When I found out I was having a baby one of the first design decisions I made was that I wanted chalkboard paint somewhere in the baby’s room. While that hasn’t happened yet – we decided to wait until she can actually use it – I did end up painting a wall in my foyer black. We opted for chalkboard paint because it’s a high traffic area and I figured it would be easy to clean. So far, so good – I love it!
If you’re more of a dry erase board person, it’s your lucky day. IdeaPaint lets you turn “anything you can paint into a high-performance dry-erase surface.” Awesome! The uses are pretty endless…home office, work office, kids room, garage – anywhere you want to jot stuff down. I love the idea of painting a kid’s table top as well.
IdeaPaint is has Greenguard Certification. It doesn’t contain any formaldehyde, ships in minimal packaging and does away with all the post-it notes and whiteboards.
Keith Haring by Bumkins – My latest purchase from Totsy – what a steal!
Flash sale websites are the new black. Everyday I go through tons of emails from flash sale sites looking to see what hot deals I can get. At first I was looking just for myself but it soon became a family affair. Some flash sale sites have popped up that focus exclusively on children’s products, while others feature children’s products once in a while. All of the sites require that you register and it’s free – there’s no secret handshake or anything (but when in doubt, the password is peanut butter). Either way, these are my top 10 favorite flash sale sites…drumroll please…in no particular order….
The past two weeks I’ve been a bit of a shopping maniac. With the change of seasons and the Tiny Dancer growing out of her clothing, I need to stock up on new pieces. Also, I noticed that if you want to but the stuff when you actually need it, more often than not the cute stuff is sold out – always in the tiny dancer’s (and my) size. It’s pretty hot in California and we’re going on our first family vacation at the end of summer so I need to make sure that the Tiny Dancer has some cute outfits – here are the fruits of my spring shopping labor…
Nautical styles are always popular in the spring and summer but this year especially, I’m seeing stripes all over. And that’s fine by me because I’m a big fan of the stripes – thick or thin, red or navy – I’m an equal opportunity nautical stripe lover. You can find a nautical look in just about any style you want. Whether you want a dress, jacket, shorts, romper, shirt, sweater or just accessories, this year you can find anything nautically inspired that you could imagine. J.Crew Crewcuts and Janie & Jack had a ton of great pieces while other lines like Stella McCartney Kids and Alice & Olivia had some stand alone pieces. I picked some of my favorites for you to check out – if I were a rich girl, I’d get them all – and some pieces in my size to match!
A few years ago, Jeremy Scott rocked my world with his winged sneakers for adidas Originals – what can I say, I was always a sucker for Greek mythology – and sneakers. If you were lucky enough to snag a pair for the kiddos, congrats to you. But if you didn’t, then you can get the next best thing – Superhero Shoes by Smallfly. You can choose between lightning bolts or wings in an assortment of colors and add them to any of your kid’s sneakers. Luckily, the kids won’t grow out of these as quickly as they grow out of their shoes! You can get the Superhero Shoes on Etsy.
A few months ago I shared some tips for air travel with infants and I promised I would share my travel checklist. Well, with the summer coming I figured this would be a good time to share it. Hopefully, you’ll be able to take a little break, get away and use this travel checklist! I tried to cover everything that I used/needed on my trip. Please be advised… (1) I have the tendency to over-pack; and (2) I made the doc in Word so you can customize it to your needs. If anything, it’s a good starting point and makes packing so much easier. Before every trip, I print a checklist out and it makes packing a breeze. I hope it helps take the stress out of your next trip so you can relax a bit more! Happy Packing (and Traveling)!
Spring is officially here so it will be summer before we know it. The 70s are a huge trend for summer and one way that’s trickled down to children’s clothing for spring and summer is crochet. From knit sweaters and caps to crochet details on tops, jumpers and dresses, you can crochet a lil’ bit or all the way. It’s lightweight and breathable – perfect for keeping cool in the warm spring and hot summer months. Here are some of my favorite crochet pieces for tiny dancers…
We’re getting to that time of year when there is a wedding or other special event every other weekend. Last week, I showed you some of my favorite Easter dresses for baby and toddler girls – any of those dresses could be labeled a “special occasion” dress. But, sometimes, you need something a little dressier. Some mass retailers have really great options for weddings – especially if the tiny dancers are in the wedding party. Sometimes, itty bitty brides maid dresses are cost-prohibitive or just don’t come in the tiny dancers’ size. Crewcuts (J.Crew) and Janie and Jack have excellent options for bridal parties at an affordable price. The dresses are adorable and simple enough to blend in with the rest of the bridal party. Crewcuts has really great shoes as well! If the tiny dancers are not in the bridal party you still want them looking festive and there are lots of options out there – especially now. Get your fill of the frills now because in no time you’ll be helping the not-so-tiny dancers look for prom dresses!
Abercrombie has long been pushing boundaries with its overtly sexual image and half-naked kids standing in front of its stores but it has stooped to a new low. A&F has caused a stir over padded push-up bikini tops that it’s selling to kids marketed toward girls as young as eight-years old.
This is wrong on so many levels – I’m completely disgusted. This top is sending so many wrong messages! Girls are being sexualized at such a young age it’s really sad. Kids need time to be kids. And, most importantly, we’re teaching girls to have poor body image and not be satisfied with themselves at a very young age. The psychologist in the clip below breaks it down really well…what do you think? Is selling padded push-up bikini tops to little girls ok??
When it comes to baby girls, everything comes in pink. Pink Clothing, pink baby accessories, pink nurseries – everything pink. I’m so sick of pink that I feel like I drank a bottle of Pepto Bismol. When the husband and I learned that we were having a little girl, we wanted to stay away from too much pink. We didn’t like the idea of indoctrination and following the cookie-cutter “girly” theory that little girls = pink. My daughter happens to like blue – does that make her a boy? Don’t get me started, I’m digressing…
Our house had been painted before we bought it and all of the bedrooms were painted a very pale grey. I had wanted to add a chalkboard wall (with black chalkboard paint) but we decided to wait until the Tiny Dancer was a little older. So, we left the nursery a pale grey and added pops of color to the room. We had some pink – just not ALL pink. I didn’t realize we were so on trend but apparently when it comes to nursery design, grey is the new pink. From very pale grey, to almost black, grey is a beautiful modern neutral. As a neutral, it works well with just about every color so you can add pops of brights or splashes of pastels or you can just highlight one accent color. Creating a blank canvas, grey is also gender neutral so if a brother and sister share a room, grey is a great option.
We are re-decorating the nursery so I’ll be doing a post on the before and after. But for now, here are some images that I found inspiring…
