PHD (Perfect Holiday Dress) from Little Ticket!

Kiddo Style: Modern, Real Life : Dottie

PHDs are hard to come by for adults let alone children.  PHD for children? Yup–perfect holiday dress.

It’s so easy to go overboard with some treacly dress trimmed within an inch of its life with lace and ribbons.  Don’t get me wrong–that dress certainly has its place. But with holiday gatherings some times being a bit more mellow and less formal, it’s nice to follow suit with a less formal dress that still has that holiday pizazz without screaming it from the top of your lungs.

That is why I was super excited that Renee Sisterson, the clever clogs behind Etsy site, Little Ticket sent me this sweet dress, which the Peach immediately claimed as her own.  I paired it with a little Peter Pan collared white shirt and it became the PHD of the season for Miss Peach.  Charming and with the loveliest nod towards the holidays without being over the top.  In other words, perfect.  And I’m particularly impressed with the quality of this little dress. Lined.  with invisible zipper. The perfect layering dress too.  It is so minimally holiday that the Peach could wear this way beyond the holidays.

Of course this is the tip of the iceberg of Little Ticket’s clever styles.  She has several other lovely, lovely dresses that have such clean lines that I like to think of them as worthy of saving for generations to come.

The Peach started calling it her “candy cane princess dress” and she declared it the perfect dress for meeting Santa. Which I totally agree with. Except she wouldn’t go anywhere near the old man dressed in red… But that is another post. We’ll see…

Expect to see this dress at least one more time on the blog…

What are you planning to put your little one in this holiday season?

The MK Ornament Party Day 1: featuring klt:works

Kiddo Holidays

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! First up, Kristin from klt:works

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.

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

Download your exclusive modern kiddo* klt:works ornament 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!

 

 

…but the fire is so delightful.

Real Life : Alix

I know to you east coasters, our weather is positively balmy out here….BUT we’ve been dipping into the 30s and low 40s that’s preeettty chilly to me. That being said, we’ve had a busy and fun winter, with lots of holiday tunes, fires, reading stories on the couch and indulging in Creme Brulee lattes (which aren’t really coffee, they’re more like a tasty dessert….but oh how shummy).

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH

Somebody lost a toof…and then another one! I didn’t think Wolfie could get any more awesome, but the missing teeth are pretty darn cute. I told him how I lost MY two front teeth in first grade around the exact same time…and when we had our school Christmas Pagent we sang “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” and the teacher made me stand front and center. Wolfie was appalled….not by my story, but by the SONG. “But mama…I don’t want to get my TEETH for Christmas!” hee. I assured him it was just a song.

 

WALKS WITH SAM

I’ve been meaning to write an update on our Samson (aka Sam, Sammy, Sam Bone). For those who missed it, he was our fabulous, leggy pound puppy. He’s just terrific. He’s the handsomest, sweetest dog around. His fur is growing in beautifully and he has put on some weight. Everyone who sees him falls in love. Greg takes him to the red woods almost every day, and on the weekends we like to go to Point Isabel, which is one of the largest off leash dog parks in the country. It’s so pretty, and Sam loves it.

BUYING OUR TREE

You’ve already seen our holiday mania around the house….I can’t remember if I mentioned we got our treeeee last weekend . We have a vintage silver aluminum one that we love, but I have to say nothing beats the smell of fresh evergreen. So we got a real one (not flocked, Wolfie is just standing in front of them!).

We trimmed the tree and watched our favorite holiday special, Year Without a Santa Claus. Snow Miser and Heat Miser get me every time!

LIPSTICK OBSESSIONS

OK, this has nothing to do with winter or the holidays, but I had to share on of my new fave lipsticks— Revlon Lip Butter. Lip Butters are taking the beauty world by storm. They are packed full of great stuff like mango and shea butter, so they keep  your lips extremely soft…but the colors are much deeper than a colored lip balm. It’s like Burts Bees and MAC had a baby! Kinda. There are TONS of colors—popsicle reds, fun pinks, bronzey nudes. Some sheer. Some bold. And they’re only $7 a pop. They make your lips look nice a dewy. Go get some! [good colors: candy apple and cherry tart for pretty reds, lollipop and raspberry pie for sassy pinks, red velvet and berry smoothie for plum…oh and tutti frutti for a peachie orange that seems great for sunny days]

TRYING ARCHERY!

We love exposing Wolfie to new things. Some of them we have to gently urge him to do (like going to see Annie a few weeks ago—he wasn’t sure about that! But they had a real live dog as Sandy and he was pretty into that!). Many times Wolfie comes up with the new thing he wants to try. On one of our redwood walks with Sammy we passed an archery range. It was all grown ups and Wolfie was pretty transfixed (having just devoured The Hunger Games trilogy over the summer, I admit I was too). Greg found out that the San Francisco Archery Club allows younger kids to try their hand on a special side range. I have to say he did really well! He had the stance down pat. If you look closely you can see that his little face is all screwed up in concentration.



And today is Friday which means another busy bee weekend! We have lots to do before we head to snowy Michigan for the holidays. How about you guys? Are your weekends action packed too? Did you get your tree yet (if you’re getting one?). Oh, I’m almost done with Mix #3! I’m hoping it will go up today, but if not, for sure this weekend!

Goodie Two Shoes.

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Dottie and I always say we are cut from the same cloth…we’re just cut into different styles! This always makes me think of the curtain play clothes in The Sound of Music. We both love shoes (what girl doesn’t, I ask??) and one day we noticed that we each favored interesting but rather different styles. So without further adieu, here’s a new fun little feature we’re calling Goody Two Shoes. I think you get the idea….

source: Hanna Andersson. Alas, two seasons ago.

source: Kate Spade Elena Mary Jane

Not that you asked, but we also wear radically different bra styles. (Suffice to say that Dottie once said to me, “WHAT the heck is that? A sling shot??” of my little no-underwire brassiere.) But that’s a WHOLE other story.

So we ask….what’s on yer feet today?