The beauty of a beach in winter

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Image: Flickr user, Brianmoc, of my beloved Crane Beach in Massachussetts

Have you ever gone to the beach in the late fall/early winter?

Gone is the technicolor fun and energy that bounces through the air in the summer.  It is replaced with a cooler bittersweetness as the weather gets cooler.  I think the month of November brings out a different side of the beach. A more subdued and personal side.

I love that winter beaches aren’t as crowded.  Sometimes you’ll find yourself completely alone on the beach, and it feels like it belongs to you. Only to you.  I think that it is only then that you truly fall in love with that sandy strip connecting with the water.

But the one thing that can mar those beautiful winter beaches more than anything else is an unsightly piece of plastic washed ashore. Sadly  nowadays, you almost can’t take a walk on a beach without running into a piece or six of plastic garbage. That is why I truly appreciate when companies take a stance against all that plastic. Whether it be using corn-based , biodegradable plastic containers for your salad or wrapping your goodies with newspaper instead of those little foam peanuts.

One company that is doing something different is Method. Our friends at Method took it one step further, sending each employee over a year’s time to Hawaii to clean up a certain beautiful beach that is constantly inundated with “ocean plastic. You know, those misc. bits and pieces of plastic washed ashore, like that plastic fork used back in 1981 or that plastic ring holding together a six pack of soda in the seventies.

And instead of just tossing all of that plastic, Method has collected it and used it to create the world’s first bottle made with a blend of recovered ocean plastic and post-consumer recycled plastic. And I got say, what a bottle!

This is just divine, isn’t it?  Muted gray (thanks to the natural color of the cleaned plastic pellets) with a lovely nod to a sea anemone.  I actually bought this soap (only available at Whole Foods and Methodhome.com) as a little prezzie for my interior design friend and she fell head over heels for it.  I think you will too. Another cool thing about this Method product is that it is a hand and dish soap—so you only need to buy one bottle. Huzzah!

For a bit more about the unusual story behind this unusual soap, check out this great video Method made.  Makes me love these guys even more!

I hope Method starts a trend and more companies follow suit using ocean plastic. Because our beaches in winter (or actually any time of the year) deserve to be plastic free, leaving more room for us to enjoy.

Are you a fan of winter beaches?

This post brought to you by:

but all opinions are always our own. To read more on Method’s green practices, ingredients and philosophy, go here.

Vintage Kiddo Retro Round Up!

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Well, that weekend just FLEW by, eh? I feel like that is going to be a theme for the rest of the year.. Sigh! I’m in SLC right  now for work and had to leave a feverish little Peach behind, which as you can imagine was really REALLY hard. Sigh…  But I’m sitting in my hotel room looking out at the snow with a fire going and although I’m missing my little girlie, I can at least find some fun items for the Kiddo Round Up, which always puts a smile on my face!

This chair = perfection.  From Etsy seller, Little Part.

 

I am dying over this perfect little Tweed jacket. Perfect for your kiddo’s first Tweed Ride! From Etsy seller, One Sweet Dream Vintage.

 

Miss Lish found these terrific saddle shoes in what look to be perfect condition. And the price is pretty rad too!

WHOA! Fisher Price ranger set? Those are insanely hard to find! Someone, please snatch this up! From Etsy seller, Fuzzymama.

 

This little cars onesie is perfectly cozy right now and would warm any little baby up right proper! From Etsy seller, Bondplace Vintage.

 

Behold the perfect striped shirt.  It looks like it was taken off of a surfer in 1966. Love it. From Etsy seller, Ms. Tips.

 

For such a little person, our model here has a ton of sass! I love it! And I love that sweet purply sweater too! From Etsy seller, La di Dottie.

 

Beware, Petunia!  You can tell that fox is up to no good!  Makes you want to buy the book to find out what happened, eh? From Etsy seller, Hey Sweetie Pie!

 

If I could cram the poor Peach into this 2T pinky dress, I would! Sigh. Who knows… I just might still buy it and make her wear it as a shirt… From one of my favorite Etsy seller, Oliver’s Forest.

These wonderful vintage records would be worth buying just for the delicious illustrations on the cover. Sigh! From Etsy seller, A Pear’s Vintage Goodies.

 

When stripes aren’t enough, one should simply add sweet strawberry to a sweater for true perfection. And what is also perfect about this sweater is that it comes in the oh so elusive big girl size 7! From Etsy seller, Little Reader Vintage.

Happy Monday, folks!

Meet Otis!

Weekly Kiddos

Hey friends!

Today we have a little brother of a past Weekly Kiddo, Ingrid Liddle’s little bro, Otis. And he seems to be following in the Liddle family way of being a super cutie!  Mom Amber who runs Toadstool Vintage, a sweet shop of vintage goodies on Etsy, has a real love of vintage clothing let’s just say, this is one well turned out kiddo!

Check out this great denim jacket action on Mr. Otis here.

And I will say this boy  knows his way around a Jon Jon, like nobody’s business!

I love that Represent shirt–almost as much as the wee doxie on Otis’ lap!

His mama Amber gave us a bit more insights into what makes this cutie little ginger tick:

“Otis is on the cusp of two, he’ll be two in December.  He lives with his big sis Ingrid, his cats Zoe and Frances and dog Cody, and his mom and dad in Milwaukee. He was born teeny weeny tiny and has caught up quite well, he’s now a normal sized little man that loves to follow his big sister around!  He loves yogurt and crackers, he would live off them if allowed to.  He is very much a boy, loves to throw balls, climb everything, and throws massive temper tantrums.  But he has the sweetest cuddly side to him, as well.  He has a tiny baby doll, named Baby Gabba, that he loves to carry around and hug and sing to.  He wakes up every morning with a call for Mama, or if he’s in our bed, he leans right over and kisses me on the forehead with a big smooch sound and a giggle!”

What is not to love about that!

Hey! do you have a stylish little boy or girl you’d like us to feature? Send ‘em our way! You can find out all the deets over HERE.

Halloween Was a {pinata} Smashing Success.

Kiddo Holidays, , ,

Wow, was Halloween just last week?? This fall is flying by friends! So many of you have asked me what Wolfie decided to go as for Halloween and as you can see, he did it again. Wolfie (Mr. “I Hate Costumes”) stunned us all last year when he decided he wanted to be a meatball. A MEATBALL! He was spectacular, if I do say so myself (see it all here). This year my quirky cool boy decided he wanted to be a piñata. And I was thrilled! You have to understand friends, this is the child who practically refused to dress up for the first 6 years of his little life. Wolfie was never a pirate/superhero/cowboy hat wearing little guy. I was always so envious of people with “dress up boxes”. But my little opinionated fella was not into it. This “coming up with costumes” thing is all new for us, and Greg and I are enjoying it SO much.

We decided to go with the classic donkey shape. It all began with a cardboard box, cut out on the top and bottom. Pretty simple, right? Welllll, sort of. It got really tricky when it came to the head. Unlike a real pinata (which is hollow but still has a structure) this was pretty much an unstable pain in the donkey. I wish I had photographed the entire process, all fancy-like….numbered “steps” and what not. But the reality was I had to work on after hours and it was too dark….so this is all I got for ya!

Wolfie is a self-avowed sweets/chocolate hater—so Halloween is never really about the candy for him. (He’s a salty fan—popcorn, tortilla chips, pretzels!) Anyway, his “concept” was that because he doesn’t like candy, it’s be funny to be a pinata and throw candy at the kids. We did have a brief moment of “What if people try and hit me for candy??” And yes. Some kids eagerly rushed over grinning mischievously. But Wolfie told them he was a backwards pinata—if you hit him, you don’t get any candy. If you tell him something nice, he’ll give you a treat. (He had a secret pocket inside with ziplock baggie of candies!) Needless to say he got lots of nice words from kids clamoring for candy, and was a big hit at the school parade!

He really looked so cute. Honestly 75% of the kids were dressed in dark or black costumes: ninjas, witches, ghouls, draculas….my little pinata was a colorful beacon of silliness. I couldn’t have been prouder! And the kids at his school were awesome. He’s at that age when all the boys just want to be cool and dress like cartoons they love, and Wolfie really stuck out like a sore thumb. I was so happy that all the kids were SUPER into his costume too. YAY kids! There were some other really excellent costumes—a great Harry Potter (with Hedwig the owl), my friend Teri’s little girl was an amazing Mexican wrestler, Wolfie’s friend was Poseidon, and there was a genius Cloud with Lightning.

Wolfie’s teacher was an adorable Red Riding Hood:

On Halloween night we added a sombrero, which kind took the whole thing up a notch! I’m half German (my mama) but also half Mexican (my dad is from Mexico) so grandmama and grandpa got a huge kick out of this! Wolfie was quite pleased that lots of the houses he trick-or-treated at said he was their favorite costume (and some places even gave him extra candy!). Our friends in Alameda invited us over to their neighborhood and whew mama, those guys TURN. IT. OUT. There were 100s of people swarming the streets….crazy decorations. It was amazing but also kind of overwhelming!

At the end of the night, he and his buddies sat on the floor counting out their stash. He decided to give each of his friends four pieces of chocolate apiece (yeah, if you want more candy trick-or-treat with Wolfie!). Even though he doesn’t eat it, he still likes to look over his loot and count it etc. And just so you don’t think he’s a complete crazy boy with his non-sweets loving ways, he IS a big a fan of cherry or strawberry lollipops/ring pops!

How was your Halloween? Is your neighborhood mellow or crazy with candy lovers? What did you end up going as? Am I going to get some new fabulous contenders for the Costume Parade next year??? SO many questions!

CRAFTOBER turns into SEW-VEMBER

Crafts + DIY

If that orange princess dress did one thing for me, it was that it made me want to sew even more for the Peach. Easy little dresses that she can wear over turtlenecks and maybe some cozy options instead of long sleeve t-shirts to wear with her jeans and cords. I think this is going to be a great way for me to continue to flew my sewing muscles.

But first to find the right patterns to use. I decided I wanted to use on pattern from Etsy because I think they have some amazing patterns available for children’s clothing. Most of their patterns come with incredibly detailed instructions, which I realize I need to create a great finished product.

Here are some I looked at:

I really like this sweet little peasant dress pattern. Looks easy and seeing the plaid version (on such a cute little model) made me kinda excited about doing one out of flannel…  From Etsy seller, Dream Spun Kids.

The Charissa dress would look really cute over a white turtleneck.  And I could add a lot of cuteness like a peter pan collar or a placket of ricrac to give it a bit more punch! From Etsy seller, Growing Up With Charissa.

I’m really in love with this darling little blouse that has a faux peter pan style collar/sleeve. Perhaps if I lengthen it, I could turn it into a dress. But I wonder if this would be better for summer. Thoughts? From Etsy seller Too Sweets, who has some of the sweetest little dress patterns around! Actually, I think I’m going to save this dress for summer of 2013.

But I think I’m going to go with this pattern, the Fuwafuwa dress from Dans La Lune. Super simple and when matched with a simple little peter pan collar blouse from Old Navy or a turtleneck and some fun tights or leggings, it will totally be a party of cuteness. And I think I’ll use these flannel fabrics I just purchased from Alewives Fabrics, which I think has the nicest selection of flannels around–no too cutesy/baby or holiday themed.

Now for the vintage pattern, I’d like something simple. As I’ve heard vintage patterns leave a lot of little steps out, which is kinda a bummer to say the least. And since I am easily traumatized by scary sewing steps, I want to keep this as simple as possible.

But simple doesn’t mean it can’t be super cute!

Check out this darling pattern. I think the collar is a bit much, but that middle one is MONEY! From Etsy seller, Vogue Vixen.

This dress is so short, it could really be used as a little tunic and worn with jeans.  From Etsy seller, Kallie Designs.

I will take all three versions of this dress!  And the little blue purse, please! Pity it is a size 10. Hmmm… Maybe I should get it for later… From Etsy seller, Fresh and swanky.

But I did go and buy this pattern. It has long sleeves and a Peter Pan collar and pockets, which I know the Peach will enjoy immensely!  Made out of more snuggly flannel from Alewives and paired with her cords or jeans,  I think it will be a suitable addition to her wardrobe.

Hmm… That dark blue fabric looks a bit blah for a kiddo. I picked it because it was like a shirt that her Daddy wears, but it does seem rather dreary for a peppy little girl of three, don’t you think. Maybe I’ll do it in this color instead…

My goal is to make two of each of these dress/shirts I’ve decided to try to make two and two of the fuwafuwa dress this month. Wish me luck!

Do you do any sewing for your kids?  Have you in the past? What patterns do you use? How long does it take you to “knock out” an item?