Monthly Archives: March 2012

Friday Link Hootenanny :: Cool Things To Browse

Link Hootenanny

Oh. Mah. Gawd. It’s FRIDAY! And I’m back at home, which is awesome. I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend (although who are we kidding, I’ll probably be catching up on laundry and other house stuff with the boys!). In the mean time, here are some awesome things to hold you over til Monday!

1. NOW *THAT’S* A FRIENDSHIP BRACELET.

I love the sentiment behind those handmade friendship bracelets from summer camp…..so cool and sweet. But I have to admit, I’m not really a boho kinda gal and handweaving isn’t one of my strong suits. But these? Oh ho ho ho! These retro rhinestone and woven “friendship” bracelets from Frieda and Nellie are something I can get behind. Stunners. (via design love fest)

 

2. CHILLING CHILDREN.


“Smoking Kids” is an unsettling project by Belgian photographer, Frieke Janssens. Her inspiration was that shocking YouTube video featuring an Indonesian toddler outrageously smoking 40 cigarettes a day. (*shudder*) She wanted to create something that would bring to light the dangers of smoking. You can see more of the photos here, including a fascinating “Making of” video. Rest assured it’s all photo manipulation. The children held chalk and sticks of cheese, while incense provided the “smoke” effect. Wow.

3. STRAY CAT STRUT. 

I’m not sure what this is for, but these images of black cats waiting to audition for a shoot in Hollywood, circa 1961, made me smile! See more over here.

4. STEVE MCQUEEN, #1 SUPER GUY.


We all knew Steve McQueen was a bad ass. But check out how charming he is in these sweet photos taken in his Palm Springs home.

5. A COLORFUL OVERNIGHTER.

The Saguaro Hotel in Palm Springs is so vibrant and fun, I can’t wait to plan a road trip down there with my guys!

(There’s also one in Scottsdale, AZ. Miss Dani, are you listening?? Arizona Meet Up???)

6. TAKING THE FAMILY PHOTO UP A NOTCH.

Gabby Blair (aka Design Mom) is one of those ladies you can’t help but admire. I LOVE these family portraits she does every year. She always comes up with a color theme for them, which just adds this amazing level of awesome. Get her best Tips for Family Photos over here. And take a peek the shoot from a few years ago here.

 

7. SOME BUNNY IS GONNA LOVE THESE.

Oh Martha. You have the best stuff. I love these sweet bunny decorations. Makes me excited for easter.

8. YEE HAW FOR COMFY SLIPPERS!


These little cowboy boot slippers are the perfect cozy (and cute!) thing for your littlest cowpoke. Now if only they made them for little cow dudes too. Hmmm.

9. HUNGRY FOR MORE HUNGER GAMES? 

Katniss never looked so tasty. See how to make them here.

10. BONUS VIDEO: A CUPCAKE ATM?? WOW.
Earlier this week I tweeted about the most amazing new thing. A cupcake ATM machine that famous cupcakery “Sprinkles” just launched. It’s literally a cupcake ATM….you put your money in. Pick a cupcake. And one pops out. AMAZING! My friend Tabitha actually visited it (jealous!) and said I could share these fun photos with you! (see more on her funky blog, Glitter and Ganache!)

Here’s a video of how it works. KA-YOOT!!!!

OH! And two more things. 1) Have you entered to win that trip to San Francisco and watched that adorable METHOD video yet? Seriously. The song is my new favorite. And 2) DON’T FORGET to pick up a copy of  From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler! It’s our new Little Book Report Club selection!

New School Sesame Street: Or How I Learned to Love Elmo.

Real Life : Dottie

I’ll admit, I never liked Elmo. I thought he was a bad nineties addition to my beloved Sesame Street. And I freaking LOVED Sesame Street. One of my first purchases when I found out I was pregnant was the classic Sesame Street DVDs. I thought Elmo was the most annoying little red headed idiot out there. He didn’t have the humble charm of Grover, the over the top dull witted sugar rush hilarity of the Cookie Monster, the elusive eyelashed wonder of Snuffaluffagus or the insouciant whimsy of Gonzo. No, Elmo was an annoying high pitched whiner who couldn’t even get it together enough to understand the proper use of I. Sheesh.

I mean, can it ever get better than freaking STEVIE WONDER and GROVER?

But then the Peach spied him on some random video on You Tube that popped up after the Ladybug Picnic—no more than five seconds of Elmo and drat it if she wasn’t hooked. And she wanted more. More. MORE.

Well, OK. Maybe. Just on my phone. A little video. Let’s check it out.  And I did check it out.  Clever Sesame Street.  Very clever.  Bring in some amazing musicians and pair them with clever takes on their most songs. How could I not enjoy it? And those bite-size bits of Elmo made me begin to actually kinda like him.

Here are my favorite videos that might even turn the most sour Elmo hater into a possible fan.

I love this Katy Perry video of Elmo. She is so charming and bubbly and such a good foil for the Elmo.

Weirdly enough Georgia likes opera music, so she totally digged this version of Bocelli’s most popular aria. And I adore that it is about not wanting to go to bed. I think this one is my favorite actually. Oh, if I could only sing this to her at night… And hearing him talk to Elmo in his dreaming Italian accent, “You have the bear-ah, and you need-ah to sleep-ah…”

I love Feist and her most popular song was a shoe in for a Sesame Street Elmo piece.

And Elmo gained some serious bonus points from me for this video with Elvis Costello. The glasses look good on you, Elmo…

Oh, but I dare you not to sigh with happiness after hearing india.arie sing the Alphabet song to Elmo.

 

Well, I’m officially won over, Elmo. And I tried to resist you so hard, but then you won me over with my old musical friends!

Are you a fan of Elmo?  What is your relationship with this red furry friend from Sesame Street?

 

greetings from the magic forest.

Vintage Toys + Fun Stuff

As I was walking to work, I spied this wonky little tree. I guess this was someone’s idea of “landscaping.” It totally reminded me of the Weebles Treehouse from back in the day! I happened to spy one when I was thrifting a month or so ago (although they wanted, like $15 for it which seemed scandalous….). I’m a total vintage know-it-all (well, Greg would probably say I’m just a know-it-all in general, haha) and I pride myself on storing a TON of random retro tidbits in my crazy brain. BUT guess what? I was WRONG!! {dum, dum, dummmmmmm} Yes folks. For years I have mistakenly called that tree up there the Weeble’s Tree House. But I realized the other day that this fancy tree actually belonged to a snappy lil 70s family called The Tree Tots! Check’em out!

The Tree Tots (“your friends from the magic forest”) were a happy lil family—parents Willow and Treemont, kiddos Chip and Honey. And of course Barky the dog. The tree itself was super cool, you pushed a button the on the top and it “grew” to open. I never had one but I thought it was so cool. I kind of love that the family is totally normal. They aren’t fairies or sprites…just “your friends from the magic forest.” Later they launched a roller coaster (the Tree Tots Sky Coaster, which you can see up there on the right) and even a light house. I did some poking around and found this really cool Tree Tots Kenner Catalog from 1975. Check it out here. And be sure to scroll down to the bottom for the “Mountain Tots” hideaway, and check out dad and his crazy beard and ‘fro. Looks like he was getting verrry happy in the magic forest.

Oh, so what about the Weeble’s Treehouse? They totally had one. It was just not quite as deluxe as the Tree Tots.


image

They even made a special Winnie the Pooh Weeble Tree House….

It’s cute. But it’s no fantasy from the magic forest. I say the Tree Tots WIN! They seemed like such a cool family though, I’m sure they would have welcomed the Weebles with open arms. If the Weebles had arms.

Did you have the Tree Tots tree house??

The Next MK Little Book Report Club is…

Uncategorized

It’s the return of the Modern Kiddo Little Book Report Club! We all loved Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret and chatted about it at great length.

I’m pleased to announce our next book will be From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This is one of Alix’s favorite childhood books and I’m so excited to read it! It’s about a brother and sister who run away from home and hide in the Metroplitan Museum of Art.  Hello, how on EARTH did I NOT read this brilliant sounding book!

You can pick up your own copy of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler here, download it to your Kindle here, or get a copy from Etsy seller, Enchanted Book Room over here!

I can’t WAIT to read it! Have you read it?  Are you in??

 

Cut from the same {vintage} cloth.

Real Life

In many ways, Dottie and I are really similar. Of course we are both obsessed with vintage. And we both count being mamas amongst our best accomplishments. We both love reading and are obsessed with our Kindles. We both totally think alike. We both have a similar work ethic. We were both raised with the same sense of responsibility and values (yay to our moms and dads!). We both love splurging on a glass of champagne. Or a fancy pair of shoes. We are both sticklers when it comes to saying “please” and “thank you”. We both love the theater. And movies. And we both share a similar sense of humor (which may or may not include a fondness for doing weird voices and gesturing wildly when talking). But as similar as we are, we’re not twinsies. We really do have different tastes. Which is part of what, I think, makes Modern Kiddo such a fun experience (well, for us anyway! haha). I have always said that Dottie and I are cut from the same cloth…we’re just cut in different styles! As I was looking through last week’s Instgram pics, I realized we both had posted pictures of cars that caught our eye. And it made me smile. Same cloth. Just different styles.

Here’s to you, my sweet Dottie! I know you’re knockin’ ’em dead at South by Southwest.