Monthly Archives: May 2012

Meet Avery!

Oh, Avery, your room is almost as adorable as you. And that is saying a lot, since that room is flipping amazing! I will probably write a full post on that vintage-inspired bed mama Corey created, but Avery, YOU makes my heart smile!

Florida native, Avery is two and a half and 95 percent of her wardrobe has been lovingly plucked from thrift shops by her mama. But I think there is some serious sparkle that is added to each outfit courtesy of Miss Avery.

She is the youngest of three kids, with two older brothers—just like me!  She’s a typical girl, a typical two-year-old, and a typical third child- melodramatic, stubborn, spoiled, drama-queen, and wants things HER WAY! (but all in the best way, of course, her mama notes with a smile, I’m sure.) Perhaps it was Avery’s idea to put this color combo together, which totally works, if you ask me…

And she likes a whole slew of things like: her thumb and her Gee-Gee (that’s her blankie), Mickey Mouse, Pink Power Ranger.  And she loves kitties and bicycles too! Just like in this piccie!

She loves a good song–especially if you spell the words out. Her two favorite songs are Y.M.C.A.  (we have a membership at the Y, and she loves singing it when we go!), Saturday Night (by the Bay City Rollers).

Avery is a puzzle maniac and of course, rocks her big girl bed.  She likes to eat yogurt (pronounced Hogurt) and doing things “myself”.

And this little Miss has got style for daaaayyysss.

BTW, Avery has a thing for the color pink and My Little Pony.  Because she’s awesome.

Why she even likes mini golf!  Ever since Avery and her family played in Myrtle Beach a couple months ago, she asks, “are we going to miniature golf?” at least 20 times a day!

Things Avery isn’t a fan of: going in the potty, taking a nap (she and the Peach could chat about that for hours), not being able to do what big brothers do, and other babies or toddlers near HER stuff.

Oh Avery, you sound like a hoot!  And I know you and the Peach would get along like a house on fire.

And P.S.  here is a bit more about her big girl room! Hee hee!

PS:  Do *you* have a stylish kiddo you’d like to show off? Send ‘em our way! You can find submission details here. We love all kinds of kiddos…. vintage and thrift loving liddles, modern grooviness tots and simply sweet, down-to-earth kiddos.

 

 

 

Kiddo Fieldtrip // Quickie Camping For the Win!

Last weekend we went camping. For one day. Yup, ONE DAY. And you know what? You should too! Camping is so much fun, but if you’re like me you might be thinking, “Oh, I totally want to go….but we’re really, really busy! We just don’t have time. It’s kind of a big production.” So when Greg proposed we go camping for one night….wellll, I kinda thought he was crazy. And maybe he was, but I gotta tell ya we had a BLAST. It was such a good idea. We went to a site that was actually really close (barely 25 minutes away) so it was low stress but deep in the mountains and so gorgeous, we felt like we were a million miles away!

Although we were close to home, I promise this wasn’t glamping….there wasn’t a store nearby, we cooked all our food over the fire, and we slept in sleeping bags in our little tent. I think Sammy had the most to get used to. He was very nervous, not sure what was happening (“what? everyone is sleeping outside??”). Aaaand he had to be on a long chain/leash while at the campsite. Which he wasn’t sure he liked much. I thought he looked like Ghost, from Game of Thrones.

Greg and I used to camp all the time, but this was the first family trip we’ve taken. I’ve never backbacked into a camping site—I’m too much of a City Mouse for that. But car camping is still really fun/doable and still rugged. We packed well, but not quite as efficiently as we used to—I was a little bit rusty! We had a mini cooler with some perishables and lots of easy dry snacks and fruit. The guys brought a ball and we also brought some games to play together. It was really fun to look at all our old equipment and see what was still in pretty great shape and what we wanted to upgrade. Our lanterns were still awesome and we played a little Jenga under the starry sky. Wolfie taught us how to play, I’d never actually played it before! I found this set at the thrift store earlier in the week and scooped it up especially for our trip.

We definitely want a new tent. I can’t lie….the tent was reeeeeeeally squishy!! It’s an old one and meant for two people, not two grownups….one 8-year old wiggle worm and one giant 104 pound fur ball!! I have to say, ol’ Sammy was totally into the tent. He would poke his little snout out the zipper to make sure everything was ok. He took his guarding duties verrrry seriously. It got extremely cold at night and the wind was really whipping the tent back and forth dramatically. I don’t think Sammy slept at all. Wolfie slept like a log.

We were going to make pancakes but I also brought bagels and cream cheese……guess what Wolfie voted for?? The guys went on a little hike with Sammy while I tidied up the camp site (the wind had blown everything around!). And yes….we played a little more Jenga! The best part was seeing how much fun Wolfie had. He’s definitely a 21st Century Boy and loves his 3DS and anything computery. We didn’t bring any electronics (other than phones…and we only used them for photos!) and Wolfie never once mentioned that he missed anything. In fact, he wanted to stay longer.

Before we left, we all piled in the tent one more time for a few rounds of CLUE.

Final conclusion: One day was totally worth it, but I think I would have done 2 days for even more fun. Oh, and for the record,  it was Mrs. White….with the wrench….in the library.

How about you? Are you campers? Have you ever done a one day quickie camping trip??

UPDATE: A few people have asked me about the CLUE game. Wolfie got it as a gift from our awesome neighbors and we love it. It’s a reproduction of one of the original 1960s versions (officially called the Vintage Collection Clue Game). But what makes this edition so awesome is it comes in a great wooden box, that makes it PERFECT for camping. No little game pieces spilling out all over the back of the car! And if you’re interested, you can read about the original Clue game versions on this fun post I did on board games!)

The glorious world of Galt toys

Are you familiar with Galt Toys?

I admit I wasn’t, although the British company has been around for more than 175 years—started by James Galt, an educational stockist in Manchester in 1836.  It is still a company dedicated to creating beautiful and educational toys  with a healthy dash of fun, but something magical happened in the late sixties/early seventies.  The Galt toy-makers took the colorful design trends  of that time and infused that excitement into their toys.

I think the company’s puzzles are simply stunning.

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And these mix and match cards are so pretty I kinda want to put them on the wall instead of just keeping them in the box.

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Speaking of that idea, the brilliant Ms. Jane Foster came up with this wonderful idea to use some vintage Galt cards for a striking accent and hook accent in her lovely home.

I know. Just amazing.  Galt toys even have cool advertising! Wow!

Are you familiar with Galt toys?

 

CALL FOR JUNE SPONSORS!


image: christian montone

June is right around the corner—and summer vacation. Can you even believe it? Let’s run through the sprinklers together!

Do you want to gain a little more exposure for your shop, Etsy store or cool blog? Then why not become a Modern Kiddo sponsor!  Modern Kiddo has quickly become the go-to favorite for vintage lovin’ readers every where!  Nothing makes us happier than to showcase unique, creative  folks and help spread the world about your awesomeness!

Our rates are totally affordable and we have several packages available to suit your needs. To find out more, email me: alix [at] modernkiddo [dot] com for our rate card. We still have spots open!

Friday Link Hootenanny :: Cool Things to Browse

image: i can’t remember where i found this. if you know please tell me!

It’s Friday! And this post is coming to you straight off a fabulous camping trip….yep, we took a 24 hour jaunt to the redwoods. It was amazing! I’ll post more about it next week but until then, here are some fun things to check out over the 3 day weekend. The video at the end is my super favorite!

1. CLEVER IDEAS WITH YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS


Holly at decor8 is one of my favorite people. She had these super sweet little books you can make with your Intagram photos. I love them! She also has a whooooole bunch of other ideas too.  See more here.

2. STAY MARRIED

This has been making the rounds and I finally sat down and read it. It’s AWESOME. 15 Ways to stay married 15 years. Lydia Netzer is a wise woman. Read it here.

3. DIY BAKER’S TWINE

Love the look of baker’s twine but not sure you want to shell out the bucks it costs? (it is KINDA hard to rationalize “fancy string”). This DIY is awesome!

4. DA DA DADA DA DA CIRCUS! CIRCUS!

The best $20 you can spend! This little tent from IKEA pops up and is great for indoor and outdoor play (in nice weather). It has made our entire family smile—especially O’Malley.

 

5. MOST EMBARRASSING (AND AWESOME) DAD EVER.

Oh I love this story! Dale Price thought it would be funny to wave enthusiastically to his 15 year old son every morning as the bus pulled away. He decided to take it a little further and started dressing up. Every. Single. Morning. His son was initially embarrassed. But soon he (and the entire bus) started to look forward to it. Check it out here. SO sweet!

6. TOTORO!

I soooo want this Totoro iPad case! You can get one here. They have iPhone cases too.

7. BEATLES WALK THE OTHER WAY.

The Beatle’s Abbey Road cover is iconic. But did you know there was another version? There was. The photographer apparently had ten minutes to shoot the cover and he managed to get six shots. The alt version features them walking the other way. And Paul is wearing shoes. Oh, and it just sold for a lot of money. See more here.

8. BLACKBERRY GOAT CHEESE HEAVEN.

Mmmmmm. I swear I could feature something from Tracy every single hootenanny. These little tarts look SOO tasty.

9. CUPCAKE FLOWER LIGHTS

There are some people who look at cupcake liners and think, “Shoot, I need to make 30 cupcakes for the last little league game!” And then there are some people who look at them and think, “Oooooh! I can make some pretty flower lights out of these!” Steph Hung is one of those people. Check out her amazing DIY on Oh Happy Day.

10. ROCKIN WALL ART FOR KIDS.

Oh yeeeeah! I am a guest contributor over at the lovely Simple Design and just in case you missed it, I did a super fun post on awesome “grown-up” art that would actually add a fun little sparkle to your kiddo’s room! Check it out over here.

 

BONUS VIDEO

I can’t stop watching this video. It was originally posted on Hello Giggles back in November, but then my friend Tracy (Shutterbean) turned me on to it last week. It’s SO AWESOME!!!! Watching this girl dance cracks me up. You have to watch the whole thing. She rules. HAPPY FRIDAY!