Category Archives: Holiday Kiddo

How Sears made our Christmas AWESOME.

Best of Alix, Best of Modern Kiddo, Holiday Kiddo

One of my favorite holiday memories was sitting on the floor pouring over the Sears Holiday Wishbook. This was the catalog to end all catalogs. Every fall we would wait in giddy anticipation for this giant tome to arrive in the mail. Nearly two and a half inches thick, every page was crammed full of amazing goodness for the entire family. My brother and I would look at this catalog with great reverence….ear-marking all the amazing things we wanted. And oh, there were so many things to want! Colorful quirky clothing….rad sleeping bags….cool bicycles…and the toys. Lord have mercy, the TOYS. The Sears catalog made you want things you didn’t even know you wanted. It was that good.

C’mon. I’ll show you….

Normally clothing for Christmas is kind of boring for kids, but back in the 70s clothing was colorful and fun and totally had me transfixed!

How cute are the little Girlie Toughskins??

Didn’t everyone’s family wear matching “loungewear”??

 

But the clothing was just like a little polyester appetizer. It was really alllll about THE TOYS.

Whoa, check out that ski jump up there. I can’t imagine Barbie successfully navigating that at all.

For those of you unfamiliar with the majesty of “Growing Up Skipper”…..she was little preteen Skipper when you pulled her out of the box, but when you spun her arm around, oh ho ho! Her waist shrunk, she got taller….and she grew BOOBS! I’m totally not kidding, folks.

(Please notice the terrifying “HUGO….man/doll of a thousand faces.” up there)

Of course pages like these “grab bag” were among the most tantalizing—jam packed with stuff.

The Weeble tree house and club house! The Haunted House and Weeble Mickey Mouse Clubhouse…Fisher Price, Play Mobil….and the McDonalds Playset, complete with Grimace and Hamburgler!

Oh how I wanted a huge Barbie head that you could style and put make up on… in retrospect I’m glad I didn’t get her. She’s totally creepers. I DID have a snazzy dolly stroller like the one below though. So cute!

Dottie totally had my wheels spinning yesterday thinking about Christmas wishes….the Easy Bake Oven was always on everyone’s list, but do you remember the Pizza Hut Oven???

The costume section was a little weird, but I think that the catalog arrived in September—so prospective Halloweenies could scope out their costumes!

Oh this is just the tip of the iceburg, friends. There were soooo many more awesome goodies. I haven’t even tapped into the ladies clothing section or housewares. BUT, I leave you with this brilliant selection for dad. Well hello there….

images: wishbook

Do you remember the awesomeness of the Sears catalog?

The MK Ornament Party Day 3: featuring danielle thompson

Holiday Kiddo

Last year we had an amazing Modern Kiddo ornament party with fun downloadables from boatloads of our talented friends. Because they’re so awesome, we’re going to post ’em all again this week!

Hello friends! I hope you are enjoying our little Modern Kiddo ornament party, I know I am! So far we’ve had two fabulous ornaments from two extremely talented friends, Kristin of klt:works and draw! pilgrim. If you are a long time reader you know how much I love both of those ladies and I was so thrilled they took part in our Ornament Party!

Today’s ornament comes to us from the very crafty Danielle Thompson. She never ceases to amaze us with her over-the-top style, and this ornament doesn’t disappoint….just you wait!


HOW CUTE ARE THESE LITTLE WEE MID-CENTURY HOUSES?? I’m dying. The little pointy trees out front are so excellent. They remind me a bit of those cardboard vintage Putz villages.


image: amy b

Danielle has kindly made TWO versions of this ornament….one in color and a special one in black & white that your kiddos can color in themselves. Simply print out on a thicker cardstock paper, use a small hole punch at the top and string with bakers twine or a ribbon. I think the full-color versions are especially fantastic. Danielle recommends using the teensiest of white pom poms and some fine, sparkly glitter to embellish:

If you can’t find the mini poms, no worries….the ornaments look just as lovely without them!

I’m in lerrrrve! I think these are just so cool. In addition to being a fabulous crafter, Danielle has two gorgeous kiddos of her own—Cooper and Campbell. Take a look at these two cuties:

Danielle, thank you ever so much for this fantastic ornament!

Please be sure to stop by Danielle’s blog, Thompson Family Life as well as Kitschy Digitals for tons of kitschy, cute inspiration.

Download your full color ornament template right here.

Download your b&w “i want to color it myself!” ornament right here.

MK Ornament Party Day 2: featuring Draw! Pilgrim

Holiday Kiddo

Last year we had an amazing Modern Kiddo ornament party with fun downloadables from boatloads of our talented friends. Because they’re so awesome, we’re going to post ’em all again this week!


image: reloveddesigns 

When I was in elementary school, we learned how to make crafty ornaments from recycled Christmas cards! You would cut circle shapes out of your old cards, score them in triangular thirds and then glue them together to make a fun-n-festive sphere to hang on the tree.

They take a little bit of time, but they look pretty darn cute. You can find a great tutorial on how to do these at Junk Mail Gems:

You can even embellish with a bit of glitter when you’re done or try cutting your circles with a scalloped edge like Martha did.

image: martha stewart, 2009

For today’s fun Kiddo Ornament, the brilliant Pilgrim came up with a modified version of the craft ball that is both cute and completely simple for little fingers to put together!

Unlike the traditional triangle fold, this ornament uses a much easier square fold. Simply print out your Modern Kiddo-themed ornament on card stock. If you don’t have card stock handy, you can print on regular printer paper and used a glue stick to glue the entire sheet to another piece of paper to make it a bit thicker—you could use wrapping paper, construction paper, whatever you like!

Next cut out each circle separately—you will have six of them. Carefully fold the red-portion of the design up (towards the center) so it is at a 90 degree angle. Using a glue stick, attach the red flap of one circle to the flap of another until you have made a 6-sided cube.

Use a hole-punch on the top and thread a piece of ribbon through to hang your ornament. Easy peasy! Of course, feel free to let the kiddos embellish with glitter.

Adorable! The amazing Pilgrim is not only a supremely talented artist (mark my words, she’s going to be the next Orla Kiely some day!) she is also a terrific mum. Here’s her charming little lad Donovan:

Thank you SO much Pilgrim. Also, please be sure to stop by Pilgrim’s Etsy shop and blog—her whimsical, vintage inspired style is sure to make you smile from ear to ear! While you’re at it, add her on Twitter too! She is as clever as she is talented.

Pilgrim, thank you ever so much for this delightful ornament! We heart you big time!

Download your exclusive modern kiddo ornament template right here.

Retro Round Up :: What I wanted under my Christmas tree as a kid.

Holiday Kiddo, Vintage Toys + Fun Stuff

 

Well, we have less than two weeks left for holiday shopping and I’m sure you all are pretty much finished, right?  As I round out the the Peach’s list of holiday goodies, I can’t help but think back to what was on my own Christmas lists many years ago. So, I’ve decided to feature all of the goodies I wanted as a child on this Retro Round up. Some I did get and some, well… maybe one day.

FASHION PLATES. I played the hell out of this toy when I was a kid. My favorite was the gauchos with boots.  Spectacular. From Ebay seller, Belmonddrury.

How many crappy half baked flat cakes did you make with THIS gem? Who knew it was powered by a lightbulb.  Hmm… How to cook over a lightbulb cookbook is long overdue on the bookshelves in my opinion… From Etsy seller, Whimsy Vintage.

 

I remember thinking I was going to use this Snoopy Sno Cone machine to launch my flagship snow cone store as a kid.  From Etsy seller, Yesterday’s Revival.

 

I was so in love with Mork from Ork as a kid that if I had this, I would have probably kissed the face away of this activity book.  From Etsy seller, Colleen Roush.

 

Speaking of TV show inspired toys. Oh, man. I loved me some Donny and Marie Osmond. And these dolls! I wanted her dress. So. Freakin’. Bad. From Etsy seller, River View Gems.

Oh, these sweet sweet sneaker skates. If it was good enough for Tootie from The Facts of Life, it was good enough for me!

 

Strawberry Shortcake, gee, yer looking swell. The cute little girl with the strawberry smell! The weirdest plastic smelling strawberry smell, but still…that didn’t keep me from wanting one of these cuties! From Etsy seller, Ribbons and Retro.

 

Whenever I would go to a friend’s house who owned one of them, we’d all play on the SitnSpin until someone threw up. Good times! From Ebay seller, BimKids.

 

Saving the best for last…

Behold, the BARBIE TOWNHOUSE from Etsy seller, Quilted By Julie. My cousin Cheryl got this one year and I think I would have eaten her broccoli for months to put my Barbie in that glorious elevator.

And would you look at the interior? That great stained glass lampshade and all the pillows? Barbie could have run a fern bar on the second floor.

What were some of the things on your list to Santa?

Happy Monday!

 

 

Crank up the hi-fi! It’s Alix’s Retro Holiday Mix Vol. 2

Holiday Kiddo, , ,

By now your home should have been filled with the sweet sounds of a vintage Christmas! Thanks for all the kind tweets and comments—I’m so glad you guys liked my Retro Holiday Mix, vol 1. This week’s mix is a tad more lively (as opposed to smooth and groovy), and chock full o’ fabulousness that I know you’ll love.

For those that missed Monday’s post, here’s the dealio! Over the past years I have wanted to digitize my vinyl as a way to preserve it—and so I could share it with others. I’ve transformed a fair amount of my albums to MP3 and thanks to the help of my super cool friend Spencer I’ve managed to build a fun menagerie of retro MP3s. I love cranking my old LPs around Christmas and wanted to share some of my favorite vintage holiday tunes with you! Some highlights of this mix include faves from my childhood albums: Sammy Davis Jr., The McGuire Sisters, The Pepperment Kandy Kids and the Jackson 5 (my top fave retro holiday album).

So without further ado, I’m pleased to present:

Please share the love and feel free to tweet/pass around. I just ask that you credit me, pretty please, @galexina!

{PLEASE NOTE: MIX IS OFFICIALLY UNLOCKED!}

DOWNLOAD ALIX’s RETRO HOLIDAY MUSIC MIX, VOL. 2 HERE