Vibrant colors! Whimsical prints! The World of ittikid is so playful and fun, I fell in love with them the moment  I laid eyes on them. Filled with hip Scandinavian brands like Smafolk,  Maxomorra, Duns Sweden, and Sture&Lisa, their stylish duds are sure to make you smile. I knew I had to find out more about this cool shop, so I sat down with the wonderfully creative Melanie Miller for a virtual cuppa coffee and a chat!

MODERN KIDDO: Hey Melanie! Thanks so much for sitting down with us. I have to tell you how much I love ittikid! You have the best collection of  unique and colorful clothing. How did ittikid come to be? Do you have a personal connection to Scandinavia or are you simply a fan?

MELANIE: Believe it or not, ittikid just kind of happened. I became a stay at home mom after moving from LA to Sonoma County. On the hunt to find some fun new clothes for my little guy, I became obsessed with Scandinavian kids clothes. Having been born in Denmark and spending my childhood there, I was completely nostalgic about the prints, patterns, and body styles they offered. I was finding all this great stuff online, but I could not find them anywhere in the US. I knew immediately that I needed to change that. I booked a ticket to Denmark, and six months later my glory moment came. Ittikid launched, and I got to share my love for Scandinavian childrenâ€s fashion with kids and families across the US.

MODERN KIDDO: AMAZING!! I love that you saw a need and decided to do something about it. So fantastic. What were you doing before you started ittikid?

MELANIE: Well, before ittikid, I had yolk, a modern lifestyle and furniture store in the Silverlake Neighborhood of Los Angeles. Yolk was my first baby, and my introduction to sharing my style with the world. In the beginning, my focus was on showcasing up-and-coming product and furniture designers, artists, and illustrators.

Then, my son Ollie was born a year and a half after opening my shop. He was a shop baby, and spent much of his first year living at the store. Naturally, after having a real baby, my focus began to shift, and I became fascinated with the world of all things baby and kid. By the time I sold the store two years later, half of it was dedicated to modern kids furniture, bedding, toys, books, and clothes.

It was the beginning of my transition into the fabulous world of all things baby and kid!

MODERN KIDDO: Speaking of, how many kiddos do you have ?

MELANIE: My two little dudes, Ollie and Gus, are just about to turn 5 and 9. They have grown up as my ittikids. They both love the fun and colorful prints and are partial to ittikid brands because they are so comfortable and soft. They love to pick out their own prints and patterns, and I often have to hide my deliveries to unpack when they are not around so they donâ€t go bonkers and devour my inventory! I absolutely love when they come downstairs ready to go in a blue and yellow velour striped seventies style pantsuit or the like.

We literally move clothes from one drawer to the next, and then on to cousins and friends. It is kind of amazing that three or four kids through, they are still being passed on to more.

MODERN KIDDO: The clothes you select for your shop are SO vibrant and fun. Where do you find most of your inspiration from??

MELANIE: Well, I am a big collector of vintage, for the kitchen and for kids. I canâ€t help myself when it comes to retro baby and kids clothes, textiles, wallpaper, illustrations, and childrenâ€s books. I am a Saturday morning “garage sailer” and the crazy lady who stands in line for estate sales on Friday mornings (an hour before they open!).

I have to say that I am also obsessed with Pinterest. My boards are overflowing with things I love and covet. I love browsing through boards when I need a little a little inspiration to get me started. I have found so many great blogs and resources that I would have never stumbled upon otherwise.

MODERN KIDDO: When you’re not taking over the world with ittikid, what do you and your family like to do?

MELANIE: Our favorite family thing to do? Hop in the car and take a good, fun, adventurous road trip! We only get to do this once or twice a year, and the reality is, we live in the Country. We have goats, cows, a chocolate lab, and there are always a million chores to do. We garden, harvest, can, preserve, and bake together. We ride bikes, tromp through the woods, build things, and have some seriously fun “run through the sprinkler” sessions. We have friends and their families up to split firewood for the winter. All the kids run wild for the day, and we always end it with a big BBQ, bonfire, and sâ€mores.  A big departure from our days in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but we love it in the country!

MODERN KIDDO: Ahhh, that sounds like heaven! OK, last questions. Something fun….if we were to pop by the ittikid offices, what would we find playing on your playlist?

MELANIE: Oooh, well, I am a Pandora junkie… I shuffle my playlists and let it go! I am a mixed bag. A few things you might hear: The Pixies, Betty Davis, Peter Bjorn and John, The Cure, The Buzzcocks, Blur, Albert Hammond Jr., and maybe even a little AC/DC on Friday afternoon.

MODERN KIDDO: Aw yeah! Melanie you are my kinda gal! Thank you sooo very much for sitting down with me. We love you and your company!

Friends, stay tuned this afternoon for a fantastic giveaway from our friends at ittikid!

We here at Modern Kiddo are pretty darn lucky to have such amazing sponsors. They are such a creative and colorful bunch—we know youâ€ll adore them as much as we do! Let’s take a lil lookie!

BROOKALOO VINTAGE

This sweet shop is run by cute Brooke and is chock full o’ goodies! She packs her shop full of cute stuff, with a focus on adorable vintage baby goodies as well as toys and things for toddlers. Shop here!

KLT WORKS

Kristin Loffer Theiss is one of the most creative people I know! We are big fans of her groovy tees, cardigans and charming mobiles. I love all the different animals she features—especially the raccoon,  squirrel and owl. The images are created by free-motion sewing, a super unique method where Kristin draws freehand using the sewing machine as her “pencil”, amazing no? Shop here!

BOND PLACE VINTAGE

We love Miss Kim of Bond Place Vintage—her shop is another one that is always brimming with a terrific selection of housewares and kiddo duds.  Shop here!

UNEXPECTED CLOTHING

Oh YOU GUYS!! I’m in love with this shop. These shoes are so beautiful and hip and gorgeous! Everyone is flipping for the easy cool of moccasins and these are a fantastic take on them. Shop here!

KOOLMONO

Hip yet traditional? Oh yes. This cool shop is filled with unique, Japanese-inspired fashions for girls, boys and babies. Created by designer Natalie, Koolmono has such a fun take on kiddo clothing. We love the kimono chic look of this lovely line. See more here and then shop here!

REWARE VINTAGE

Detroit super girl, Bethany runs Reware Vintage and keeps it stocked with tons of groovy kiddo duds, women & men’s clothing AND household items. Shop here!

SEW CREATIVE

The adorable Crystal runs Sew Creative, a blog celebrating creative living. Mama to two adorable kiddos, Crystal says “My day doesn’t feel complete unless I’ve made something!” Visitors who pop by her blog will see her trying out new recipes, sewing, crafting, and tons of other cool things.  Visit her here!

Oh yes, so there you have it! Are you interested in becoming a Modern Kiddo sponsor for April? Email me Alix [at] modernkiddo.com for rates!

We here at Modern Kiddo are pretty darn lucky to have such amazing people to work with us as sponsors. They are all such a creative and colorful bunch—we consider ourselves truly truly lucky.  I know youâ€ll adore them as much as we do!

1. KLT:WORKS

Living in San Francisco, we’re lucky to have such a great community of blogger pals—like Victoria from sfgirlbybay, Jordan from Oh Happy Day, and Liz from Say Yes to Hoboken. But one of our new local favorites is the lovely Tiffanie from Corner Blog. Her blog’s tagline is “slowing down at one of San Francisco’s busiest corners,” which I love and can relate to! Tiffanie chronicles her beautiful experiments in housewifery and motherhood. Tiffanie is an architect by trade, but has a burlesque alter ego names, Yves Jobs (love). She also hails from back East and has a little bit of New England tucked in her heart. But what I really love is that Tiffanie has a wonderful “blog voice”—very charming and winsome and she writes about  all sorts of things like:

Her stunning kiddos, the magnificent Stella (perhaps you recall her from her Weekly Kiddo post?) and her snuggly little bro, Oliver.

I love her quest to find 101 uses for her donut pan.  I’m torn between crust bread rolls and hand pies.

Her zany, take back your sassiness burlesque side career which she writes about with such joy and humor.

Her party throwing skills seem to be pretty darn impressive. With an emphasis on fun. And good food.

And the misc. burro pinata cake, which is all kinds of crafty genius.

And bless her heart, I freaking adore her point-tastic meal inspirations so much!

But my favorite posts of hers are the one where she talks about herself and just those little scraps of life that are so astounding and begged to be written about and fortunately she does and she shares it with us.

So, I hope you’ll check out our blogging neighbor, Tiffanie and stop by and say hi!

Ever since Greg, Wolfie and I  went camping a few months ago, we have had camping on the brain. We want to go to Yosemite. We want to go back to the redwoods. And we want to camp in our backyard. There’s just something about sleeping in a tent that is so cool. From the minute you zippppppp that tent up, your world is transformed. Life gets a little quieter. You hear the rustling of the wind. The chirping of birds. The music of crickets. And you are totally transported. Tents are undeniably magical!

When Kella from Suburban Camping Company got in touch with me I realized we were a match made in heaven. Vintage tents you can set up in your very own back yard. Ahhh! Alas, our love affair was put on hold because they are located alll the way across the country. Drat. But that doesn’t mean a girl can’t pine, right? And if you’re an east coaster, you’re in luck. Take a gander at this:

Amazing, no?? Suburban Camping Company is the original backyard camping company pitching vintage style campsites that offer awesome pop-up lodging and lounging for backyards and events everywhere. They say they aren’t just offering you a tent they are offering an “experience”. An experience that tastes like burnt marshmallows, sounds like scary stories and feels like wet grass between your toes. And friends, that’s my kind of experience!

The Suburban Camping company lets you buy a tent, rent a tent or go for one of their fun packages, like Classic Camper, Movie Night, the Romantic Getaway for two and even a Harry Potter inspired adventure called Abra Camp Dabra. Cute. CUTE!

They also have a super cute Etsy shop so you can stock your campsite with cool vintage camping goods.

Swing by the Suburban Camping Co. site and I guarantee you will be planning a camping adventure in no time!

PS Here’s a little more about the time we went camping for ONE NIGHT! And it was still awesome!

The reason we are loving them so much lately, however, is because they are doing an amazing philanthropic push. In a “buy one, give one” effort, Olive Juice will provide one item of clothing for every item purchased through their special microsite, http://www.olivejuicegives.com. These donated items will then go to a child in need with the help of Clothes4Souls.

As if you didn’t need an excuse to buy such gorgeous clothes. But this great Clothes4Souls partnership just makes the clothes even sweeter.

Just look at Master Wolfgang in these wonderful linen pants!

Wolfie is sportin’ a pair of the Olive Juice Rand pant, which is great for boys or girls. They are reeeally comfy and while Alix dressed ’em down, you could easily dress them up. Alix said, “These are a 7/8 and are a little big on the Wolf (the clothing is cut generously), but he still loves them. The beauty of this pant is that as your kiddo grows, they get that cropped look (which I think they’re supposed to have) which makes them really beachie cool!”

Ms. Peach is rocking this sweet, lined linen dress, which I paired with a light cotton voile top.  I think this little dress would be wonderful just on its own or layered with a nice under shirt and leggings.  Super comfy and cozy as well! Also, it would be totally adorable next year worn as a tunic with some little shorts in a fun print fabric.  I am really impressed by the high quality of the piece, so I know it will last to next year, which is especially nice.

And bonus points for pockets! The Peach loves a good pocket.

So, three cheers for Olive Juice and its Clothes4Souls initiative. Do stop by Olive Juice to check out their wonderful clothing—and to help send an outfit or two to a child in need!