Category Archives: Holiday Kiddo

It’s the Modern Kiddo ornament party! Featuring Danielle of kitschy digitals!!

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Hello friends! EEK! We are sooooo close to Christmas!! 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 of the kiddo, Kristin (of klt:works) and Pilgrim (of draw*pilgrim). If you are a long time reader you know how much I love both of those ladies and I was so honored they took part in our Ornament Party! You can find their adorable creations here and here.

Today’s ornament comes to us from another one of my all-time favorites— the very crafty Danielle Thompson. She never ceases to amaze me with her colorful, whimsical style and wait til you see what she has come up with. All I can say is, “Oh my.”


HOW CUTE ARE THESE LITTLE WEE MID-CENTURY HOUSES??? I’m dying. The little pointy trees out front are so awesome. With their angular little roof tops, they remind me of those vintage Putz village cardboard houses…Danielle actually did a wonderful post on them recently which you can check out over at her terrific blog Thompson Family Life. (Seriously, it’s filled with spectacular eye candy!)


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. Danielle, how do you do it?

Download your modern kiddo*danielle thompson full color ornament template right here.

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

Here is the lovely lady behind all this magic:

In addition to being utterly fabulous, 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! We heart you big time!

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

Download your modern kiddo*danielle thompson full color ornament template right here.

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

It’s the Modern Kiddo ornament party! Featuring pilgrim of draw*pilgrim!!

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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.


image: cathie filian

They take a little bit of time, but they look pretty darn cute:

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. You can find a great tutorial on how to do these at Junk Mail Gems.


image: martha stewart 2009

For today’s fun Kiddo Ornament, the brilliant Pilgrim (of the magnificent Draw! Pilgrim) came up with a modified version 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!) but she is also a terrific mum. Here’s her charming little lad Donovan:

What a cutie! 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.

Twas a Dark and Stormy Christmas :: Jam Fancy Style

Holiday Kiddo

Ho ho ho, my little chickadees! Wellll, internet is down here at my folks house and I couldn’t upload any of my planned photos for today. Which means the Ornament Party is delayed by a day. Boooo! We’ll have it again by this evening pinky swear!

It’s a brisk day here in winter Michigan. To warm you up, I have some fabulous photos to share. My friend Christina is a BRILLIANT artist & crafter. I met her thru our shared love of Blythe (I really need to do a whole post on the time my Blythe dolly Sophie went to visit her in Australia). Anyway, she is so wildly creative and talented I just had to share. In addition to being a wonderful illustrator, Christina is supremely talented at making things. Especially tiny things. So it didn’t come as any surprised when I saw her Creepy Christmas tree. Straight out of a twisted Alice in Wonderland, Time Burton faerie tale…this little black tree is whimsical, quirky and utterly charming. Hmmm, just like Christina herself! Needless to say I’m a huge fan, and this lovely lady made every single thing on the tree herself!

(Psst! The two-headed deer is my favorite!)


All images courtesy of: Jam Fancy.

And I just know you’ll love her blog, JamFancy. Please stop by and say hello to this talented lady!

It’s the Modern Kiddo Ornament Party! Featuring Kristin of klt:works!

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While poking around my inspiration files, I stumbled upon this photo from a 1966 issue of Better Homes and Gardens:

It’s fun to make your own ornaments and there are boatloads of fancy tutorials out there…but there was such a charming simplicity to these that I loved. It got me thinking, what’s more fun than a simple ornament that you can simply cut, glitter up and hang on the tree with a ribbon?? So I reached out to some of my fabulous friends and asked them if they would create a special ornament especially for Modern Kiddo readers….and I was thrilled when they said YES! Just you wait til you see these amazing creations. We’ll have one-a-day (“plus vitamins!”) for the next few days as we count down til Christmas.

Today we are pleased as punch to feature these adorable winter woodland creatures ornments from my amazing friend Kristin—of klt:works.

I know, HOW CUTE ARE THESE LITTLE GUYS??? The ladybug, the owl and the leggy bird…each as festive as the next!  Simply click here to download the ornament sheet and print it out. You can print on thicker paper OR print on regular paper and then use a glue stick to glue the sheet to a thicker paper or construction paper. Use scissors to carefully cut around each critter. A hole punch at the top completes the ornament and yer ready to hang! (Can we also discuss that AMAZING CARDBOARD TREE?? Kristin you are so awesome….)

I love the stripy baker’s twine Kristin used, but a ribbon or even plain string would work dandy! Leave them “as-is” or embellish with a touch of glitter (just image the lady bug with sparkly spots!).

Download your ornament here. Ornaments are for personal use only!

This is the lovely lady behind these fabulous ornaments:

Kristin is an incredible artist who creates the most fabulous pieces—lucky for us she sells a selection of them at her Etsy shop (the mobiles and kiddo clothing are among our faves!). She also has an always inspiring blog, klt:sketchbook that I love to pop by. If you are a long time Modern Kiddo reader you will remember this fabulous room tour we did of her little guy Sayer’s bedroom. Speaking of Sayer, I have to show him off again. He is SUCH a cutie:


I love Sayer’s caps….totally adorable! And the kitty tee is klt:works, of course!

Please show this talented lady some love! Be sure to visit her site and Etsy shop—and while you’re at it, add her on Twitter and Facebook! You can find here here:
Twitter: KLTworks
Facebook: KLTworks

Kristin, thank you so so much for this charming ornament! We heart you big time!

Download your exclusive modern kiddo* klt:works ornament here.

And if you haven’t checked out my special Vintage Christmas Music Mix, download that too!

I’m Dreeeeaming of a Retro Christmas!

Holiday Kiddo

We just arrived in Michigan and it’s cold and wintery. Greg and I are doing some last minute shopping while Wolfie hangs out with Grandmama and Opi. We also brought Tuxie the cat with us! He was freaked out on the plane but he is thrilled to be here with everyone now!

For Vintage Kiddo Monday I thought you would love to see some of these cool old photos. I love them—all the little trees are so sweetly misshapen.


Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
(I can’t find all the credits for these photos. If you recognize one as yours and would like me to remove it, please let me know!)