All posts by Alix

*THANK YOU*

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Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all your kind words and support. We miss you guys madly, but this break has been a very much needed thing.

We’ve been chatting about Modern Kiddo and figuring out all the things we’d like to do here to keep this space fresh and exciting! Right now we are gearing up for the ALT Design Summit. We’ve been going ever since they launched the event, and have been fortunate to have been asked to speak several times as well. It’s really our favorite conference out there, so much fun and such a colorful, design-loving crowd. This year Alix is speaking again (Dottie decided to take some time off from speaking and just relax and enjoy the event!). Will you be attending? If so, we can’t wait to meet you! We’re still working on our little survey and even have a fun giveaway to encourage you to fill it out. Look for that in a week or two!

Again, thank you so much. We heart you guys!

Taking a pause.

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Hey friends. You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet over here lately. We have a lot on our plates over here at Camp Kiddo….silly things like work and daily commitments, but also bigger things. Most significantly was sweet Dottie’s father passing, which has been incredibly hard on her as I’m sure you can imagine. We are on a self-imposed hiatus for a teensy bit. Please bear with us!

In addition to simply dealing with life, we’ve also been thinking a lot about the future of Modern Kiddo…do we continue on with it? Do we morph into something else? Do we simply stop all together? Or do we revamp it and come back better and stronger than ever?? All these questions are swirling around in our brains. And here’s where we’d love your help. I’m putting together a super quick/easy little survey. We’d love to get a little pulse check from YOU guys! You’re really the reason we do this. We’d love to know which things you love most. What you’d like more of. Or perhaps things you’d like less of. Hey, it’s all fair game. I’ve been in the process of a site redesign and before taking that step we’d truly like to get a little gut check from our MK family. As an added incentive, I have a fun little giveaway for everyone who participates in the survey. So stay tuned! And thank you so much for your friendship, support and patience.

Valley of the Paper Dolls // 1960s style

Yup, today we’re talking’ vintage paper dolls! When I was a kiddo, I loved my paper dolls. I think they were one of the first things that got me interested in fashion! I thought my paper dolls were totally stylin’ but I have to say that they paled in comparison to these dollies. Plucked from the 60s (1967 and 1969 to be exact!) their fashions are bold, colorful and soooo cool. Let’s have a little look-see:

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Did you notice the front of the box of those last two? “OUTFITS STICK BY MAGIC!” Hee. No pesky tabs here, our mods love the magic!

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Ahhhh! how cute is mod missy with her Mod Mag?? Also, is it wrong to covet a doll’s wardrobe? Seriously, I think I would wear any one of those outfits myself. Did you play with paper dolls when you were a kid?

It’s the 5th Annual Modern Kiddo Costume Parade! {Cool Homemade Costumes!}

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Step right up folks, it’s time once again for the Modern Kiddo Costume Parade! We said wanted to see yer best homemade costumes—and you delivered! Of course I should have known that Modern Kiddo readers are a talented bunch and you guys turned it out with some spectacular and creative costumes. Let’s take a look at some of this year’s fantastic creations!

We begin with a BANG!

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It’s a jolly holiday indeed when you have someone like Ashley from Make It Love It on your team. WOW just check out this AMAZING Mary Poppins costume! photo Poppins_mary.jpg

As if this weren’t enough, she whipped together a simply adorable Bert costume too! You can even see how she made it right here.

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Next up! My little Pinata! Wolfie made a smash the previous year when he went as a meatball so we knew we wanted to do something equally fun the next year. A pinata was just the ticket! We made the entire thing out of a carbbord box and lots of tissue paper (the head was tricky but I love how it turned out!).

My friend Heather (@heather_rome) is a wildly talented stylist—so it should come as no surprise that her cool boy Cash turned it out with this bananas KISS costume! The question is, does he want to rock-n-roll all night, or trick-or-treat???? Hmmmm.

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Oh little Luna! Amanda of Elksan’s sweet girl is the cutest little kitty cat lamby we ever did see! {That sweet “fur”? A handmade Markham Loop Collar from Good Night Day}

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Cutie pie Aidan went as a lovely Monarch Butterfly. Her daddy made the mask and mama Tara whipped together six layers of tulle for the skirt. So adorable!

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Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles onions on sesame seed toddler! Marie’s sweet little man Timmy makes the most delicious little cheeseburger, no??
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Wolfie’s school friend Alyssa went as this super cool donut! They simply painted an inner tube and added beads as “sprinkles”! GENIUS!!
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OOMPAH LOOPMAH LOOMPAH DEE DOOOO! Look at Beth’s two awesome kiddos, Oliver and Violet. I’m not sure what I love more, their sweet names or those fun little overalls!
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I don’t know about you, but Minecraft is alllll the rage over here. Clever Stephanie (of MaeDae) crafted up these amazing Minecraft costumes for her kiddos Gavin and Guini. I bet these were a smash success!
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Modern Kiddo fave Billy went as a Zombie from “Plants vs. Zombies”. This stylish lad went to the thrift shop with his mama Gabrielle and picked the suit and tie as he wanted them just right! Fabulous!

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Brother Arlo wanted to be a Skeleton Fire Pterodactyl so Garbielle sewed him up a crazy red suit with a gold felt skeleton and a matching head piece. So cool!

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I love group costumes and oh my goodness, Miss Jill of kitchenfunwithmy3sons is the MASTER!! Just look at this amazing Camping themed group—vintage trailer! Campfire! Wee little marshmallow! LOVE IT! You must visit her site to see their costumes over the years, truly amazing!

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TOTORO!!!! The lovely Erin (of Swonderland) turned a simple hoodie + felt + hot glue into an adorable costume for sweet Clark. LOVE!
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It looks like little Baby Florence has been masquerading as Baby Venice in her brilliant strolling gondola costume! Really clever! (and she is just SO cute with that jaunty cap, no?) From instagrammer @lalstephens!

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Aww look how cute adorable Judah is as the Space Shuttle?? I LOVE these kinds of costumes! His sweet mama Jess (of My Little Mustache) crafted this stylish suit up. 3-2-1 BLAST OFF to CUTENESS!

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Instagrammer @ritabellekane turned her cutie Evan into the happiest lil cotton candy girl. Adorable!
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Hee hee. Sarah is so awesome. We love Wes Anderson around here, so you can bet I was giggling over her twin girls as Sam and Suzy from Moonrise Kingdom!
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I was totally smitten with my fab friend @mizlandry‘s daughter Audrey as this sassy Zombie!  Stylishly ghoulish!
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My lovely friend Kristi (@kristimontague) whipped together this amazing Max and Carol ensemble for her two cute Wild Things. Grrrreat!

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Stacey (of hartandsew) always comes up with the most special little costumes for her beautiful girls LM and Lark. Just take a look at these cuties!! The kitty is so sweet but that Gnome?? Oh my stars….
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Our pal Beth (of fuzzymamavintage) said her sweet son Harrison wanted to be James Bond— so her hubby spiffed up his tuxedo with a jet pack. It’s so Thunderball!!  We say, double-oh-YEAH BABY!

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The awesome Jenn (of The Blueberry Hill) said she was inspired by one of our past Modern Kiddo Costume Parades to make this fabulous California Roll costume for her cool son Max! I love it! Hey Max! Wasssssabi!
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Heather’s (@heather_rome) family is always so creative….remember Mr. KISS from earlier in this post? Well take a look at this! Cash has traded in the platform boots for a Krazy Klown get up (EEK!) brother Dax is Anubis (the jackal-headed Egyptian god of the afterlife!) and sweet lil Penelope is PUNKY BREWSTER (so stinkin’ cute!). AW yeah!
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Our cute pal Jody’s awesome girls Gillian and Eliza went as Jake and Izzy of Neverland Pirate fame. I gotta say that these little ladies are adarrrrrrrrrrgh-able!!!

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Kristy (of thriftyvintagekitten) turned out a very sweet Little Red Riding Hood for her little girl! She crocheted the little red hooded capelet and found a perfect  dress in her vintage stash. Adorable!

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Enzo and his mamas are just too clever! I was loving their Harry Potter outfits (with moms Colleen and Adrienne as Snape and Macgonnagal!) but then their super fab Scooby Doo Crew totally had me grinning. That FRED!
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Last year when sweet Suzy was 7 months pregnant, her son was really into the Peanuts gang. So what did they do? Oh, just a really really cute Charlie Brown-themed family costume. And guess who was the Great Pumpkin?!?  Ha! Too cute!

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Kim’s little man Thomas was obsessed with owls. So this crafty gal took some brown felt scraps, yarn from the stash and a souped-up stocking cap to create this sweet costume. Word on the street is that Thomas was owlfully proud.

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Last year my friend Katrina won me over with her son Ewan’s super sweet “Sheet Ghost” costume. This year she (and Ewan!) didn’t disappoint. “I want my mummy!!!!”

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Little Graham was not to be outdone. Katrina took a thrifted speckled sweater, beanie from target, and then crocheted a scarf and pom pom…..to make the cutest lil Sock Monkey EVER!
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Kristen (of RobotParadeVintage) always turns it out. In past parades, her son has been a rockin’ Macguyver, a super rad Transformer….and now check this out! A BATTERY!! We say Double AA+!!!

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We’ll close with two of my Kiddo Parade All Star favorites. First up is the magnificent Bela! She’s the daughter of  amazing designer Karen (mishalulu!). You probably remember her brilliant “Alice in Wonderland Outgrowing her House” costume….SO GOOD. Now check out this simply fantastic Amelia Earhart!!
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I mean, HOW creative and fun?? We just adore Miss Bela.

Speaking of creative and fun, one of my other favorite kiddos is the very clever Sayer, son of talented artist Kristin (KLT Works). Check out THIS artistic family! Sayer was a fabulous Oompah Loompah, his papa was Wonka…..and Kristin? Oh, just an adorable WONKA BAR. Love it!

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Kristin was kind enough to give us a sneak peek at this year’s costume—Abe Lincoln! Sayer read that Lincoln was nearly 7 feet tall with this trademark stovepipe hat, so he wanted a hat that would make HIM seven feet tall too! hahaha. What a kiddo!! {here he is at the roller rink….I’m dying….}

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WHEW! Well that’s all folks…..what an astounding array of costumes, no?? Thank you so so much to everyone who participated! My in box was bursting at the seams with all this DIY goodness!! {OH! and if you sent me something and you aren’t seeing it here, do shoot me a note! It’s possible it just got lost in the email vortex. We want to make sure everyone who wants to join the parade can!}

{PS Wanna see what Wolfie went as this year?? Pop on my instragram feed @galexina!}

One Jacket = Three QUICKIE Costumes!

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We have been loving the H&M Halloween costumes around these parts….and I was thinking, ya know you really can get SO much more use out of them than just one outfit. I thought it would be fun to see how you could turn the Pirate Coat into several different costumes! I will tell you that this isn’t a fancy photo shoot. We did NOT spend much time on this—I wanted to see if I could just grab things we had around the house to transform the looks in 15 minutes or less. Let’s go!

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COSTUME: H&M pirate coat, one crazy light up pumpkin sword from Walgreens, one hat and hook from the Halloween Party Store. I’d also add an eye patch!

{I went as a pirate wench one year and the hat and hook were leftovers from my costume…I did not look NEARLY as cool or cute, and looked more like a waitress from Long John Silver!!!!}

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This next one is especially appropriate for my little Wolfgang….

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COSTUME: Pirate coat, violin, hair in ponytail

{OK OK, so we cheated a bit here by using a real violin. You def wouldn’t want to trick or treat with that! I would use a toy violin/piano or make one out of cardboard. OR simply have them carry around a scroll of sheet music and a conductor’s wand. If your child is more cooperative, add a black ribbon around the pony tail!}

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And finally….

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COSTUME: Pirate coat, fedora, sparkly glove.

{I didn’t add sparkles to this glove, but you get the idea! I’d probably add longer pants….even jeans…and a microphone.}

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There you have it! The possibilities are pretty endless….if you were crafty, you could make a pumpkin head/mask and go as the headless horseman….you could wear a top hat and carry a stuffed animal lion/tiger and go as a circus ring master….you could even use the same pirate hat, simply powder your kiddo’s hair white and go as George Washington or Paul Revere!

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I swear I’m loving all of these ideas! Hmmm, I think I need to track down a pirate coat for ME! {get the H&M pirate coat here…)