All posts by Alix

This Guy. The Best Little Tooth Pillow Ever.

Things We Like,

So far, Wolfie has lost about…hmmm, 5 or 6 teeth now? The first one he lost while we were walking around on Fisherman’s Wharf. We were in a bustling chatchke shop and he triumphantly held it up. “Mama! Mama! My toof!” I squealed in delight….grabbed it, and promptly dropped it. And it was gone. I was crawling around on my hands and knees but no luck. Wahh! Wolfie was awesomely indifferent about it. I was devastated. We ended up drawing a picture of a tooth and leaving that under his pillow with hopes for a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Luckily for me, the Tooth Fairy is a smaht lady, and she came through!

I have to admit, we don’t really have a good system for leaving the toothies behind. I usually try and scare up some lil envelope somewhere. Which was why I was SO THRILLED to discover Toothy! In a word, this little dude rocks!

Toothy is a sweet and quirky lil plushy with a snazzy pair of trousers that have a fun little front pocket—the perfect place for keeping teeth safe while you wait for the Tooth Fairy to arrive. There is also a larger handy back pocket, where you can store the sweet little story book he comes with. Toothy is super cuddly and well made. He’s already become a favorite fixture on the bedtime cuddle circuit!

We have the plaid version but the talented Maranatha of Etsy shop Tao and Me makes them in all kinds of fabric—even slightly sweeter versions in floral or gingham. The shop is updated constantly with different colors/styles.

We looooove our Toothy and I think he’d be a swell gift for any little boy or girl. You can get your own Toothy right here.

Do you have your own special system for loose teeth? And WHAT is the going rate for teeth anyway? We usually do $1 but then he got a $2 bill once….and I think we even did $3 for a particularly tricky front tooth. Are we totally low-ballin’ it or are we being extravagant? I remember getting a quarter for a tooth!

Charley Harper, you’re our guy.

Art + Design, Best of Alix, Best of Modern Kiddo, Vintage Graphics, ,


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Ahhh, Charley Harper! Charley Harper was a Cincinnati-based American artist who was best known for his highly stylized wildlife illustrations. His work has an amazing simplicity and charm—I just love it. And of course designer Todd Oldham loves him too. He and Charley developed a unique friendship and Oldham made it a passion of his to expose as many people as possible to his work. Since Charley’s passing in 2007, he has worked with the Harper estate to produce a ton of cool things. Like The Big Book of Charley (ok, ok, it’s really called Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life). This huge book (it’s gigantic) is a stunner. I don’t own it, but I’ve seen it and let’s just say you’ll need a big coffee table. (little tip, the book is a bit pricey, due to it’s large size, but it’s worth every penny! They re-issued it in a resized, smaller version that is much cheaper—$20— but I hear the quality isn’t quite as good. If you find a great deal on the book, make sure you check the size to see if you are buying the smaller version or the original!).

When Todd Oldham was at Old Navy (remember? he was the Creative Director for a while! I had totally forgotten about that…) he produced a really adorable kid’s collection, featuring Charley Harper artwork—board books, a memory game, a coloring book. We have them all and they are awesome.

In a style he called “minimal realism”, Charley Harper was able to capture the essence of his subjects as simply as possible. When asked to describe his art style, Harper replied,

“When I look at a wildlife or nature subject, I don’t see the feathers in the wings, I just count the wings. I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures, fascinating behavior and endless possibilities for making interesting pictures.” — Frame House Gallery excerpt, 1977

Isn’t it gorgeous?? Of course you’ve probably heard about the new Todd Oldham line for Target, Kid Made Modern. It’s REEEALLY cute stuff….like these Paint By Numbers!

And then I discovered these adorable wood figures—little birds and leaves that you and your kiddo can paint. Sweet! I can’t wait to do these with Wolfie! {there are a ton of  other non-Charley Harper goodies in this line, I posted a bunch of photos on instagram under my handle: @galexina. You can see them here. You can also see more of the line in Last Month’s Hootenanny. #8 over here!)

Do you love his work as much as I do?? And are you planning on hitting up Target to scoop up some Kid Made Modern goodies??

I love you mom.

Real Life : Alix

My parents were visiting recently to help me clean up our basement. We called it a “working vacation” and it was something we had never done before. I was sooo appreciative. Oddly it was one of my favorite visits. Usually we have planned outings and try and take little day trips. But because we were working, we just hung out around the house. And it was so comforting and fun having them just be here….having breakfast/coffee with them in the morning. The luxury of them taking Wolfie to school in the morning. Sitting in the back yard “taking a break” and just chatting.

A while back Wolfie and I found a little vintage slide viewer at the thrift store (kind of like a fancy view master). I asked my dad if he would bring some slides so we could test it out and he did it one better—he brought the slides AND all the slides digitized on a DVD. SO GREAT! These were just a few of the photos. I loved looking at them. Look how foxy my mom is! I remember I loooooved her blonde farrah hair. I’m sure I’ll be sharing more of these photos soon. There are some hilariously awesome ones.

Mutti, thank you for being the best role model a girl could ever have! I had an amazing childhood and so many terrific memories. All the lessons you taught me have truly made me the lady I am today. And it’s because of you, that I am now this:

To all the mom’s out there….and to Dottie and HER sweet mama, HAPPY, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Friday Link Hootenanny :: Cool Things to Browse

Link Hootenanny

It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow! Did you make/send your mama something? If not, a phone call is still special. I’m always torn with what to do on mother’s day. On the one hand, it’s nice to have “me time”….get a manicure. A massage. Sit outside and read a book. But I also just really love spending time with my guys. And having a day with them is always something I enjoy. Rumor has it they are making blueberry coffee cake for me (yes, my non-sweet loving son actually has been really into BAKING lately….go figure!). To all the mama’s out there, may your day be amazing and wonderful. You deserve it! Now….on to some links.

1. PRETTY PERSONAL PRESENT.


Our friend Mari over at Small for Big came up with the sweetest little DIY printable. It would make a PERFECT last mother’s day gift if you are still on the prowl. Make one before tomorrow over here! Or save it for a birthday project.

2. HEY DADDY-O.

This was listed as “my dad’s band”. I don’t know who the kid is, but if this was his dad’s band I am hoping he’s a pretty cool cat himself. I LOVE these photos. See more of  his “dad’s band” here.

3. SHE FOUND THEM SOMEWHERE, OVER THE RAINBOW.

When I was younger, my godmother Tanta Judy always gave me a Madame Alexander doll for my birthday and Christmas. I LOOOOVED them. When I was younger, I was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz. So much so that I went as Dorothy for halloween and my parents used to always buy me Wizard of Oz “stuff” as gifts. (although in my bratty 20s I requested they stop.) Anyway, I was soooo charmed by this entire collection of Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz dolls that my friend Jenny unearthed. You’ll never guess where they are from! See more here. The blue “Oh Wee Oh!” guy is awesome.

4. STICKY FINGERS

These little colorful stickie notes are so fun….they’d make great book marks. Find them here.

5.  GETTIN’ DOWN TO BUSINESS.

I’m a big fan of Bri’s blog, designlovefest. She always has gorgeous eye candy, but she also has lots of thoughtful posts on freelancing, running your business and building your blog. This post is a recap of a a session she did recently on consistency of your blog “brand” and i thought it was great. Check it out here.

6. OH WHAT A PEAR.

This Vanilla Pear Cocktail is intended to be a fall beverage, but I think it looks so refreshing I can still imagine sipping it on a lovely warm spring Mother’s Day! Find out how to make it here. (via sfgirlbybay)

7. A BRIGHT IDEA.

This is not only a decorative sticker, it’s also a phosphorescent night light for kids, which glows in the dark when you switch off the light providing comfort during night hours. So sweet. Get them over at My Sweet Muffin.

8. A BEAUTIFUL WALK TO PARIS.
In 1962 illustrator/graphic designer extraordinaire Saul Bass made a children’s book. This past February they re-issued this marvelous book and now you can get all the magic of Henri’s Walk to Paris without having to obsessively troll thrift stores and used book shops. (ahem. not that anyone around here has been known to do THAT….)

9. PANIC AT THE DISCO
Feelin’ like your homies aren’t as ready for mother’s day as they should be? Send ’em over to Shutterbean. She has some awesome brunch ideas for the guys and gals in your life to whip up for you!

10. BONUS VIDEO // MARY POPPINS GETS SMOOTH
Have you seen (heard) these amazing remixes? They are sort of groovy, downtempo electronica but very very cool (via Black Eiffel). I also really love the Harry Potter “Alohomora” remix.

Droppin’ some science with Wolfie.

Real Life : Alix

For the first time ever, Wolfie’s school had a science fair (AND the annual pancake breakfast!). It was SO fun and he was so dang cute. All the participants had to stand with their project for the first 15 minutes to “field any questions” from the visitors. He was a bit nervous!

Wolfie’s Question was: Does Water Temperature Affect the Speed of Water Molecules? It sounds fancy but it was a really simple project! We took three glasses of water, one hot….one room temperature….one very cold. We then took a second set of glasses with the same water set up but added a tablespoon of salt to each glass. Then Wolfie added a few drops of food coloring to each glass and we watched to see which type of water “mixed” the color faster.

It was really fun! Wolfie had to come up with his own “Hypothesis” and “Conclusions”….we did the entire experiment a second time so we (aka mama) could take photos.

I don’t recall doing the science fair as young as second grade (I think I was in fifth grade when I did my first project) but we were excited to give it a go! I was kind of torn…on the one hand, I wanted him to have a good project that was fun and interesting, but I also was aware that he just turned 8 and this should be an age-appropriate project. There were some reeeeally great little projects there (and of course there were some that CLEARLY had a lot of parent man-power behind them…). There was so much creativity in the room it was pretty amazing. I have to say all the second graders and third graders really had an phenomenal showing.

Wolfie’s project was a really fun process for both of us and I was SO proud of him!

This was Greg’s favorite project. It simply said, “Question: Are UFOs Real?” and then “Answer: We are not alone in the universe.” Hee. (I think there were some stats about sightings as well….)

Afterwards we ate some tasty pancakes and then got to play with a bunch of really fun hands-on experiments. Such a special afternoon!

It got reeeeally hot so when we went home, my young scientist threw on some shorts and decided he had earned a little QT with his 3DS.

Do you remember the science fair? What kinds of projects did you do? I remember my fancy pants question from the Fifth Grade Science Fair to this day: “Does Age Have any Affect on Your Ability to Perceive an Optical Illusion?” Yep. And I won third place in the city. My follow up project the next year where I set little squares of wall paneling on fire didn’t go over quite so well.