Category Archives: Etsy Love

Besty of Etsy–Elise Hooper

Etsy Love, Retro Modern, , ,

OK, I have a little confession to make.  I love holiday focused kiddo clothes. I just can’t help it.  Call it totally pandering to the holiday gods to get some extra candy/pumpkin pie/gelt/candy, but I can’t help myself. Particularly if it’s rather clever and not so obvious.  Like this darling jumper from Etsy seller, Elise Hooper Designs that Alix sent me a link to.  I must admit it does involve two of my favorite things in the whole wide world–ric-rac and a jumper. But with that sweet little Halloweeny spider, well, it had me at ric-rac.

And then I saw her other pieces. Uh oh… I was in trouble.

Simple design plus knock out stunning fabric equals magic in the hands of the right seamstress.

And Elise Hooper has that magic.  Like with this wee placket.  And owls. Oh, for the love of the owls! Eek!

And this little bit of fall festivity is killing me.  I have such a weak spot for acorns and maple leaves.  Is this dress not perfect for Thanksgiving dinner? Oh, perfection.

Besty of Etsy: the Halloween Edition

Etsy Love, , ,

If there is one day of the year we should be most appreciative of Etsy, it is Halloween.  Because sometimes the thought of making your kid’s Halloween costume is just too much. Yet, you don’t want to do the run of the mill boxed costume from Target.  Well, here are some gems for you all!

There is always the one kid that raids his home’s toilet paper supply to do the Mummy right? Well, save yourself some grief and just get them this brilliant mummy costume by Etsy seller, Hello Avocado.

Orca costume or turtle costume are available as kits so you can still say you made it! by Etsy seller, DIY Costumes.

The classic ghost from bedsheet costume sounds like a good idea until you fall down your steps because you can’t see. Well, this clever Etsy seller KidatHeart01 improved upon the ghost costume and even upped the cute factor!

I’m sure the tutu trade is getting a real work out right now as girls and frothy tutus seem to go together. But check out this great spider web tutu.  For the little goth in any girl.  If your child is delighted by this, I would suggest you hide your Morrissey albums stat. From Tiara’s Tutus.

Sometimes all you need is a good accessory to get your costume rolling.

Like this great wolf hat.  All you need is a pair of brown pants and sweater to finish it. Easy Peasy.

And it’s great with Little Red Riding hood costume, like this great cape. Both from Corduroy’s Closet.

Look we’ve all been there. The cute ballerina costume worn with a turtleneck.  Afterall, this holiday is at night in fall.  Any mother worth her salt is gonna try to keep her kid warm. Best solution I’ve seen so far?  This great Tinkerbell leaf wrap. Love it. Again, from Corduroy’s Closet.

I love this little lamb costume.  Great reason to get your self dolled up as Mary in some rocking cute outfit.  And check out the floppy ears of it all!  From Charlie Designs.

I gotta admit I love the old Willy Wonka so much more, than the Johnny Depp one so I was a complete fool for this genius Halloween costume. From Frogs & Flowers.

I hit the jackpot with seller, photo117!  Check out this great Elvis costume.  Or help your little one get a head start on rocking the Ren Fair with these great costumes.

But really, why should all the kids have all the fun? I had to include these.  Let your inner Sasquatch roar! Or you inner Loch Ness monster, if you’d like. I would totally go have drinks with Etsy seller, Miss Nessa.

Happy Halloween Etsy shopping, folks!

The Besty of Etsy: Soil

Etsy Love, , , , , , ,

That sweet crisp wind that is delighting us right now as we shake off the heat of summer has a habit of turning icy cold over the next few months.

Along with trying to find the perfect pair of boots (don’t even get me started…), I’ve now added to my list of Fall to-dos–trying to find the perfect hat for the Peach.

Oh. My word.  Would you look at that?  My search may be over.

Enter Etsy shop, Soil.

Who says you can’t have fun with you hat.  Take that bit of childhood pretend play into real life.

Like with this aviator hat.

Or the “Sooper hero” hat.

And check out the headphones hat. The wonderful wonderful headphones.

After all, isn’t that what childhood is all about.  Hurrah for fun clothes!  A good hat makes you and the people around you smile.  Thanks to these hats from Soil, I’m grinning from ear to ear.

Pretty Little Mobiles

Etsy Love, Widdle Wednesdays

Oh Wednesday, I love you so because it’s time for:

And let’s spend some time in the nursery today, shall we?  What is a nursery without a sweet little mobile for baby to stare up at in wonder? And there are soooo many good ones out there that you can find the perfect one to match your nursery decor.  And did you know that mobiles are good for your baby? Not only can they helplittle ones’ eyes to focus, but it keeps them on their backs, which is believed to help prevent SIDS. See—design can save lives!

So, let’s take a look at some of the mobile marvels out there today!

You just can’t help but love a good modern mobile. It’s a great investment that extends past the toddler years to college and beyond. Especially if it is a gorg as this wooden one of abstract birds from Bookhou.

The Peach is obsessed with kitties. But wouldn’t any baby be if they had this glorious kitty cat mobile made by Modern Kiddo fav klt:works? Nuff said. Actually I have more to say. I love how Kristien (the K of klt:works) uses her sewing machine stitching as cat whiskers. It’s purrfect! (Sorry, I couldn’t help mahself!)

You all are familiar with the wonderful Bla bla plushies like the owl, the mermaid or even the little kitty.  Well, take a gander at this bit of Blabla awesomeness: the Blabla Grand Chicken mobile. This is just so deliciously cozy and yummy and oh, I love it!

It’s just too much. One chicken has a scarf on.  Another a little hat. Hey wait, is that chicken wearing a headscarf? Be still my heart. Would it be wrong to buy this for myself and hang it in my office at work?

Petit collage mobiles are hugely popular especially the owl one. But check out this wonderful folk farm friends mobile by our friends at Petit Collage. I particularly love the Swedish horse.

Let your little ones have dreams of little bunny Foo Foo hopping through the forest with this dear bunny mobile. The different grays are just wonderful and add a little bit of the abstract into something so sweet.

That bunny mobile is a Flensted, a Danish brand that has been around for 50 plus years and is considered by many to be the grand dame of mobiles (after Calder, natch!) Check out these popular Flensted mobiles. The fish is a classic that would look great anywhere in your house as well as in the nursery.  I love the chicken one too.  You can purchase these Flensted mobiles at BabyGeared.

I love Plan Toys and was delighted to hear that the company has a great wooden mobile that continues the company’s goal of creating beautiful toys made of  natural, chemical free recycled rubberwood and finished with non-toxic water based dye.  And the primary colors are just the ticket to keep your little one staring up.

Portland artist, Heather Frasier makes these floaty bits of goodness using cut shapes that are strung on clear, sturdy string and hang from a thin, clear acrylic disc so they just float over the baby’s head. You can find these  Heather Frasier mobiles here.

As you know we love Etsy something fierce here at Modern Kiddo—and they didn’t disappoint when I went mobile hunting. Like this great bird mobile that uses real branches for the wee cloth birds to sit on.

Tissue pom pom mobiles are wonderful above the crib. They add this great otherworldly feeling and are a good choice for nervous mamas that don’t like to hang anything remotely heavy over their little one’s cribs.

I love this mod trees mobile.  The Etsy seller, Molly Anne Make also created a matching set of goodies that could extend the cuteness of the mod trees throughout the nursery.

But of course this is the tip of the iceberg for mobiles.  I used a vintage Irmi one and it broke my heart when I found the Peach standing in her crib manhandling the heck out of it. Naughty girl!  Sigh. I still might hang it over her bed because I love it so.

m.o.m: nerdy clothes for cool kids

Etsy Love

Don’t you just love hearing about wonderfully talented people who are keeping the dream alive producing beautiful clothing for sassy tots everywhere? Well, let me introduce you to one such girl. And that girl is the utterly charming Ms. Bethany who started a hand made clothing company for sweet nerdy kiddos with her mom. Yup. How sweet is that?

And it’s called m.o.m.

I know, right? Adorable.

Located on the sunny side of the street in Encinitas (only the coolest beach town in SoCal, natch) Bethany sits in her sweet studio with a whole wall that she can open like a garage door to let the ocean breeze come in and flutter her handmade banners.  She’ll sit there and cut beautiful pieces of fabric magically turning them into beautiful aprons with emboidered does for girlies, the most wonderful ties for boys and a whole slew of awesome that I can’t wait to show you.  All with her sweet pooch, Stella curled up under the table snoozing away.

And all with her Mom.  What made her team up with her completely adorable Mom, I asked?

Bethany’s response:

“I was working at Goodnight Room in Oakland when the owner requested aprons for little girls. I suggested we ask my mother to make them. My mom said yes and the aprons sold, and sold, and sold. One day I phoned my mother to say, “This is it, we’re going into business together.”
The first aprons were made for Goodnight Room in 2002. From then until late 2008, the dynamic duo created all m.o.m stuff at night and on the weekends, as they both had full-time jobs. In October of 2008, they set up their workshop + store in Encinitas, Ca. They’ve had the space for 20 months and and are still in love with it–but wouldn’t you be too?
And what is the inspiration for their delightful line of goodies? Family history, movies, and music to name a few. Bethany’s grandmother and great-grandmother are top of the list for the skills they handed down and the common sense practice and m.o.m philosophy of, “use what’s around you and don’t waste a thing.”
Amen to that, sister!
Their inspiration? From Bethany:
“We are drawn to simple lines and old-fashioned details. We believe kids should look like kids. Our pieces will never be so precious that  they can’t play in them. We also love color and pattern and get a kick out of crazy combinations. We truly do work by our philosophy -we keep all scraps of fabric and create our accessories from them.”
Well, what is there not to love about m.o.m.? Nothing! Now just skedaddle on over to their site and pick out something cute for your tyke!

PS: I’m in lurve with the m.o.m. blog. Check it out HERE.