Dottie’s Kraft Korner :: Bumblebee Costume Fail

Crafts + DIY, Real Life : Dottie, ,

People, it’s here–the uber craft project that is Halloween that strikes fear into many a craft mamas heart.  Let me start this season of spookiness with a horror story for this week’s crafty post.

Gather round the campfire friends as I tell you this story with a flashlight under my chin.  The frightening crafty tale  of the Peach’s first Halloween costume…

But first a bit of backstory.

When I was seven I was given the role of a woodpecker to play in the school play. When I came skipping home to my mother telling her I needed a woodpecker costume in two days, I didn’t notice how all of the color drained from her face.

My mother is a lot of things, charming, smart, funny as all get out, but she doesn’t possess a single crafty bone in her body.  I realized this the day she presented me with the World’s Saddest Costume–one of my brother’s white undershirts with two “feathers” cut out from a brown paper bag and half drawn in with a blue ball point pen.  And then a couple of feather-like shapes drawn onto the t-shirt with the same blue ball point pen skipping fabric every inch or so.  And not in a straight line.

You have to understand that I took a vow that day when I was seven. As grand a vow as Scarlett said when after she ate that scrawny carrot and held her fist claiming she would never be hungry again.  I promised my future children that they would never be embarrassed by their Halloween and or school play costumes!

Fast forward 30 years later and there I sat Halloween tired after a week’s worth of cleaning, cooking, baby wrangling and a full time job eating those innocent words I spit out as I furiously attempt to finish the Peach’s costume in time to take her out and “show her off” to the neighbors.

I was so innocent at the beginning. I came up with the sweetest idea. How about a widdle bumble bee Halloween costume?  Surely, I could pull that off. I used to work in the costume shop for my college’s theater department. I’ve owned my own sewing machine for 30 years!  I would just make a cute little A-line jumper made of warm black and yellow  felt that will keep her cozy and match it with a hand knit hat. Perfect, right?

Except I used a dull old rotary cutter to cut the strips of yellow, so it looks like I was drunk when I cut them…

  • And I forgot to match the edges, so the stripes were off..
  • And then I  tried to fix the too wide stripes after I sewed it together by adding more not straight stripes with glue…
  • And since  felt and glue aren’t best friends, the additional stripes kept falling off…
  • And, OK, maybe I used some staples to hold the stupid stripes in place…
  • And the knit hat was too big, so I decreased and accidentally made it too small..
  • And I forgot to buy pipe cleaners to get the antenna straight…
  • And I ran out of time to make yellow tulle wings…
  • And I… well….  Here you go.

Part bumble bee/part hobo and 100 percent CRAFT FAIL.

You can see her little antennas have wilted out of craft shame. Nice matching stripes, eh?

I think she was cute enough to get away with it.  But she knew this wasn’t right.  She can’t even look directly at the camera out of baby disgust with my crafting.

I promise, kid, I’ll buy you a costume this year…

Just wait until you see my Halloween make-good costume for the Peach this year.

To be continued…

Real Life: Alix’s Prague Adventure.

Real Life, Real Life : Alix,



A little over a week ago I got back from my work trip to Prague. I was there for three glorious weeks filming five spots….and I loved every minute of it. It’s *such* a beautiful city. Of course I missed my little Wolfie like craaazy, but I am so proud of the work we did. I have to say it was completely weird to have nothing to worry about but ME for three weeks. I felt a little selfish, but my mother gave me some great advice and said it was a fantastic gift and I should enjoy this amazing opportunity. I already shared some photos of my adventure with you guys while I was still in Prague (see the post here), but since everyone seemed to dig it, I thought I would share some more! Here is pretty Prague….

These shoes carried me all over the cobblestone streets of the city….crazy comfy. I highly recommend. Who says a mama can’t have stylish AND practical foot gear??

We discovered that many buildings had little icons hanging over their doorways—a lobster, a pretzel, three violins, a golden snake— these were used back in the day to help ensure that parcels and letters were delivered to the right house. Apparently homes didn’t feature prominent addresses back then and you literally had to say, “The house at the end of the road. With the lobster. Yes lobster. The House with the prawn got my boots last time, so please make sure you look for the LOBSTER.” It was really fun looking for the different icons and I thought would make a great game fer little kiddos too….



Prague is a great city for kiddos! There are so many beautiful little parks, fun street cars, a fantastic zoo, a cool castle, boat rides….the list goes on and on.


Food is very meaty here, but tasty. Our favorite dinner was at the Cafe Savoy for SCHNITZEL. Oh my god, this was the most delicious thing EVER. It comes in a special chicken version for kiddos as well as noodles with butter. I took note of a popular bagel shop and lots of Euro-style pizzerias too so there seemed to be plenty of kid-friendly options (just in case you have a picky penny like I do who won’t gobble down goulash). I feel like I should do an extra post just on traveling with younguns. What do you think??

And then, of course, there were the marionettes. They ranged from adorable to spectacular. They are everywhere and were really, really cool.

Of course, some were cooler than others….

A lot of you have asked me about my job, so I thought it would be fun to take a little peek at my work…

Despite all the perty pictures above, we were truly working non-stop. I think we had one completely free day, but the rest of time it would be a few hours here, a couple of hours there. We stayed at the schwanky Mondrian Oriental hotel. (Alert Gossip Girl fans! You may recognize this as the place where ol Chuck Bass was supposedly staying when he got shot in the season opener….ahem. You know. If you watch that sort of thing…) Hilariously instead of “Do Not Disturb” signs, you placed a red tassel on yer door. Gold tassel was “Please service my room”. I spied a blue tassel in the restaurant but never quite figured out what THAT one meant. This is me with bed head in the morning…

This was my little work station. Have a cuppa coffee (although somehow I was transformed into a cappuccino drinker over the course of the trip!), then check ye olde bloggie and then get ready to hit the road….castings, set builds, script rewrites, meetings, more meetings, late night meetings (9 hour time difference), fittings, rehearsals…..ahhhh. The list was endless. But we loved it all. I was lucky to be traveling with some really great people and even when pressure and stress levels were high, the guys and I always managed to make each other laugh.

Unfortunately I can’t reeeeally show you any of our sets until we are finished, but here is a sneaky peek. Some of them involved miniatures….but that’s all I’m sayin’!

Our director’s were a wildly creative and amazing husband/wife team. They were super cool and I loved working with them. They also happened to have THEE cutest little boy ever who would occasionally drop by the set. This is the fabulous Yuki! And maaaaybe he’s standing inside a fake airplane. But maybe not.

How cute is his style? He was also sweet as can be.

I have so many more photos, but i think I’ve bombarded you with enough for one day, eh?

Bye bye Prague! Til we meet again….

OMG, we are one of Babble’s Top 50 Design Blogs!!!!

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Listen, I don’t mean to brag….but lawd have mercy my eyes nearly popped outta my little head when I heard this news! I got a call from Miss Dottie saying that Babble’s Top 50 Design Blogs for Moms list was out…and as she was perusing this list to see which of our favorite bloggie pals were included, she discovered WE WERE ON THE LIST!!!!!!!! Bananas. This is such an honor and we are soooooo excited. If you have a moment, please click on this linkie and “LIKE” us!

Thank you thank you ladies of BABBLE. It’s so cool to be in the company of so many other awesome blogs. And while we’re at it…thank YOU lovely readers! You inspire us every day and your enthusiasm drives us to make Modern Kiddo better and better. You are what put us on that list. xoxox


Giveaway: Grace Hester Designs Poster!

Giveaways, ,

**Update 10/17/10: congrats Jenny Rebecca who is the winner of this contest. Post announcing winner is here.  Thanks for your interest!***

Hurrah! Hurrah! We have a humdinger of a grand giveaway for you, my friends!

A gorgeous post from Grace Hester Designs!  Our gal, Grace is kind enough to give away a customized “Print for a Little Reader” poster (11 X 14).  The giveaway winner can go with the titles shown or provide their own list for a personalized print for their own little boo.  Oh, how great is that–to do a personalized one! List out those books that you’ve read HUNDREDS of times until the edges are frayed and the binding hopelessly broken in.  Such a great childhood keepsake, if you ask me. And Grace will even let you pick out the colors so they’ll match your nursery to boot. Way to be a rockstar, Grace!

Grace was inspired by her sweet daughters’ current and all-time favourite reads and designed this poster that lists the titles in different typefaces. What a great way to encourage an appreciation for typography to our children.   All materials used are archival-safe. Print is made on archival-quality photographic paper with a lustre finish that really allows the vibrancy of the colors to show. The choice of materials also makes this a keepsake that can be passed down through the years.

Isn’t that poster just the dandiest?  Oh, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of all the goodness that is Grace Hester. The artsy lady’s fabulous work has been feature all over the Web on Ohdeedoh, CoolMomPicks, and oodles of other places in the know.  Here is a wee sample of her other goodies she has available in her Etsy store. Prepare to be awestruck, folks.

I know right? Adorable.  Really, you should go check out Grace’s Etsy shop right now. I’ll wait…

OK, now how to get this wonderful one of a kind poster, you can:

  1. Leave a comment (natch) and tell us about your favorite children’s book!
  2. “Like” Grace Hester on Facebook (she’s so likeable anyway, so that shouldn’t be a problem!)
  3. If you already follow us on twitter, tweet about this giveaway—don’t forget to include @modernkiddo in the tweet please!
  4. “Like” this postie

If you do all five you’ll be entered five times. Woot!

Good luck!

Ooooo weeeee! It's a Hip Chore Chart Download, from Draw! Pilgrim.

Downloads, , ,

Hi guys. Happppppy Monday! Thanks for all the awesome love for Pilgrim’s great room tour on Friday. As a special Monday Bonus we something super cool—a FREE DOWNLOADABLE CHORE CHART for you, created by none other than Pilgrim herself. This super rad chore chart was inspired by the vintage woodland style Pilgrim used in Donovan’s bedroom decor. I think it’s crazy adorable. THANK YOU PILGRIM!!

Click here to print out a full size one for your own helpful kiddo!

Oh, and yep. I’m back! Expect a full Prague update on Wednesday my friends!