Welcome to our wild and wonderful world! If you’re new to Modern Kiddo, this will give you a great little peek into what we’re all about!

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THE VINTAGE.

Vintage is our middle name here at Modern Kiddo….it’s what makes us giddy and it’s what really sets us apart from most of the other kid’s blogs out there. Our vintage luv goes beyond clothing, however. It’s also about vintage design, textiles, colors and the warm nostalgia that comes from the memories of our own childhood.

Vintage Kiddo Retro Round Up

On February 10, 2010 I posted the very first Vintage Kiddo Retro Round Up….little did we know it would grow into one of our most popular features! Now every Monday we post our favorite vintage kiddo finds from Etsy and eBay. Dottie has been our main currator these past few years and has really taken it up a notch. I’m pleased to report that the items we post on the Vintage Kiddo Round Up tend to sell like hotcakes! Yes folks….when Kiddo speaks, shoppers listen.

“Thrifting is one of my favorite things to do, but to be honest the San Francisco thrift stores are somewhat pricey and picked over. I still have my secret faves (hello Vallejo!) but it’s extremely rare to find cute vintage kid stuff at the Bay Area thrifts. If you don’t have time to thrift shop, or your stores are chocked full of 90s yuck with nary a true “vintage” item in sight, then e-thrifting is just the thing for you….”

The Fisher Price is Right

“Growing up in Michigan in the 70s/80s, my brother and I were Fisher Price connoisseurs. We started with the little kid stuff—pull toys, rock-a-stack (those round plastic donut shaped circles) and the ever popular popcorn puller dealie. Then we graduated to the Fisher Price camera and the awesome world of Little People. My favorites were the Castle (with it’s secret trap door), the A-Frame Chalet and the Sesame Street playset…we even got a cool knock off of a Little People Holiday Inn, which we LOVED because every summer our family drove from Michigan to California and we stayed in Holiday Inns. It was like having a toy made especially for us!”

Welcome to the Doll Haus

“…As if my mother’s German dollhouse was calling to me from beyond, a random chain of link clicking let me down another path. And I stumbled upon the Holy Grail of dollhouse imagery: The Puppenhaus Museum. And my jaw dropped. There I found the most delicious collection of vintage 70s dollhouses you can ever hope to see—each with home interiors that are so cool and so colorful, I’d move in tomorrow. Welcome to the Puppenhaus my friends…”

Vintage storybook lamps, anyone?

“As a self-proclaimed expert on all things vintage (or as the hubs would claim, “a know-it-all”. *sigh*), I love when I discover new things! A toy that I’d forgotten about, a unique item that I’d never seen before, or better yet finding out some new information about an item I have always loved. Take that little lamp in the photo above, for instance. It’s cute, huh! I had one as a child and I think they’re pretty darn adorable. Let’s take a little closer look…”

You Spin Me Right Round

“Like most vinyl junkies, I love that crackle as you gently plunk the needle on the record, but I also love the ritual of sitting cross-legged on the floor and checking out the album art. Vintage kid’s records are a treasure trove of amazing artwork. You’ll find cool illustrations, bright colors, amazing fonts and genius type treatments. Since you all seemed to enjoy our little trip down memory lane with vintage Fisher Price, I thought it’d be fun to check out some awesome records covers. C’mon, let’s go!”

The 70s Retro Playground

“As you guys all pretty much know by now, I am crazy about the 60s and 70s. I kind of thought I’d seen and remembered it all, until a friend sent me a few photos of a playground that still had swings and slides from the 1970s. And lawdy did it ever take me back! I had TOTALLY forgotten about most of these, but seeing them again made me smile. I know they don’t make them like this anymore for fear of accidents (the metal designs are begging for injuries) but at the same time it makes me a tad sad that we are a generation who bubble wraps their kids. Look HOW MUCH FUN these things are….I am especially fond of the rocket ships and space themed playgrounds. Just think how many space missions went down on these cool things…”

Beyond Blythe! Quirky Dolls of the 60s & 70s

“Most of you guys know I love my Blythe dollies. To me they are the quintessential doll to represent the 70s: stylish, cool, colorful and just a leetle bit weird. BUT I’ve already written a ton about them (you can read my fun article on Blythe in MAEVE magazine over here), so I wanted to show you some of Blythe’s kooky, and lesser known, friends…”

THE FASHION.

Of course we love the vintage, but there’s a reason we called this site Modern Kiddo. We’re all about mixin’ and matchin’ old luvs with new favorites! And if they’re retro inspired? So much the better!

Jumping For Jumpers

“When I found out I was having a girl, my thoughts immediately turned to how I was going to dress the little elf. And one thing came to mind: a jumper. To me, nothing is cuter than a little girl in a jumper. Or pinafore, or whatever people are calling simple sleeveless little A-line dresses that are popping up everywhere with button on the shoulders. Just toss that over a onesie or plain shirt and your little girl is good to go! And as my little sweetie grows it turns from a dress into a tunic…”

Mod About You

“We at Modern Kiddo love vintage inspired goodies…and if you’re a regular reader then you know that the sixties are one of my favorite decades to play around with. Let’s get inspired by the graphic coolness of that mod mod world…”

THE BIRTHDAYS.

Over the course of the year we saw some of the most clever kiddo birthday parties. Here were some of our favorites!

Raggedy Ann Love

“I was the only girl in my family. Outnumbered four to one growing up.   My childhood was filled with toilet seats left up, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robot fights, a never ending parade of noogies, and more sports equipment than I thought was legally possible to keep outside of professional teams.

But I had my Raggedy Ann.  We went everywhere together.  She was my confidant, my baby, my comfort.  Not a night past without her little yarn head tucked into the crook of my arm at bedtime. She was my stand-in baby girl until I had my own…”

Rainbow Brite Birthday Fun With Pippi

“I love this kiddo! She’s got mad style and clearly a most adorable personality to boot! Last weekend she celebrated her 3rd birthday. Her mama Heather told me that she didn’t have much time to throw together the party and had to get creative. Well, let’s just say I can’t wait to see what this talented lady cooks up when she HAS time. I think this is one of the cutest parties ever, and what I love most about it is that it was super simple, sweet and affordable. The theme? Rainbows.”

Circus Party from Winding Road

“Today, we’d like to share with you one of the most delicious parties we’ve seen in the blog world in awhile. Sandy from The Winding Road held a joint circus birthday party for her five year old daughter, Laura and one year old son, Jacob.  Out of her very clever mind popped some serious awesomeness. Sandy did a wonderful reinterpretation of a popular child’s party theme—the circus—with nary a clown in site. Lady, I’m head over heels for this party…”

THE ROOMS.

Oh the rooms….the rooms! It was hard to choose just two, but these two little charming bedrooms stole our hearts.

Dotty’s Polka Dotted Rainbow Room.

Sayer Goes Retro Modern.

THE CRAFTS.

We love a good DIY project here at the Kiddo and this year we saw quite a few gems. I love photography and art projects, but my one downfall is my utter lack of sewing ability. Let’s just say I hem with a good ol’ pair of scissors instead of a needle and thread. Lucky for me I have Miss Dottie around! Dottie loves hands-on crafts and is a genius at knitting, sewing and crochet. She always features the cutest and coolest crafty goodness!

Dottie’s Kraft Corner

“The Peach is learning pretend play. First, it started so sweetly with her pretend drinking out of one of the halves of her Matroyska doll. And soon it led to her pretending to eat random scraps of paper and saying “yummy”.  That was all I needed to hot-foot it over to Michael’s to buy 20 sheets of felt because finally I had a reason to make FELT FOOD for my little one…”

Japanese Craft Books

“For the true crafty mama out there, there is always another project on the horizon. Something new to discover. A new craftastic goodie that you can spend hours working on once your little one is in bed.  And it is not just one craft–oh no. Our obsession leaves no corner of Michael’s unscathed!  Knitting? Sure! Crochet? Bring it! Sewing? Natch! Scrapbooking? In my sleep. And what keeps us crafters going? A good daily dose of craft porn…”

We also been lucky enough to have had tons of amazing guest posts from special friends. Here are just a sampling:

Vintage-Inspired Arrow Decor from Danielle Thompson

“I’ve been in the process of redecorating my boys’ room since they “moved in together” and are sharing a room. I’ve been perusing the interwebs for months now searching out the perfect items. I remember I had a thought one day that vintage arrows would be so cool as decor, displayed on the wall somehow. Arrows are such a classic symbol and evoke the “cowboy and indians” game that boys have played for ages!”

A Hip Chore Chart from Draw! Pilgrim

Pilgrim needs a Year in Review all her own….she created so much beautiful, playful artwork for us over the year. She is a true talent and as lovely in person as she is online! Her fun Chore Chart made cleaning up cool!

And speaking of shutterbean…..her genius meals have kept us well fed all year long!

Easy Peasy Meals with Shutterbean

THE KIDDOS.

One of our favorite features is the Weekly Kiddo. Our original take on street style—inspired by the Wardrobe Remix. You sent us photos of your adorable kid’s rockin’ some really cool style. We had retro kiddos, hipster kiddos, preppy kiddos….but best of all, they all looked utterly comfortable and at ease in their cool style.

Our first boy was that little heart breaker Max:

And our first Weekly Kiddo girl was the ever amazing Pippi!

See the whole collection of cuties here.

THE READERS.

Simply put, we have the best readers out there! You guys make this so fun and we love the great community that is evolving over here. While we chat a lot about kiddos, we like to give it up for the mamas whenever we get a chance.

Modern Kiddo’s Guide to Comfy Kicks

“Sensible shoes. *shudder* Second only to the dreaded MOM JEAN. Once you become a mama you have to stay sure footed and let’s face it, comfort becomes a #1 priority. For many people though, this means sacrificing style. Phooey on that, I say. I’m pretty passionate about finding pretty footwear that won’t leave me having to soak or bandage my tootsies at the end of the day. That’s me up there (on the left—the insanity going on on the right is my stylish friend Denise, who looked amazing in these but totally confessed she rarely wears them and they are a pain in the arse to walk in. My yellow shoes have a small 1.5 inch heel and, while I won’t be running any marathons in them, they are pretty damn comfy. I thought it would be fun to give you my tips and tricks when it comes to finding fab footwear…”

This is What a Mother Looks Like

On Mother’s Day we did a special tribute to the mamas. It was one of my favorite posts of the year.

“To all of the many amazing, strong, sweet, powerful, thoughtful, bold, kind, crazy, shy, loud, fabulous women we know….we love you and salut you. You really do have the hardest job in town. And you know what? Your child is *totally* the cutest, smartest kiddo we know….

Presenting just a small selection of  our beloved  friends and readers. Mothers, all of ’em. Ladies, I have to say, DAMN ya’ll look good…”

It’s the Modern Kiddo Costume Parade!

Our reader’s are such a crafty lot…on Halloween I asked people to submit their homemade costumes—whether they were fab or craft fails. Yeah, I shoulda known. ALL the costumes were spectacular. Not a dud in the lot!

THE REAL WORLD.

Midyear we realized that we wanted you guys to get to know us, the faces behind the cute kiddos. And we stated a feature called Real Life—which was a peek into our lives. Thanks for allowing us to share ourselves with ya!

A Day at the Museum

A Day at Fairy Land

The Kiddos Hit the Road: EVO Conference

A Trip to Tiki Oasis

Peach’s Amazing Gnome Costume

Alix is in Prague

THE INSPIRATION.

And finally….this is who we do it all for. Our very own Modern Kiddos: Georgia and Wolfgang, two of the sweetest cuties around!

This year Dottie’s lovely little Peach turned one and she sure did it in style! She is the the most darling little child and you just want to give her cuddles! I swear she’s like a walking little doll.

And then there’s my little Wolfie…..what can I say? He is goofy, kind, charming and such a big love bug.My boy turned 6 this year and he just gets better every year. I love this little mop top more than anything.

So there you have it folks! If you made to the end of this honkin’ post I’m impressed…hopefully you found some fun stuff you might have missed or had a good time reviewing old faves! I know there are plenty of things I left out but we’d be here all day…and I’ve got some New Year’s Eve goodies to start making.

Much love to you and yours for a bright and sparkling New Year!