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Soooooo, I know I said I had another post ready for today—and I swear I was thiiiiiiiiiiiis close to finishing it and getting it up on time. But then I had to go to work. And, alas, I actually have to *work* at work. Somehow the day just ran away from me. It’ll probably happen tomorrow afternoon (after Dottie dazzles you with her magic— she has an awesome post lined up for tomorrow, just you wait my friends!). As a sneak peek lemme tell you what I was gonna post about. It involved a cute 6-year old and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.



Monday Vintage Kiddo: Retro Round Up!

Kiddo Style: Vintage

Happy Monday Kiddo Cuties. Wow, seems like we haven’t done a fun Vintage Kiddo Round Up in ages, what with Memorial Day last Monday, eh? Well don’t fret pets, I’ve got some cute cuties for ya this fine Monday!

As always, we love vintage for it’s unique cuts, colors and one-of-a-kind sass….but don’t forget it’s an affordable, green way to reduce/reuse and give your kiddo a super cool look. We always try to add a lil something modern to our outfits. Think about pairing little vintage dressies over jeans or leggings. Even a pretty party dress looks 2010-casual with some cute sneaks (not to say you can’t dress it up either, but we don’t all have a little Suri on our hands and we’re figuring most kiddos like running around the playgrounds and parks!). And for boys, you can easily ear a cool vintage tee under overalls or with cool jeans.

OK gang, ltet’s hit the e-thrift! First up, this Polka Dotty wonder! I love the Peter Pan collar and little buttons. It’s begging for a pair of little red sneaks, no? (and some lollipops for those adorable pockets!)

From style lovin’ Etsy seller Farfalla Shop

Your little fella would look amazing in this tee—rad over cool straight-leg jeans (cuff ’em DANO….) or a pair of cropped pants for summer!

From our sweet pal, Frecklewonder

I looooooove this girlie girl dressie, with the sweet flowers!

From awesome Etsy peeps, Pink Cupcake Vintage

I have no idea what this style is called, but I’m super into these 70s shirts with the writing in the pattern. (There must be a name for it, no?) This one says POPSICLE and is just too cute for summer.


From those groovy guys at Earthing Vintage

Saaaaaaaillling, take me a away to where I’m going!!!!!!!!!! (Wait, is that how that song goes? Hmmm…..sorry to throw a little Chris Cross song bomb on ya.) This little romper is fab, and I love the pocket detail!

Another QT from Pink Cupcake Vintage!

This one is berry berry cute, wouldn’t you agree?? I don’t know why but fruit on a little dress is always super fetch….apples, cherries, and esp STRAWBERRIES.

From one of our main gals, LishyLoo Vintage!

OH the bad puns for this little number…..yer sure to make a racket…this one scores a 10-LOVE…etc etc. But i’m gonna spare you and just say THIS IS AWESOME.

From awesome seller, Anne Beyke

This rockin’ roll rodeo number is the ultimate hipster accessory—your lil man will be ready to start his own indie band before you know it!

One more cutie from LishyLoo!

This outfit is 2 for the price of one! I love the flower power daisy pattern but those dang pom poms take it up to 11. And the best part is you get a poncho AND a skirt with this one!

From awesome Etsy seller Farfalla Shop

MY PRECIOUSSSSSSS. This little pale pink dressie is fannnnntastic.

From eBay seller Floozees Vintage.

And finally, this over-sized sea foam gingham is just adorable—and honestly looks like it could very well come from a modern boutique shop . The smocking detail and wee A-line? Yup. I predict this will get sco0ped up FAST.

From Etsy seller Winter Milk.

So what are ya waitin’ for? Get to shoppin’ people! I’ll be back a little later today with a fun weekend update.

Yee haw, Weekly Kiddo is double the fun!

Weekly Kiddos

Gather ’round pardners. Man do I have something extra-awesome special for ya’ll this week at the Cute Kiddo Corral. You may have noticed that our little Weekly Kiddo logo has a boy AND a girl on it today. Can you guess why? Yup. TWINS. We have TWINS this week! And when you see little Olive and Calder you are going to flip. These are two super stylish little cuties—and they’re only 2 1/2 years old. They’re mom has a great eye for fashion and loves to buy from second-hand, consignment or thrift stores, and ebay. We love this! And she still manages to rock some really hip brands too. Olive, Calder….are you ready? Wonder twin powers, activate!

Olive
+ Small paul tee
+ Mama-made birdie skirt (alexander henry fabric)
+ Socks, little miss matched (So cute! Dottie just posted about these last week…)
+ Black Converse sneaks

Calder
+ Shorts, tee and socks, The Gap
+ Black Converse sneaks

Meet Calder!


+ Super cool cowboy shirt by Ramonster
+ Jeans by paper denim cloth
+ Handmade cap
+ Tri-colored converse

Meet Olive!


+ Amazing cotton candy pink dress by kate mack
+ Socks by little miss matched
+ Black Converse

Calder

+ Wave tee by tea collection
+ Jean shorts by paper denim cloth
+ Purple sandal shoes, by keen
+ Rad Houndstooth Hat by knuckleheads

Olive (she’s up there in the distance—looking adorable even when she’s blurry!)

+ Cat dress by ZAZA

+ Apron dress by matilda jane

Calder
+ Cheeky monkey tee by MORFS
+ Gap jeans
+ Black converse

Olive
+ Oink baby dress
+ Stride rite socks
+ Red cowboy boots by old west

Calder

+ Bubble dot retro cowboy, Ramonster
+ Jeans by paper denim cloth

Olive

+ Birdie shirt, Oilily
+ Handmade wooden camera

+ Mama made popeye and olive oyl halloween costumes (um, hello….so cute! Olive Oyle is perfect, but check out Popeye’s forearms! “I’m strong to the finitch ’cause I eats me spinach….”

+ Matching Monkey Jammies, Old Navy

olive
+ oilily (unfinished forest) dress
+ mushroom shoes by livie and luca

calder
+ ramonster cowboy shirt
+ jeans by paper denim cloth
+ handmade hat

So usually I do a little write up about our sweet Weekly Kiddo, but since we have TWO this week, i wanted to make sure they each got their time in the spotlight. I asked their awesome mama Kristen to give me some fun tidbits about these two superstars—so take a gander:

10 things about calder

1. calder is a VERY sweet boy with HUGE brown eyes and a bright smile!
2. he often pretends to be a dinosaur we’ve named ‘caldersaurus rex’ that likes to give hugs and kisses…oh, and ROARRRR.
3. he won’t try meat, and can tell when ANY meat products are in a recipe…he won’t even touch a piece of cheese pizza that was next to a piece with meat:)
4. calder loves fish, and helps us take care of our salt water fish aquarium.
5. calder spends HOURS making ‘animal parades’ with his animal figurines…lining them up…sometimes stretching the length of the house
6. the boy also loves bugs and will FREAK out is someone accidentally steps on an ant hill
7. calder food groups CHEESE, YOUGURT, GRANOLA, and FRUIT
8. calder loves being outside, and riding his balance bike around the block to ‘visit’ our neighborhood fire station
9. he LOVES hats, and insists on choosing the right one each day!
10. calder was named after the artist ALEXANDER CALDER

10 things about olive
1. olive is our snickerdoodle, she is sassy, and fun.
2. olive has been picking out her own clothes since she was 14 months old…her style is VERY funky, extremely colorful and sometimes mismatched!
3. olive loves art, and will often work on the same piece of art for an hour or more
4. olive takes her babies (gracie and dot) EVERYWHERE with her
5. olive likes to pretend she’s a dino we’ve named OLIVE RAPTOR that has an ear piercing shriekkkkk
6. while olive shares the love for cheese and yogurt with calder, MEAT has always been her favorite.
7. olive once told a stranger at an art opening her name was ‘avocado’
8. olive has always loved to dance, and make up silly songs.
9. olive is a HUGE fan of carousels
10 olive’s middle name is ‘sanctuario’ named after sanctuario de chimayo in Chimayo, NM

HOW CUTE ARE THESE LIL TWINS??? I love sweet Calder the awesome vegetarian animal lover and spunky Olive “Avocado” the art lover. I think it’s so excellent that their parents take them to museums and art openings. I can’t wait to see these little twin stars in a couple of years. Something tells me they’ll just keep getting cuter and even more creative! Thanks Kristen for sharing these two special kiddos with us!

Dottie's Kraft Korner: Interview with Jacinda from Prudent Baby

Crafts + DIY

Prudent Baby’s Monogrammed Felt Hair Clip

There are so many great craft blogs out there that have been wonderfully inspirational for me through the years, but there is one that I am particularly drawn to almost every day—Prudent Baby.  It is my craft mecca.  The site was started last year by the dynamic duo Jacinda and Jaime who come up with brilliant crafty projects  every week that are totally doable for even the most harried mama out there. I made the crib sheet in less than a half hour—perfect for nap time crafting.

Whether it’s making a potty training chart or re-doing a doll stroller, Prudent Baby has terrific easy-to-follow tutorials that make you hot-foot it over to your nearest craft store to buy bottles of Modge Podge and fat quarters of fabric.  They even had great craft and sewing projects for Mom (under the wonderfully and let’s face it–at times most aptly named Hot Mess Mommy).  Prudent Baby ladies, you had me at hello!

So, let’s sit down with the terrifically talented Jacinda over a nice cup of of Internet tea (Lemon Lift with honey) and ask her oodles of questions, shall we?

MK: How long have you been a crafty maven? Were you knitting your Raggedy Ann dresses? Or did the crafting spirit come upon you later in life?

JACINDA:  I am a life-long crafter with early role-models.  Both my mom and my grandmother were always making something while I was growing up. Designing jewelry, stitching quilts, decorating cakes, painting, dying Ukrainian Easter eggs. They did EVERYTHING and they were always happy to let me in on the fun. I can remember wallpapering my dollhouse with scraps from a wallpaper sample book that my mom had saved from its dumpster destiny. And once in college I pulled an all- nighter… making granny squares for an afghan!! I’m a good time. So yes, I’ve had the craft bug my whole life, and a bad case.

MK: What handmade item are you most proud of?

JACINDA: I’m awfully proud of my fancy royal icing sugar cookies. People appreciate their winning combo of beauty and deliciousness. I struggle with posting them on Prudent Baby because, as a hobby, they are WAY too much work for the end result, which is… a cookie. It’s like a crazed passion of mine where I keep going into the wee hours of the morning. If someone happens to witness this horror show of cookie decorating in the middle of the night, it ruins the magic for them. It’s my dirty little secret. I don’t want people to feel guilty eating them.


Prudent Baby’s Hooded Baby Towel

MK: What was your inspiration for PrudentBaby? What tutorial is the  most popular on the site?

JACINDA:  Jaime and I worked together for several years, and we both left and started families around the same time. Like me, she was an artist and needing an outlet for creativity. We thought it would fun to share our ideas and patterns with each other and anyone else who wanted to use them. Our patterns for the Nursing Cover, Crib Sheet and 10-minute Onsie Dress are probably our most popular and readers really appreciated our Recipe Binder Organization System. And the birthday parties, they are always a hit.

MK:   How do you find time to craft? What is a typical day for you?  You don’t sleep, do you?

JACINDA: I cannot lie, I’m pretty sleepy and I do most of my crafting late at night after a long stay-at-home-mom day. The real secret to the frequency of our posts is that there are two of us! We keep each other inspired, motivated and accountable. It’s nice to have some back-up.

Prudent Baby’s Tutu-Torial

MK:  We know your little one is a huge inspiration for all things crafty. How do you try to involve her in your crafty efforts?

JACINDA: Quinn is 1 and Clare will turn 3 next week. She loves to paint and draw and sculpt with clay. She also loves to help bake. Whenever I come up with a project for us to do together, she is on board. I need to set that time aside more often. When I need to focus on something that requires my undivided attention, like sewing, I wait until after-hours. These girls sense when I am trying to be productive and swoop in to demand mommy-time like it’s their super-power. It’s nice to be loved.

Well, thanks for chatting with us, Jacinda! You are just a doll and I can’t wait to watch you and your partner in craft, Jaime continue to rock it out at Prudent Baby!

Say cheese, baby—awesome infant photography.

Art + Design, Widdle Wednesdays


Oh baby baby. Taking photos of teeny littles is a true art form. They squirm. They squiggle. They are easily distracted. But when you nail that shot….man oh man! Ain’t nuttin’ cuter! So when I discovered the work of Janet and Lisa of JL Photografia, whoooo weee was I ever smitten! These two fun lovin’ Northern California ladies clearly have an amazing eye. Their forte happens to be weddings, but their childrens photography is totally outstanding. They blend contemporary and photojournalistic styles with amazing results. Just you wait people. If you’re not saying “Awww!” by the end of this post then you, my friend, have a heart of stone! Let us begin…

Little Baby Emerson…..she is just so lullaby sweet.





Honestly. How sweet can you get?? The photo with Sydney the doggie is amazing, but that little arm hanging down in sheer relaxed, sleepy-time bliss just makes my heart sing!

Baby Siena. The ladies describe this little cutie as being “cheeky-licious” and I couldn’t agree more! I especially love how Janet and Lisa have captured Siena’s awesome expressions!




Would ya look at that widdle mug?? Tee hee.

Next we have Baby Quin, this young man is pure chewy goodness.


I loooove little baby feet (don’t tell anyone but I still love and smooch Wolfie’s kindergarten sized footsies to this day!).  Look how chewey that little fella is up there. Nommie nom nom. You just wanna blow a raspberry on that belly, huh!

And finally…we start where we began. Remember sweet baby Emerson from the very first photo? Well she’s actually a little older now. And wowza she’s a beauty! Behold the sweet baby blues of a slightly older Miss Emerson:


All together now….”Awwwww!”  What a gorgeous child, huh. Sigh. Don’t those ladies at JL Photographia have an amazing eye??  I swear these babies make mah ovaries tingle!

Now technically this is all about the babies, but you must pop over to the JL Photografia blog and check out the sweet engagement photos on their latest entry. Sooo loverly! And if you live in California, get in touch with these two lovely ladies about takin’ some photos. Thank you Janet and Lisa for blowing our minds with your amazing talent!

All Images: JL Photografia.