but she does her own silkscreen designs and painting too! Awesome Artwear!”

I agree Angela. These are totally adorable—of course it helps that Serenity is so stunning. I suspect this child would look good in a potato sack! Let’s look at some more amazing Serenity sportin’ the courtneycourtney goodness:



Amazing! The headband? The dressie? I love it all! The necklace is a fairy catcher from Grow With Me Gifts.

Her mama says she’s definitely a girlie girl but she is also a spunky little cutie and loves to rock sassy little leggings like these. Angela says that this looks is also a great way to get a little extra mileage out of favorite dressies, and I totally agree!

Are you dying??? How stylish and funky is this little one? And don’t get me started on the AMAZING hair. By the way, those fun bracelets were made my Angela herself. They are Squinkies, cute lil eensey weensy squishy figurines that come in small globes. Angela has a fun tutorial for making these bangles right on her blog.

Miss Serenity is a little light. She loves to laugh and play and is a big nature lover. You can often find her planting flowers and seeds with her mama or chasing fairies. Being a true modern kiddo, little Serenity is also a tech wiz and loves to play on her mama’s iPad! We just can’t get enough of her.

Angie, thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous little girl with us!

Holidazed: Etsy Kids

Etsy Love, Sponsor Love,

We have a new sponsor that is actually quite near and dear to my heart- Etsy Kids!!

To me the holidays and Etsy go hand in hand.  And as you might have guessed I spend a lot of time playing in Etsy land and Etsy Kids is a great way for me to find stuff that is most near and dear to my heart–goodies for kids.

The EtsyKids Team is a diverse group of talented and dedicated Etsy shop owners making items for babies, toddlers, and children.  Although we come from different backgrounds and all corners of the world , we are held together by the fact that our members all love to create things for children. In our members’ shops, you will find a wide variety of items ranging from clothing to toys to furniture to art and everything in between, in every style imaginable.

Here are some of my favorites from Etsy Kids that I hope make it onto many a Santa’s shopping list:

Oh, I’m head over heels for this great little stocking stuffer dolly inspired by vintage paper dolls.  From Etsy seller, Periwinkle Jazz.

What kid doesn’t love crayons? And lady bugs? Which means that these lady bug crayons will be the hit of the holidays! From Etsy Kids seller, Gaddy Bug Crayons.

I’ve been a huge fan of felt food for awhile and this sushi set is killing me with its cuteness. From Etsy Kids seller, Northwoods Toys.

Etsy Kids seller, Out of the Box, has some wonderful baby shoes that would make any baby (and Mama) smile!

And I gave you a teaser above, but wow oh wow-isn’t this reversible kimono style hoodie to die for? I’ll take one in my size too, please, Etsy Kids  seller, Merino Me!

I hope you enjoyed this little sampler of goodies from Etsy Kids.  Do stop by and check it out for yourself!

I’m Giddy (Giddy) For Christmas.

Crafts + DIY, Holiday Kiddo

This is an extra action packed post today, my friends. A little bit of holiday crafting DIY, a peek at a super stylishly cute kiddos AND some totally fun gift ideas for little girlies. Did I mention they are ALL FROM THE SAME fabulous lady? Mmm hmm. I don’t know if she really knows this, but my friend Teri is one of my heroes. She is so creative, cool and fun. I first met her when Wolfie and her little girl Audrey were in kindergarten together last year.

Aren’t our kiddos the cutest?? Hee. But I digress. Meet Teri. Artist. Crafter. Designer. Entrepreneur. Mama. All around amazing girlie.

Teri is always coming up with the best art projects and I am constantly amazed and inspired by her. We’ve been plotting a girlie date and I’ve been wanting to “interview” her for you guys, but honestly she and I are both so busy we haven’t been able to get it together. So I’m taking it upon myself to simply share the magic of Teri with you guys! I know you’re going to love her, if you don’t already. In addition to running a very successful business, giddy giddy, she also has a fabulous blog where she posts all kinds of amazing things. Take a gander at some of these cool holiday projects.

The Push-Pull Advent Cards.

This year, rather than get a traditional advent calendar, Teri decided to make “Push Me, Pull Me” post cards. They function much like a classic pop-up book…and are truly awesome. I’m so in love with them. See more of them here.



Last year she inspired me with her fantastic Diorama Ornament DIY. These ornaments are available at Paper Source and so much fun. Just paint ’em up and glue little fun odds and ends inside. It’s a perfect way to use up misfit toys.


Awesome huh! And check out these adorable snowglobe holiday cards. I just LOVE them!

Isn’t she fab? But just you wait. The marvelous Teri also makes clothes. I know, right? Her two beautiful daughters make gorgeous models. This is a little up-cycled dressie that I’m in love with:

This gorgeous skirt ensemble looks like it walked off the pages of a couture magazine!

And I know it’s winter, but how fun is this re-imagined romper?? It’s perfect.

All this fabulousness would *almost* be annoying (how does she find the time?? i’m such a slacker!) except she is truly the sweetest, cutest, kindest chica around.

THE PERFECT GIFT IDEA!
So believe it or not, Teri also has a day job…. she runs an amazing business, giddy giddy, makers of the ORIGINAL Felt Hairclippies for babes and little girls. I’m sure you’ve seen them (and I’m sure you’ve seen all the people ripping her designs off as well….grrrrr.). I love these clips and if I had a little girl she would be wearin’ them.

All giddy giddy products are super cute and as an added bonus, they are all hand made. Her business employs crafters and sewers in a fair trade environment in rural Philippines, where Teri’s family is from.

In addition to hair clips, she makes other cool products like cute satchel bags, hair clip holders and even hats.

Aren’t they the cutest? That owl bag is amazing. And I bet you’ll be wanting some of these barrette’s for yourself too! See more and stock up for Christmas at giddy giddy over here!

So I hope you are as inspired as I am by all of this. Be sure to visit the giddy giddy blog.

Thank you sweet Teri for being such a fabulous inspiration—and also a lovely friend.

Vintage Bookshelf :: The Animals’ Merry Christmas

Kiddo Bookshelf, Vintage Books

I love books. And I have a big collection of vintage children’s books. In addition to adorable stories, the illustrations are always tops! I used to do a feature called Storytime Tuesdays on Strawberry Lemonade (where I showed off some of my favorite books in my collection) and I was thinking it would be fun (and appropriate!) to move it over here. Except, of course, it’s not Tuesday. It’s Wednesday. A minor detail.

This sweet book is called The Animals’ Merry Christmas and was written by Kathryn B. Jackson in 1950. Of course it’s the Richard Scarry illustrations that get me. There is something about animals in little scarves that gets me every time! Here are some of my favorite pages.


From the back cover: “The Animals’ Merry Christmas is as bright and gay as a Christmas tree. All the animals have a happy holiday in this charming collection of stories and poems, delightfully illustrated by the ever-popular Richard Scarry.”


As they went they sang:
“Rabbits in the snow,
Off to Grandma’s house we go –
Holly, pudding, popcorn, toys,
Shining candles, lots of noise:
Off to Grandma’s house we go –
Sing for Christmas, sing for snow!”


Santa Claus said he simply could NOT be everywhere at once. He said it was no use trying. Mrs. Santa Claus thought very hard.
“Your helpers will be glad to go to the stores and ring the bells for you,” she said. “I’ll fit them all out in your old Santa Claus suits!”


Then arm in arm, the Hedgehog family hurried through the snowy twilight, heading for the lights of London town, and the wonderful Christmas sights they would see.


The puppy grabbed the Christmas ribbon and began jumping towards the door of the house.


When he saw some boys throwing snowballs, he ran right up to them. “Who wants a puppy for Christmas?” he barked.


And Donner and Blitzen sang a sort of song:
“Through the snow,
Bringing toys
To the good
Girls and boys!”
But Prancer shook his head in the naughtiest way.
“Not me!” he said. “I’m not going this year.”


Ooooh, cliff hanger!! Haha. Truly, how cute was that?? I just love it. I think I’m going to make Storytime a regular feature. Stay tuned for another post later today!