Link Lovin' Friday.

Things We Like

It’s Friday people! Whoo hoo! I like to close things out with a sampling of things that caught my eye….hopefully you’ll enjoy ’em too. Oh, and when you pop over to some of these other blogs, why not leave a little comment saying “Hi!” I feel like we have some of the coolest/best readers around—let’s share the Kiddo love! OK….on with the linkies.


1. Older But Wiser.

I don’t mean to start a crafty riot with this statement…but the owl has become a tad ubiquitous. You have to admit, they are second only to the little birdie. At the same time, I’m still TOTALLY loving them! Dottie sent me the Brown Owls web site and I had a blast at checking out all things owlie!

2. Beautiful Liddles Kiddles from SMALL Magazine.


Ooooh SMALL mag, how gorgeous are you?  As usual this issue is chock full o’ goodness, like this beautiful fashion spread.

3. Giddy (Giddy) Over This Family.

My friend Teri runs the super popular kid’s accessory’s shop, Giddy Giddy. She also has a totally inspiring blog and I have to say some of my favorite posts are the ones she does of her adorable family. They recently returned from a trip to Barcelona and Paris and the photos are so incredible! Her post detailing their Family Mission Statement is a must read! Teri’s youngest daughter is in Wolfie’s kindergarten class and I feel so lucky to have met this wildly creative woman. (And yep, the whole darn family is super cute AND crazy nice!!)

4. I Know it’s Wrong But I Want a Panda Dog.

Apparently dying your dog to look like a more exotic animal is a huge trend in China now. Tigers. Pandas. It’s soooo wrong, I know….but dammit these pups are cute. Go here to see more and tell me that the big Tiger dog doesn’t actually look a little psyched by his new ensemble.

5. These Photos Are Child’s Play.

Our pal Robert over at the awesome Junior Society turned us on to this cool artist who takes children’s drawings and then styles them up into these amazing photographs. Look closely, it’s truly awesome! You can see more over here. I just love this idea.

6. Art, Art Baby.

The lovely Sarah Jane creates these beautiful illustrations that remind me of vintage story books. You know I’m a big fan of art in yer kiddo’s room, so you can imagine I was totally over the moon to see this huge Sarah Jane Studios print in this nursery. You’ll find the original over at Aubrey and Lindsay’s Little Home blog.

7. Chalk It Up To Creativity.

While browsing Kenzipoo this morning I was totally taken by these rad porcelain figurines painted with chalkboard paint. HOW COOL IS THIS IDEA???? If you are a little lazy (or simply want to get one from the pros), swing by Ladies And Gentlemen. They have boat loads of cool stuff, like the bunny and horse pictured above.

8. VOTE FOR MODERN KIDDO! Yes, a bit of shameless self-promotion....see that brown box on the top right of the blog with the jugglin’ mommy that says “Vote for Me”? Can you pretty please with sugar on top click it? It takes a second or two and will help us get a listing in the Top Mommy Blogs directory. You can vote every day, I believe. Not like I’m askin’ ya to do THAT….unless, you know, you want to. *wink*  THANK you! You can also click here, for our personal link to vote.

9. Hall & Oates
And finally….this week’s video is actually an audio track. I’ve been obsessed with Hall & Oates lately (I’m telling ya, they are the new Journey….) and this tribute album by The Bird and the Bee is totally fun. All the songs are great—Private Eyes, I Can’t Go For That…..but of course, I had to close this week out with a personal fave, MAN EATER.

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYBODY!

Meet Mathilda! Our Weekly Kiddo.

Weekly Kiddos

This week we have a special little sweetie from Springfield, Missouri! Her mama is the stylish and creative Amy who clearly has an appreciation for the days of yesterday—she gave her the awesomely, old-timey name Mathilda, which is just about the cutest thing ever! Little Miss Mathilda has four siblings, including two older sisters, who provide plenty of sassy hand-me-downs for this stylish little gal. Her fun wardrobe is made up of lots of vintage and thrift-store treasures with, of course, the occasional new item thrown in for good measure! When you see how cute she is, you’ll die. Let the Walzing Mathilda begin!


CUTE! Love the moccasin booties and adorable overalls!


Tee hee. A little bit dirndl chic, a little bit Red Riding Hood and a whole lotta CUTE.


The long stripey legwarmer knee socks make this outfit adorable.


Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!!! Tutu and vintage roller skates? Hellllo. This is SO Mathilda’s album cover in about 10 years.



Chillin’ with her best girls….I love her red dress and look at that smile!


This is the most adorable rain combo. The sweet buttercup yellow vintage dressie and then those totally utilitarian wellies is AWESOME.

Mathilda is one of those awesome little hybrid girls—she loves fun girlie things like roller skating and playing dress-up, but she also likes to climb trees and hang out with her four urban chickens. CHICKENS??? WOW!  I love it!  The lovely Mathilda has a sweet kitty cat named Casper that she looves and her mama says she charms the neighbors with daily visits to cheer them up! I am pretty taken with this little lady’s style—don’t you think she’s the bees knees?? Amy, thanks for sharing your gorgeous girlie with us!

Dottie’s Kraft Korner :: Felt Food is FAB!

Best of Dottie, Crafts + DIY

(Image: stacey rebecca, flickr)

The Peach is learning pretend play.

First, it started so sweetly with her pretend drinking out of one of the halves of her Matroyska doll. And soon it led to her pretending to eat random scraps of paper and saying “yummy”.  That was all I needed to hot-foot it over to Michael’s to buy 20 sheets of felt because finally I had a reason to make FELT FOOD for my little one!

Perhaps it was my complete lack of sleep combined with a more than a grueling week at the office, but I just stared at that felt dumb-founded but determined to turn into into some healthy felt vittles for Georgia.  So, I spent a good afternoon poking around the Internet cupboards and came back with a feast of felted goodness that I’d love to share with you all.

The Peach does love ravioli something fierce and this easy pattern makes it easy for anyone to whip up a batch of Italian goodness.

Flapjacks anyone? Yes, please thanks for embroidery goddess Turkey Feathers’s great tutorial. Little gnome not included.

Or would you prefer bacon and eggs? Etsy seller Little Crickets has a great pattern to take care of that craving.  Smiling eggs included.

Winner winner chicken dinner with this grand felt chicken pattern from July Hobby. And yes, the chicken parts are connected with velcro, so you little one can go all Henry the Eighth on that bird.

I love this felt sandwich–Easy on the mayo, please! Thanks, Mojo & Co for the great pattern! That tomato is a piece of art!

Let’s play Starbucks, baby!  Get your kiddo hooked on double decaf no foam felt latte early with this goodie pattern from Fairy Fox.

This dim sum felt food pattern set includes directions on how to make the fun little baskets. Now you just need to get a mini cart for your kid to roll around your dining room offering you sui mai.

The only thing missing from this great country fair felt food is the carnie manning the tilt-a-whirl!

Both from Ume Crafts.

Those Japanese craft books are worth their weight in gold for all the goodies they contain–and this one dedicated to felted veggies is just insane.

Why not get your little one in on grocery shopping early with this great set from Etsy seller, Buggabugs?

But of course, this is just the tippy tip tip of felt food goodies. To learn more of the finer points, why don’t you check out what Craftster, the mecca for all things crafty. That is where I’m going to spend my afternoon today. And hopefully, I’ll be able to share some delicious felted goodness with you next week!

PS: Remember today’s the last day to participate in our wonderful giveaway to win a Mini Me paper doll gift certificate. Make your favorite little girlie’s day!

Real Life: A trip to the MOMA.

Best of Alix, Real Life, Real Life : Alix, , , ,

That’s Wolfie up there. Admiring art. OK OK. I can’t lie. There is this little part of me that just wants to post that photo and impress you with my cosmopolitan ways and toss my hair and said, “Yes, this past week we took the young lad to the Museum of Modern Art where he made various astute observations about the exceptional collection of Abstract Expressionism and regaled me with the finer points of Pop Art!” And then tell you how I went home and made an asparagus goat cheese tart that my boy ate with gusto and how, just for a laugh, we ate on the floor because my house is THAT SPOTLESS.

*cough*

But I can’t do that. Don’t worry, it’s still a nice story with a happy ending, we just took a slightly twisty route.

This past weekend was a pretty glorious one. We began our day with an awesome birthday party in Dolores Park—lots of running around and silliness involving a UFO pinata and a bunch of 5-6 year olds racing around. After the party we packed ourselves up and were going to head home when I suddenly thought, “Hey, lets swing by the SF MOMA!” Greg loves art galleries and I love museums. And also,  I was hankerin’ for this:


You see, the SF Museum of Modern Art has a rooftop cafe that is known for it’s spectacular art-inspired sweets. Like the Jeff Koons White Hot Chocolate (served in a dainty porcelain cup topped with golf leaf-coated marshmallows) and Andy Warhol Pop Art Corn (complete with commemorative box!). I have been DYING to get a slice of that Mondrian-inspired cake ever since I posted about it. I know, I know….Wolfie had already had a full day at a birthday party and here I was schleppin’ him to the Art Museum just so I could get cake. What can I say? I want to be the girl with the most cake. Also, Wolfie is a pretty chill little guy and we can pretty much take him anywhere without a fuss. Except, apparently, the MOMA on a Sunday.

We arrived at the museum and I dragged everyone up to the top floor (YAY to Greg for being so accommodating to my sweet tooth whims!). Alas, they were out of the Mondrian cake, but I had this:

with this:

which was inspired by this:

Mmmm. The Wayne Theibaud cake was completely delish. I was delighted and so content, happily sippin’ mah cappuccino. Alas, my little six year old was not as happy as I. “WHEN are we leaving? WHY are we here? I’m TIRED. I want to relax in the CAR!!!” [relax in the car?? ]  I tried joking. Offered him some cake (He was horrified. He hates sweets. Seriously.). “Do they have pretzels?” “Um…no.”  HMPH! And there he sat, pouting and playing his DS.

Once I ate my cake he looked up expectantly, eyes lighting up. “Are we going home??” “No. We’re here at the museum we’re going to go look at some cool stuff!” “Ohhhh man!!!” (head hanging dejectedly and a not particularly adorable scowl on his face.) And he turned into THAT CHILD. Dragging his feet. Whining. Sooooo not into this. And we could have just gone home. But I’m stubborn (where do you think he gets it from??) and refused to give up. As we were walking across the breeze way (oooooh….i don’t think I’ve EVER typed that word before) I looked out the windows and said, “HEY! There’s WALDO!”


On the roof top of the building across the street someone had made a big cut out of Waldo. We all totally laughed—and even my crank-a-puss child giggled. And suddenly I had an idea. “Hey Wolfie, we’re going to play a game.” “A game?” There was a flicker of interest in his eyes. “Yep. OK, so here’s what you have to do. You have to find these FIVE things for me:  1) Something with red in it,  2) Something with an animal in it,  3) Something with a tree in it, 4) The thing that looks the biggest and 5) The thing that looks the smallest, ok??” He seemed mildly amused, but not exactly thrilled with this thought. I should also clarify that I was TOTALLY making this up as I went along and had no clue if this was a cool game or the easiest game in the world and would be over in 5 sad seconds. Luck was on my side because the first room we walked into was filled with paintings….but only one had a red in it. “Hey! mama! I found a something red! Look!” he was triumphant. “Awesome!” The next room yielded nothing, which added to the mystery. Suddenly he was on a mission. While finding a painting with red in it was easy, finding something with an animal was surprisingly hard. We both triumphed when we finally spotted a teensy little horse figurine sitting on a dresser in a collection of Black and White photographs from the 40s. The cool thing about this was that he really LOOKED at everything. And it made me really look too. We chatted about the pieces (“Do you think that this is a really big comb or do you think that it’s just a really small bed?”), we pointed out our favorites and discussed why some painters made everything so dark (“it’s very angry, like a storm.”). And it was SO awesome.



He was totally intrigued by the Andy Warhol and we talked about self-portraits and having blue hair. Of course, the Jeff Koons porcelain Michael Jackson w/ Bubbles got a good look. (I posted the picture on Monday.) Our last sighting was this totally cool Barry McGee piece, which Wolfie proudly informed me was “Both the biggest AND the littlest!”

He was pretty adorable, marching through the rooms looking thoughtfully at everything. Allow me to brag and say he charmed every single guard in the place. Eventually we had to leave and he happily skipped down the stairs. “This was awesome mama.”


So I guess the whole point of this story is….don’t be afraid. And don’t give up. Life’s not always perfect, but a little bit of creativity (and mommy Jedi mind tricks) can go a long way. Dare I say it? I think I must. You can have your cake….and eat it too.

m.o.m: nerdy clothes for cool kids

Etsy Love

Don’t you just love hearing about wonderfully talented people who are keeping the dream alive producing beautiful clothing for sassy tots everywhere? Well, let me introduce you to one such girl. And that girl is the utterly charming Ms. Bethany who started a hand made clothing company for sweet nerdy kiddos with her mom. Yup. How sweet is that?

And it’s called m.o.m.

I know, right? Adorable.

Located on the sunny side of the street in Encinitas (only the coolest beach town in SoCal, natch) Bethany sits in her sweet studio with a whole wall that she can open like a garage door to let the ocean breeze come in and flutter her handmade banners.  She’ll sit there and cut beautiful pieces of fabric magically turning them into beautiful aprons with emboidered does for girlies, the most wonderful ties for boys and a whole slew of awesome that I can’t wait to show you.  All with her sweet pooch, Stella curled up under the table snoozing away.

And all with her Mom.  What made her team up with her completely adorable Mom, I asked?

Bethany’s response:

“I was working at Goodnight Room in Oakland when the owner requested aprons for little girls. I suggested we ask my mother to make them. My mom said yes and the aprons sold, and sold, and sold. One day I phoned my mother to say, “This is it, we’re going into business together.”
The first aprons were made for Goodnight Room in 2002. From then until late 2008, the dynamic duo created all m.o.m stuff at night and on the weekends, as they both had full-time jobs. In October of 2008, they set up their workshop + store in Encinitas, Ca. They’ve had the space for 20 months and and are still in love with it–but wouldn’t you be too?
And what is the inspiration for their delightful line of goodies? Family history, movies, and music to name a few. Bethany’s grandmother and great-grandmother are top of the list for the skills they handed down and the common sense practice and m.o.m philosophy of, “use what’s around you and don’t waste a thing.”
Amen to that, sister!
Their inspiration? From Bethany:
“We are drawn to simple lines and old-fashioned details. We believe kids should look like kids. Our pieces will never be so precious that  they can’t play in them. We also love color and pattern and get a kick out of crazy combinations. We truly do work by our philosophy -we keep all scraps of fabric and create our accessories from them.”
Well, what is there not to love about m.o.m.? Nothing! Now just skedaddle on over to their site and pick out something cute for your tyke!

PS: I’m in lurve with the m.o.m. blog. Check it out HERE.