The Kiddo’s Weekend Linkies

Link Hootenanny

Aw yeah, three day weekend, ya’ll. We’ll be taking Monday off here in the States, but I’ve rustled up some fun links to tide you over….see ya Tuesday!

1. Tiny Awesomeness from Small Craft Class.


Elsie and Rachel are two of the cutest gals around. They’re always cookin’ up something cool and their latest online class is ALL KINDS of adorable. It’s designed for anyone who has a cute kiddo in their lives that they’d like to craft for. The class includes 30 Project Tutorials with 6 video sessions and sounds like soooo much fun. Sign up for Small Craft Class and make fun stuff.

2. Retooled Retro Smoochers.


These cute kiddos are from the amazing site Young Me Now…where old photos are recreated. Gotta check it out. Good stuff.

3. High Flying Adored: DIY Kites



My sweet friend Teri from Giddy Giddy is so wildly creative. Her blog always inspires. I’m loving these homemade kites she and her girls made, but this post is extra excellent too.

4. La Petit is Neat and Sweet.

Have you seen the latest issue of adorable  La Petit Magazine? It’s filled with some gorgeous stuff…loads of great kiddo fashion and inspiring images! Rachelle has such great style and I’m always inspired by her finds.

5. Mmmm. This Citrus Sour Cream Rainbow Cake is Bangin’.


The mega faboosh Vintage Sugarcube’s recipes are usually a little more grown up (hello muscle men baring zuccini bread…along with their pecs), but her sour cream citrus rainbow cake topped with cotton candy will make the kiddos swoon. Or collapse in a happy sugar coma.

6. A Tasty Stitch.


I’m not a sewin’ kinda gal, but I thought this adorable embroidery pattern from the groovy doe-c-doe just might make me want to try.

7. Ahoy for Vintage Books and Fabrics


Kristin’s blog klt:sketchbook has so many glorious things. From Fabric Fridays to awesome illustrations…do swing on over and check her out.

8. Free Back-To-School Printables are Rad.


Cute is good. Free is gooder. Stock up on these sweet back to school printables from We Love To Illustrate and then remind yer kiddos “gooder” ain’t a word.

9. MAEVE

Have you checked out this month’s issue of Aussie mag MAEVE? It’s chock full of groovy articles and photoshoots…and another article by yours truly on BLYTHE.

10. And finally….Tiki Oasis Fashion Edition.

Just in case you didn’t get enough of my Tiki Oasis recaps this week, swing on over to Strawberry Lemonade to see the Fashion Edition. Lots of awesome vintage Tiki fashions including crazy shirts, too many fashion changes and of course, THE BIG BUN. Don’t question. Just check it out.

Meet Felix! Our Weekly Kiddo.

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We get so many photos of fabulous little girls, but we don’t see as many little fellers. So imagine my delight when Australian reader Suzette sent us these fantastic photos of her stylish little man FELIX! For starters, how cool is that name, right? I am particularly fond of names with an “X” in them. Felix is five and a half and looks like the sweetest little lad. Let’s take a look at his unique style!

  • Mister Kids tee – a cool Sydney label. Says Suzi, “The folks who run it moved in right next door to us! They are as cool as their clothes.”
  • Cute smile by Felix

Wowzer! Check out that sweet furry vest!! I love it…the viking tee is an inspired touch.

+ Polka fluffy brown vest
+ Eternal Creation brown pinstripe pants


  • OUCH Kelly green puffa vest – 70s style and sooo cool
  • Danefae Viking long-sleeved black tee
  • Fred Bare black skinny jeans
  • Pink Converse low-top sneakers

  • Says the awesome Suzette, “Our friend Lexi will be thrilled this photo was selected! She hand appliqued the owl onto a plain light blue top. She’s one talented lady!”
  • OUCH Khaki pants

• Shirt by Munster

• Shirt from Best and Less (a budget store in Australia…love the mix of nice brands with quick-n-easy tees!)

• Skinny jeans by Wayne Cooper Junior

  • If anyone can remember the brand of this cool fly top, please let us know!
  • French blue top by Infancy

• Cool pirate dress-up and matching ship on his 4th birthday

• Shirt by Rock Your Baby


• Shirt by cool Swedish brand Duns

How adorable is this sassy lad?? I love his blonde loopy curls. We took a moment to chat with his lovely mum and she filled us in on all things Felix!

“There’s quite a few Aussie labels in there. Never having been a huge label person, it’s a bit shocking to see him kitted out so often in labels! I get them on sale though, always for a bargain!

Felix comes across almost as a small teenager but underneath this 5.5 year old Star Wars-obsessed maverick is a soft, marshmallowy, kind little guy who charms the older kids at school with his compact self-assuredness.

He’s a gourmet and will try any food once. Felix loves olives and even a hint of chilli! Like his grandmother and great grandfather, he’s a history buff and heavily into anything Ancient Egyptian and weapons throughout the ages.

Felix is always a delight and in his first six months of school, has taken much joy in learning to read —books are definitely his forte! He plays soccer and loves going to the skate park with his scooter. His dream is to one day own a skateboard!”

Oh Felix, you and your skateboard are destined to break many a young girl’s heart! Thank you Suzette for sharing this handsome and stylish boy with us. Be sure to stop by the awesome kiddo blog babyology where Suzette is an editor. They post loads of fun, groovy stuff.

Real Life: Tiki Oasis Part 2, Kiddo Adventures

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Gather round kiddos, it’s time for Part 2 of our glorious Tiki Tour! Yesterday I showed off some fun photos from our jaunt down to Tiki Oasis in San Diego a few weeks ago. The event isn’t a family event per se, but it is extremely family friendly! Lots of people brought their kiddos who all had a fantastic time!

Friday afternoon things kicked off with an Opening Ceremony Parade—the marching band was an excellent touch!

There was lots of swimming and then the evening show began!

One of the highlights was a Vintage Tiki Fashion show held by  Melissa of the amazing shop Retro Diva. My friend Stephanie, of Pineapple Princess, had a featured in the fashion show for her kid’s stuff and she asked me if Wolfie would “model” for her, which was a super thrill. She made matching outfits for him and Sierra, a really awesome little girl. I have to say, they looked adorable:

Wolfie surprised us all and was cuttin’ a rug to the Plastic Bertrand song they played while he was on stage. So awesome! The cutie on the left is Doe’s youngest kiddo, Dashiel (Doe and her hubs Otto von Stroheim are the masterminds behind this whole awesome extravaganza!).

The next day we drove around San Diego (and thanks to our adorable Modern Kiddo friend Vintage Sugar Cube, we got some amazing restaurant tips!) but really it was all about the hotel and lounging out. So after lunch we came back for some more fun:

Yep. Wolfie brought his DS. Hey, he’s a pretty spectacular for a 6 year old, but even ze Wolf Cub needs a little QT with his good pal Mario. It’s a great reminder that little ones can certainly enjoy grown up outtings, but don’t forget that kids are kids and need their own down time too!

Here is Wolfie with one of his best buddies, Miles and Audrey—they belong to Modern Kiddo reader Miz Landry. LOVE Audrey’s sassy silver gladiator sandals:

I was loving all the hip little kiddo fashions I spotted…check out these cuties:

In addition to swimming and exploring the property, Tiki Oasis had a special kid’s room with arts and crafts and other fun activities. Every child got their own teensy Tiki Mug too! (i suspect they were shot glasses, but hell…what the kiddo’s don’t know won’t hurt ’em!)

The highlight by far was th Saturday morning Tiki Tot Tour with King Kukulele. I’ve performed with the King before (with The Devil-Ettes) and he is amazing, hilarious and a totally talented ukulele player (check out this super short vid of him here….you’ll get why the kids LOVED him!).

All the kids met up by the pool and King led them around the facility, where they walked up to all the tiki’s and asked them questions. Honestly I’m not sure how they did this, but someone apparently followed the tour with a wireless mike/speaker and when the kids would ask a question it was as if the Tiki REALLY responded. They all had different voices….it was hysterical and the little ones totally ate it up!

The vendors were all super sweet as they watched the kids parade around the property looking for Tikis. These kind folks brought out a tray of Sno Cones/shave ice for everyone!

Wolfie thought that King Kukulele was THEE coolest. Afterwards he took Greg and I around to all the spots from the tour and pointed out all the things they learned from the Magic Tikis. It was really adorable, he would say things like, “Do you know that the tikis were bathed in the Magic Waters and that’s how they learned to speak?” and then would look bemused and say  “Why aren’t they speaking to us any more??” We also discovered the “invisible Tiki” that King Kukulele showed them:

All in all I would say it was our best mini vacation yet! I think Wolfie would agree…..

Real Life: Tiki Oasis 2010 Part 1

Real Life, Real Life : Alix, , , , , ,

Ahhh, the sweet days of summer have come to a close and I’m so very sad. Thankfully we managed to sneak in one last little tropical getaway to the magical Tiki Oasis just a few weeks ago. So what is this thing called Tiki Oasis I keep yammerin’ about? Lemme tell ya .Tiki Oasis is a celebration of Polynesian pop culture and is “the largest and longest running Tiki Event on the planet.” For one weekend every August, Tiki-enthusiasts take over the historic Hanalei hotel in San Diego (now called the Crowne Plaza) and fill the place with art, music, tropical drinks—and of course, fabulous fashions.  I suppose I should start at the beginning….our trip began with a short-n- sweet plane ride down to San Diego:

Finally, we arrived! The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Mid 70s with a touch of a breeze. ALOHA, indeed.

The hotel itself is lovely. Palm trees, little waterfalls, a huge pool and, of course,  lots of cool Tikis all over the property.

The best part is that it’s an extremely family-friendly affair. Single folks, couples young and old, and families with kiddos—all mingled together. The whole weekend was the doing of my sweet friend Baby Doe (aka Dorinda) and her cool hubby Otto von Stroheim. They are the Producer’s Extraordinaire who dreamed up this crazy thang and made it all happen. This was the 10 year anniversary. It’s so crazy impressive I can’t even tell you.

Here is the always charming Doe with her little cutie Dash (and Wolfie on the left—sportin’ his Pineapple Princess aloha togs! My friend Stephanie makes groovy kid’s clothing out of vintage muu muus! More on her later….).

All told over a thousand people frolicked at the Oasis that weekend. I’m so proud of Doe—she is crazy sweet and cool and yet runs these huge events with the precision of a 5 star general!!

During the day, you could swim or browse the amazing vendors who had set up shop on the lawn near the pool and in the hotel conference area. Vintage clothing, records, artwork, tiki mugs and necklaces, even polynesian BBQ spices. There were also a wide variety of symposiums—The History of Tiki, Rum & Chocolate, The Persuasive Power of Punch, Pin-Up Hair and Makeup, Live Tiki Carvings…it was overwhelmingly awesome.

Hey look! It’s Modern Kiddo reader, Mrs. DeTiki! She was a doll and had these really cute retro-style handbags she makes.

Wolfie and Greg loved checking out the awesome vintage car show in the parking lot.

Wolfie had so much fun…I love he started wearin’ this groovy surfer necklace. By the end he had a tiki pendant to match! How cute is that tee, by the way? It’s for Greg’s kiddo band The Time Outs and the rad “Rocky the Rock Hand” artwork was done by Michael Fleming, aka Tweedlebop!

There was literally something to do at every moment. You could do everything….or nothing. We were big fans of the “do nothing” option and I’m pleased to report we clocked many hours by the pool.

Every day amazing DJs spun vintage vinyl—boat loads of 50s/60s exotica, surf, lounge and more. The vibe was super chill and cool. You honestly felt like you were living in a vintage movie….

Aw yeah! The debut of my vintage swim cap!!

I love the elevators…they’re glass and look out on an atrium of waterfalls and palm trees. At night, two guys played stand up bass and guitar IN THE ELEVATOR. See? Even the elevators are cool.

As the sun set, the vendor booths disappeared only to be replaced by lawn chairs…and the night time entertainment began. Fun bands and dance performances. Wolfie was allowed to stay up a little later to watch the first few performances.

Of course I had a blast dressing up. It’s not required by any means, but loads of people get dolled up in their vintage Hawaiiana finest. High off my vintage bathing cap victory, I decided to bust out THE BIG BUN for Saturday night!

I’ll be posting more on the Tiki fashions over at Strawberry Lemonade, my other bloggie.

Whew. OK, that’s it for the Part 1. The next installment will be Kiddo-centric and I’ll tell you allll the cool things there are for you and yer wee ones to do. Because you ARE coming next year….right??


The Besty of Etsy: Meli-Melon.

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Oh, this Etsy shop has some very yummy items.  And that is saying a lot considering the number of particularly yummy items that are for sale on Etsy.

My heart melts for Meli-Melon. And I think yours will too. Yes, the clothes are truly delightful. As you can see.

But its the story behind the clothing line the tickles my crafty little ole heart.

You see, my friends, these gorgeous goodies for girls sprung out of the very clever brain of Gemma Antelo.  Gemma was born in that magical Spanish city, Barcelona–where Gaudi architecture springs to life along with its citizens.  Gemma gave her stressy job as a freelance designer the heave ho after her second daughter was born. And as many a mama will do, she thought of her own childhood.

I think Gemma should tell you the rest of the story:

“When I was a little girl, I spent hours looking how my mother was sewing dresses for my older sister and me, every single dress was special, unique and made with lots of love. She left us five years ago and then I became the new owner of her sewing machine and her vintage fabrics collection, so I start sewing my own handmade dresses for my 2 daughters. Every finished dress, I remember of my mother and how proud she would be.”

And she is kind enough to share her joyful creations beyond her beautiful two girls. And that’s a really yummy thing.

Oh, and she has a fabulous pad too. Check out this dishy interview with Ms. Gemma on Bloesem Kids.