Monthly Archives: February 2011

Meet the Peach! Our Weekly Kiddo!

Real Life : Dottie, Weekly Kiddos


Friends I’m bustin’ with pride today. Our Weekly Kiddo is none other than Miss Dottie’s amazing little Peach! With rosey cheeks and the sweetest smile you ever did see, this beautiful little girl is celebrating a birthday this weekend. Yup, the Peach is officially a grand Ol’ TWO!

Miss Dottie says that her Peachie’s style is all about mixin’ and matchin’. She wears loads of sassy vintage dresses, spunky leggings and a generous dollop of modern basics for a fun and comfy look. Let’s check out some of her adorable looks!

We start with a bang….this dress just might be my favorite. Sweet little vintage goodness with red ric-a-rac! What a dolly baby!

And this little seer sucker dressie is a dream! The teensy hair bow is so cute too…

I love Peach’s little neck scarves—so chic! Check out that rose-bud mouth. She’s a model in the making!

Aw yeah…..much as she loves the vintage, The Peach is also a modern glam girl! Check out these sassy spex!

Tee hee! That last one is a killer…
+ Molo jacket
+ Vintage elephant dress
+ Kawaii Kids leggings
+ Liv & Luca mushroom boots


+ Mod, orange dress made from vintage pillowcase, Etsy
+ Brown cardigan, Target
+ green and white stripe leggings, made by mama Dottie

It’s only fitting that Dottie’s little girlie loves POLKA DOTS! I love these leggings and the little tunic! And those Livi and Lucca mushroom booties are so cute:

This next one is so fab! She looks like a little Palm Springs Sprite!

+ green and white flower dressies, The Gap
+ Livi and Lucca red mary janes

The Peach sportin’ her Liberty of London romper!

Yay for a sweet little vintage green dressy on a sweet little lady! All she needs is a teensy kitty cat.

How terrific are all of these dressies? Well done, Miss Dottie! But you know what I reeeeally need to see again? It’s the Peach’s adorable Halloween gnome costume! This is probably the cutest thing around—bravo Dottie! And Miss Peach, you are pure stink town!

Her mama says:

“Miss Peach adores swimming (or schwimming as she calls it), pancakes, broccoli, yogurt, baby owls and all of her Golden books.  She loves art and is a great drawer. She enjoys wearing her hair in pony tails, and spending time not only with her grandparents and aunties but in the wonderful company of her dolls: “Baby,” “Other Baby,” “The Big One” and “Amy the Mermaid”. Her favorite thing to be is “cozy”—just like her Mama!  She is not a fan of bed time, bubblegum flavored medicine or the number 5.”

Oh little peachie, but we are a big fan of YOU! Happy birthday beautiful girl! I can’t wait to see what fun your mama has up her sleeve for your party!

Party Down :: Cool Party Favors.

Kiddo Parties

As we are closing in on the Peach’s birthday, I wanted to take a look at one of the most popular and fun parts of children’s parties.  Friends, it is all about the goody bag/party favors.  It’s always nice to have a fun giveaway that fitsyour “theme”.  I know, I know… sometimes goody bags can be a little bit of gilding the lily, but I think it is quite sweet to give kids a little bit of the party to take home with them.  Even if it is just a cookie or a train engine, it can be a wonderful reminder months or every years after the party.  I still use and have some party favors believe it or not!

I rounded up a few of my favorites to share with you. I hope they inspire you as much as they did me!

I love the idea of using paper bags. They are inexpensive and can offer creative types a great canvas for kiddo awesomeness. Like this adorable owl we found from Rock Paper Scissors via Ohdeedoh.

Mighty Girl, Maggie Mason took a simple gift and charmed the pants off of it by wrapping the sidewalk chalk in wax paper and making it look too good to eat!

I’m very impressed with this wonderfully graphic and very fun nod Batman party favor bag from Just Jenn Rants & Raves.

I love the idea of giving away bubbles with personalized labels for summer birthday parties. The yellow is so happy and will be played with until the bottle is empty!

Coloring books make great party favors.  And I’m particularly loving these terrific Little Red Riding Hood color book.  That graphic is genius in its simplicity and beauty, no?

Now, these little suitcases are perfect for travel parties.  This party favor is better than some of the gifts I’ve given in the past! Unbelievable adorable.  From Little Frills via those party perfectionists, Hip Hip Hooray! And the Tinker Toy use is genius too!  Hey, they have the same Lady Baltimore red suitcase I have for the Peach!

I’m going to be putting together the party favor bags tonight–all fun simple stuff–nothing too fancy or expensive. I’m thinking paper bag for mine.

My goal with this party is to spend no more than $75 on everything. So far so good.  Food is basic–mac & cheese and I spent $25 on the goody bag stuff, and also bought $20 of used stuff that I’m refashioning for the party. And the Peach is wearing an outfit I bought used that I found in her closet. all that and a few five dollar bunches of flowers and I think we are good to go!

I must admit, I had grand schemes in place that have been simplified down a lot due to lack of time. But I’m OK with that–it’s a party–I just want the Peach to have fun with her friends! I’ve been plugging away at little crafty projects every night after the Peach goes down.  But then sometimes I get nervous and overwhelmed–what if no one comes? What if all the kids have meltdowns? What if blah blah blah.  Eh-just gotta roll with it. Which what parenting is all about anyway, right?

Wish me luck!

Party Down :: A Birdie Birthday!

Kiddo Parties

You know I love Mari from Small for Big something fierce, but I’m utterly head over heels for her sweet little girlie who just turned two in January.

Now Mari is one of the more clever gals I know, so I knew Miss Birdie’s birthday bash was gonna be great.

And friends, it did not disappoint!

There are so many things to love! But I must admit, I think the cake is my favorite.  It is exactly what a birthday cake should be in my mind. I love it!

Those banners and the lovely paper puffs that look somewhere between clouds and flowers.

And then there is the brilliant party favor.  Oh, that gorgeous tin and such fun goodies inside to boot!

Thanks so much for sharing,  Mari! And happy birthday to Miss Birdie!

Take a Load Off :: Vintage Kid Chairs

Kiddo Rooms, Vintage Toys + Fun Stuff

There is nothing better than a comfy chair. I love curling up with a great book and just relaxing. But as great as a big ol’ chair is, there is something to be said for sitting in a chair that was made to fit YOU. I love seeing vintage children’s chairs. They tend to have the same design sensibility as their larger counterparts, but just shrunk down as if by a mini ray gun. As a short girlie I know how disconcerting it can be to sit in a chair with your lil legs dangling in the air. I thought it would be fun to take a look at some mini chairs that are perfect for the kiddos! As Goldilocks once said, these wee chairs are JUST RIGHT.


image: Etsy seller multer

The classic school chair. I love them! Simple and plastic, but the curved seating was always comfy.


image: Etsy seller lisabretrostyle2

We scored two of these for $1 at the thrift store and have 3 more olive green ones that were left outside a preschool that went out of business. WHY we need 5 little chairs is beyond me. It’s not like Wolfie’s planning on holding a poetry reading any time soon.

These two are awesome. Nothin’ fancy, but you can totally imagine kickin’ back with some icy cold lemonade on your deck or houseboat  in one of these.


image: three potato four

Slightly leggier model for a slightly older kiddo, it looks like a little Pixar character….I sort of want it to start walking around on those spindly legs!

These two are so colorful and fun! The one on the right is the Cosco booster seat and sits a mere 6 inches off the ground. I think it was the 70s precursor to the Bumbo! Although I have heard that they were used as car seats—can you imagine?? We have a little white version that Wolfie used. Super sweet. (Erm, not in the car mind you….)


image: edmond

This orangey red bad boy is schweeeeeet! I love it.

image: unknown. i believe etsy.

These wooden ones are especially fetching. That one on the left??? Ahhhhhh. Amaze-balls. In fact, that’s what I think is on the tray. Three colorful amaze-balls.


image: edmond

These are also great looking, but I have to admit they don’t reeeally look all that comfy. You know that guy on the right would leave marks on the back of your legs.


image: edmond

This little chair is great. And guess what? There are TWO of ’em on Etsy. Snap ’em up and make me jealous!


image: Etsy CathodeBlue

Pretty bent plywood is so groovy. The one on the right looks a tad stern. Like some hipster naughty chair.

And finally….the Eames horse! I love this little guy. Some enterprising papa back in the 50s turned his Eames chair into a horsey for his kiddo. One-of-a-kind awesomeness! I got this for Greg for Christmas when I was pregnant with Wolfie and it is a family favorite!

So there you have it! Some cool little seats for cool little kids. Do you have any special chairs your kid’s love or do they all just hunker down on the couch with you guys?

Party Down :: Clever Take on Train Party.

Kiddo Parties, , ,

Due to the Peach’s love of trains, I seriously thought about doing a train theme for her upcoming party.  It is one of the most popular party themes out there for good reason–it is adorable, charming and fun for kids.  And I’ve seen a lot of train parties.  And Thomas the Tank Engine.

But this one that Alix hipped me to from the blog Sweetsindeed.com just took train party idea to eleven.

What makes this train party so totally charming is the vintage nod to Lionel trains.   My Dad grew up on Lionel trains and they were a huge part of my childhood for every Christmas.

How much do I love orange and blue together here?

What a great use of the vintage trains, eh?

Boxcars full of great healthy snacks too? And the little straw bales? Adorable! Well played!

So, I’m trying to get stuff together for the Peach’s birthday.  So many little details to iron out. Ugh.  We’ll see…

BTW, how many how many children should be invited to a two year olds party? Am I courting disaster by having–gasp–five? Eek? Thoughts, please!