Category Archives: Kiddo Holidays

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!}

Call for Kiddos! Enter the 5th Annual Homemade Costume Parade!

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It’s that time of year again friends! October is upon us and that means HALLOWEEN isn’t far away! We love this time of year and for the past four years we have done a spectacular—and super popular!—round up of cool homemade costumes. Every year I think “We’re going to have a hard time beating last year’s costumes” but man you guys sure don’t disappoint!

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Even though most people buy their outfits these days (and trust me, there’s  nothin’ wrong with that!) I still love seeing what homemade goodies people whip up. Sometimes these handmade costume turns out amazingly well….aaaaand then sometimes, not so much. But there is something undeniably charming about doing it your own way.

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Which leads me to this: once again, we want to see YOUR homemade kiddo costumes. Let me be clear, you don’t have to be a Mini Martha, we’ll take it all! Perhaps you made something so stinkin’ cute you got compliments everywhere you went. Or maybe things didn’t work out QUITE the way you expected. Either way, we want to see!

I’ll be posting them here on Modern Kiddo in our infamous Homemade Costume Parade Photo Gallery. I’ll be sure to post them early enough so you can actually use them as inspiration for your own costumes!


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So what are you waiting for? Send me those photos!! Email me: Alix [at] modernkiddo.com. We prefer 550-600 pixels wide, if possible….and feel free to include a link to your blog/shop, if you have one. I can’t wait to see what you guys scare up this year!

Want, Need, Wear, Read // Brandy Mercredi

Hello everyone! Here are my top Fab Four picks!

WANT: Part blocks, part marble maze – my kids don’t quite know it yet, but they want this toy. We are shooting for fun sibling play time when shopping for gifts, but I think this toy will bring lot’s of family play time (even better). Quadrilla Twist and Rail Set.

NEED: Socks! Always and forever we need socks, it’s not a very glamorous gift but, fun and funky pattern socks I’m pretty sure will be a hit with my kids. Happy Socks.

READ: All the books that are currently on my wish list for the kids, are books that are fun to read and look at for the parents. Oliver Jeffers books are a hit in our house, I’m sure this book will join our fav books in no time. This Moose Belongs To Me.

WEAR: My “Wear” list is reallllly long, but these are two of my favs. The tee is a must and the boots, a bit more of a dream! I Cut My Own Hair Tee . Clog Ankle Boots.

Hope you liked! What are you buying your littles this year? — Brandy

Be sure to stop by Heart and Habit (formerly Baby Blackbird) to get a wonderful peek into Brandy’s wonderful world. In addition to snaps of her adorable family, you’ll also see amazing fashion and style tips for kiddos of all ages. THANKS SO MUCH BRANDY!

Halloween Was a {pinata} Smashing Success.

Wow, was Halloween just last week?? This fall is flying by friends! So many of you have asked me what Wolfie decided to go as for Halloween and as you can see, he did it again. Wolfie (Mr. “I Hate Costumes”) stunned us all last year when he decided he wanted to be a meatball. A MEATBALL! He was spectacular, if I do say so myself (see it all here). This year my quirky cool boy decided he wanted to be a piñata. And I was thrilled! You have to understand friends, this is the child who practically refused to dress up for the first 6 years of his little life. Wolfie was never a pirate/superhero/cowboy hat wearing little guy. I was always so envious of people with “dress up boxes”. But my little opinionated fella was not into it. This “coming up with costumes” thing is all new for us, and Greg and I are enjoying it SO much.

We decided to go with the classic donkey shape. It all began with a cardboard box, cut out on the top and bottom. Pretty simple, right? Welllll, sort of. It got really tricky when it came to the head. Unlike a real pinata (which is hollow but still has a structure) this was pretty much an unstable pain in the donkey. I wish I had photographed the entire process, all fancy-like….numbered “steps” and what not. But the reality was I had to work on after hours and it was too dark….so this is all I got for ya!

Wolfie is a self-avowed sweets/chocolate hater—so Halloween is never really about the candy for him. (He’s a salty fan—popcorn, tortilla chips, pretzels!) Anyway, his “concept” was that because he doesn’t like candy, it’s be funny to be a pinata and throw candy at the kids. We did have a brief moment of “What if people try and hit me for candy??” And yes. Some kids eagerly rushed over grinning mischievously. But Wolfie told them he was a backwards pinata—if you hit him, you don’t get any candy. If you tell him something nice, he’ll give you a treat. (He had a secret pocket inside with ziplock baggie of candies!) Needless to say he got lots of nice words from kids clamoring for candy, and was a big hit at the school parade!

He really looked so cute. Honestly 75% of the kids were dressed in dark or black costumes: ninjas, witches, ghouls, draculas….my little pinata was a colorful beacon of silliness. I couldn’t have been prouder! And the kids at his school were awesome. He’s at that age when all the boys just want to be cool and dress like cartoons they love, and Wolfie really stuck out like a sore thumb. I was so happy that all the kids were SUPER into his costume too. YAY kids! There were some other really excellent costumes—a great Harry Potter (with Hedwig the owl), my friend Teri’s little girl was an amazing Mexican wrestler, Wolfie’s friend was Poseidon, and there was a genius Cloud with Lightning.

Wolfie’s teacher was an adorable Red Riding Hood:

On Halloween night we added a sombrero, which kind took the whole thing up a notch! I’m half German (my mama) but also half Mexican (my dad is from Mexico) so grandmama and grandpa got a huge kick out of this! Wolfie was quite pleased that lots of the houses he trick-or-treated at said he was their favorite costume (and some places even gave him extra candy!). Our friends in Alameda invited us over to their neighborhood and whew mama, those guys TURN. IT. OUT. There were 100s of people swarming the streets….crazy decorations. It was amazing but also kind of overwhelming!

At the end of the night, he and his buddies sat on the floor counting out their stash. He decided to give each of his friends four pieces of chocolate apiece (yeah, if you want more candy trick-or-treat with Wolfie!). Even though he doesn’t eat it, he still likes to look over his loot and count it etc. And just so you don’t think he’s a complete crazy boy with his non-sweets loving ways, he IS a big a fan of cherry or strawberry lollipops/ring pops!

How was your Halloween? Is your neighborhood mellow or crazy with candy lovers? What did you end up going as? Am I going to get some new fabulous contenders for the Costume Parade next year??? SO many questions!

It’s our Annual Creepy Cool Vintage Halloween Mask Tribute

A few year’s ago I was out and about and ended up in one of those Halloween Super Stores. I have to tell ya friends, it was a terrifying experience. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a little spooky action. But I was totally freaked out by all the ultra creepy masks. Psychotic clowns. Rotting zombie chain saw massacre guy. Random murderers. That creeper from the Saw movies. Besides being totally disturbing I was a little bummed. “Where are the cute costumes?? Who lets their kid dress up as a crazy axe murderer??!” I shook my head, “It’s not like back in the day when we were kids!”

Then again, hold up a second. Maybe I’m not totally remember things correctly. I mean, while most of the costumes back in the day were under the guise innocent characters, most of those old school Halloween masks were positively twisted. Case in point:

Of course creepy Raggedy Anne is still kinder than the Texas Chainsaw dude. The cheap plastic only adds to the charm.  Every year I like to round up some of my favorite Creepy Masks. Here are some of my favorites this year!

I know people have a problem with clowns, but how can you hate on these two cuties? That duck and leopard are another story. The leopard looks like he (she?) fell victim to the old, “It’s cold outside, you need to wear a coat under that costume!” syndrome.

While we’re talking leopard, this is a little more jolly looking….except what’s up with that leering pumpkin??

LOVE these guys. Bat Man looks so serious. And the crazy google eyed skull boy, casually munching cookies? Priceless.

Ahhhhhhhhh! These two would have scared the pants offa me.

Is it me, or does Superman have a mustache??

Hurray for the Halloween Parade! You Go, Paper Bag Owl!

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I loooooove a good group shot. So much awesomeness going on here. He-Man has such delicate eyebrows. And Zorro is looking positively Zsa Zsa (looks like someone has had a little filler in them thar cheek bones, eh?? ). The lady ghost is so stylish with her little mask….and who is that purple fella? He looks familiar. Hmm.

Oh little Snoopy and those sweet little hands….he’s not too happy being next to Skeltor. Or whoever that dude is.

Ayyyyyyyyy!! These kids are all adorable, but I’m reaaallly liking The Fonz. I’m not really liking that creepy doll perched on the right back there.
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I want to be Super Friends with THESE cuties!

Oh dear. I initially picked this for the faboosh “princess on the half shell” mask….and that werid thing on the end (is he in profile? is he facing straight forward? who knows!). How I failed to notice the, um, “tan” gent in the straw hat, I’ll never know. I’m going to have a little faith and assume he’s supposed to have been vacationing on a tropical island, hence his shoe polish face. Ack. Even the dog looks confused.
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These lovely ladies are adorable….the twin pumpkin mask is so sweet! But I would have killed for the ice blue satin on the end…

This might be my favorite. I love the two beatniks (awesome!). The mantle figurines (rococo AND asian!). The saddle shoes on the snarky girl in the back (adorable). But the Voo Doo Jukebox???? Help me Rhonda!!!

I’m just realizing this is the same house as the girls on the couch! How did we miss the rogue corn cob placed “just so” on that side table??

And finally, the winner of the “Phoning It In” award…..

The Halloween Countdown is Officially ON!!!