The Besty of Etsy :: Fantastic Toys!

Crafts + DIY, Etsy Love

I’m kinda crushing on Fantastic Toys something FIERCE.

Have you seen the cute papery overload that is Fantastic Toys?  How cute you ask? Like sewing machine and iron cute.

Timothy Hauden, the mastermind behind Fantastic Toys sums it up best saying his creations, “bring out the antsy pants feeling of being a kid in a toy store! Whether it may be just a smile or squeals of delight, they make people happy. Inspired by Japanese crafts my kawaii (Japanese for super cute) soft toys are my spin of the indie plush craze.”

I think it would be great to print out a couple and save them for a rainy day this summer. I’m sure a kiddo could spend a couple of hours playing with these beautiful toys. They do involve some help as far as putting them together, but think of it as a great exercise for your older kids to put them together.

Here are my top five reasons for loving this brand:

1) All of the PDFs are under $5.00—talk about affordable!

2) You can buy, download and print it all in less than 10 minutes. Talk about immediate satisfaction!

3) Accidentally rip? Print it out again!

4) Can be taken apart and stored in a folder. Talk about space saving!

5) If your kiddo outgrows it, just pop the paper in your recycling bin.

Truly, they are fantastic toys!

Vintage Bookshelf // Sassy Nursery Rhymes from 1967

Vintage Books

Pictures by Jenny Williams. Designed by Tony Williams. (are they related??) First published in 1967. Printed in the Netherlands by L. van Leer and Co.

I love the mix of super colorful illustrations and then the more minimal black and white line drawings with pops of blue! Take a look…

There was a section where a few pages were ripped….and oddly, I still found these slivers of paper beautiful:

I love this book! Most I buy to share with Wolfie, but I admit many I buy for me. And with the younger story topic (nursery rhymes) and slightly poor condition means I guess that means that this one is allll for me. But that’s ok! I’m kind of a kid at heart.

Check out the entire collection of Vintage Bookshelf over here!

A Little Kiddo Pop Up Shop!

Kiddo Style: Modern

After months (and MONTHS!) of yacking, I  finally got around to setting up my little pop up shop! I’ve done these for the past few years as a literal shop, but this is the first time in ages I’ve put one up online.

It will eventually be a place for me to sell vintage (yay!), but I’m starting out by doing a massive purge of Wolfie’s clothing! He has had several HUGE growth spurts, so most of these are in really excellent condition. Sizes range from 3T and 4T to 5-6 and a few items that are size 7. I also found a big bin of his little guy stuff that I’ll be going through and posting too. I just updated the shop to get rid of the items that have already sold, but will be updating with MORE MORE MORE! It’s little boy stuff, but lots of the tees and sweaters are unisex. Swing on by and see if anything strikes yer fancy! SHOP HERE.

OH and if there are sizes and things you are looking for, lemme know. I’ll see what I can do!

Mini Golf is My Best // A Happy Birthday for an 8 Year Old

Kiddo Parties, Real Life : Alix, , , ,

Last month was Wolfie’s birthday and he had a special request. MINIATURE GOLF. Aw yeah! I was only too happy to oblige. It’s funny, when your child turns one or two, their birthday party is just as much for you as it is for them—more like “Hallelulijah! We made it through the first year!” But as they get older, they have more opinions and it’s less about snazzy decor and themes (although I love a good theme….and of course fun decor!) and more about doing something that THEY are into. And in my boy’s eyes:

We found a local place that did birthday parties and boy did we hit the jackpot! This place was super cool and funky and filled with lots of retro accents. Check out this sweet little midcentury “party room”!

I love those umbrellas! The kid’s played mini golf and then we hit the patio area where we feasted on pizza and cupcakes….and lollipops.

I admit, I always do a goody bag. I know people have mixed feelings about them, and it’s sort of lame that kid’s “expect” them these days. BUT it does make the kid’s happy and I think they can be fun. My tip is to make sure it’s super simple and filled with small, inexpensive things that I think the kids will actually be able to play with or snack on. I usually use a brown paper bag that we decorate, but this year I found craft paper handle bags at the dollar store and we filled them with a plastic tiki mug, tattoos, moustaches, Ring Pops and Candy Necklaces. Cheap but lotsa fun!

I think I had just as much fun as the kiddos. I was joking around and told them all that I was a golf pro….really bragging about how they better watch out, just to be funny. The kids were laughing and rolling their eyes. And on my first try? I got a hole in one! HAH! (I may or may not have played air guitar with the golf club in my excitement. Ahem.)

After cupcakes and birthday songs, we hit the mini arcade where the kids played and laughed and snapped up tickets that they could turn in for small treats. It was a HUGE success! It was an easy party for Greg and I, and my little guy had a blast. And that was all that really mattered.

 

So two questions. What do you do for Goody Bags? And when was the last time you played miniature golf?? It it’s been longer than 2 years, get thee to that putt putt range STAT! It’s the best!

Calling all kiddos!

Weekly Kiddos

 

The Weekly Kiddo was one of our very first features when we started Modern Kiddo and was intended to show off the cool style and personality of kiddo’s around the world. What can I say? We love our Weekly Kiddos! It is one of our favorite posts to write. And we’ve had some super cuties in the past, like  Henry, Lola, Sasha and Hooper.

We are always looking for new kiddos to feature and I have a feeling YOUR kiddo would be perfect! If you think so too, then we’d love for you to send us some snaps and a bit about your wee one. They will then be featured as part of our Weekly Kiddo column.  The kids love it (and so do the grandparents!). Keep in mind this is all in good fun, so we’re not looking for professional shots or anything! That being said, there are some guidelines to submitting. Here’s what we need:

1) Photos of your son or daughter, age 18 months-10 years, looking their most adorable and stylish.

2) You may submit 6-12 color photos. Please show your child from head-to-toe or waist up in most of the shots (avoid headshots). Choose photos that let their personality really shine through!

3) A short blurb about them. First name only, their age, your city or state, and what they love!  Favorite foods, activities, books, colors, stuffed animal, games, animals etc.

Here are some photo tips:

1) No flash please! Take photos outside or in natural lighting whenever possible. Flash tends to really wash things out.

2) Please make sure the photos are big enough. We are happy to make images smaller or crop them, but if your shot is too small it will get grainy when we enlarge it. To get a little techy on ya, our photos are cropped to 600 pixels wide.

3) Don’t worry if you think your photos aren’t snazzy enough, we’ll polish ‘em up and make ‘em purty!

THE FANTASTIC JACK HAZAARD

THE GORGEOUS MISS SERENITY

THE STYLISH MISS HAZEL

THE MOST EXCELLENT TIGER!

THE MAGNIFICENT MISS Q

That’s it! We can’t wait to see your cuties. Please email us at: Dottie[at]modernkiddo .com. And if you already submitted your wee one and they haven’t been featured, please resend. Our In Box gets a bit overwhelming at times and things have been known to be lost in the shuffle—especially when there are attachments involved.

I’m crossing my fingers you’ll do it, because I want to see your little cutie! You can see all our past Weekly Kiddos right here!