Before I counted myself among the hallowed elite known as Mothers, I wholeheartedly frowned on several mom-related things. Whether dressing girls in head-to-toe pink, watching Dora, following a strict routine, or allowing licensed toys into my home, I intended to refuse it all. But, as all well-seasoned parents know, I’ve seen the error of my ways. Now I find moderation and compromise are the keys to getting through each and every day!

Even in my more enlightened state, I never expected to find a mother/daughter matching set that I’d willingly wear – I assumed matching dresses were the only option, really. Yet, here we are! These sweet mother and daughter necklaces sized for both parent and child, feature mod little animals that make me giggle. Necklaces ar $23 and $28, so they’re also a perfectly affordable Mother’s day gift.  I wonder which animal Birdie would choose? What about your kidlet?

The sun is shining! And for once, it’s not shining on blinding white snow! Get your kiddos ready for all of those beautiful rays with a new bonnet from Urban Baby Bonnets. If Birdie wasn’t such a stinker about hats, she’d still have one of these for her 4 year old head. I remember a mom stopping me when Birdie was maybe 6 months old, and telling me to start putting her in headbands, hats, and pigtails right away so she grew used to the feeling. Now, I understand why.

We had a UB2 Bonnet when she was smaller, and it was awesome for so many reasons. The mod styling hides some really useful functionality:  an extra broad brim keeps all the rays of your kiddo’s face, and the strap is soft and easy to attach. I love that they’re reversible, and you can fold the brim back to adjust the level of exposure too. The bonnets are unisex, but as your boys get older, you can also go for one of the cool boys caps (with straps).

She’s hitting her Princess phase. Oh dear, I’ve been dreading this! But so far, I’ll admit it’s been fairly manageable. She may love princesses and the color pink, but this weekend we spent a significant amount of playtime making Lego airplanes and playing with her new Hot Wheels race track (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!). So far, I think I can handle this.

But I’ll be extra creative with the princessy pink things she’s dying to have. Like this crown. We had a cheap plastic monstrosity that broke into at least 10 pieces about a month ago, and she began pleading for a new one. Well, hey, what a perfect excuse for me to put my creative crown hat on!

This little wire crown with adjustable elastic back is my solution to our princess crown dilemma. It’s not the sturdiest of crowns, but Birdie knows to treat it with special care. Plus, if the wire gets bent out of shape, it’s easy to bend back – believe me, I know. Also, think carefully about where you leave the ends of the wire as you wrap and cut, so that the sharp bits won’t rest against your little one’s head!

What you’ll need:

• 14 gauge aluminum jewelry wire
• 26 gauge colored copper jewelry wire (I used, sigh, pink)
• a small amount of 1/4″ wide elastic (I used, again, pink)
• needle and thread to match elastic
• masking tape
• small pliers, sturdy hands, and a wire cutter

What you’ll do:

• Begin by determining the measurements of your child’s head. I know Birdie’s head is around a 21″ circumference, so I actually made the crown that size as well. It sounds big, but I wanted it to sit down on her head (with the help of the elastic), versus perching on top of it.
• With your 14 gauge wire, create a U-shaped piece of wire that will fit the circumference you need. Then double-back on itself 3 times, so you have a crown base that is 4 pieces of wire thick. Do not cut the wire to do this, but use one continuous piece. Take a look at the 2nd to last photo to see how the ends of the crown should look at the back. Make sure to create a loop on each end for your elastic to wrap around.
• Use masking tape and wrap it around these 4 layers of wire to keep them stable while you wrap wire around them in the next steps.
• Now, take a 2nd piece of 14 gauge wire and create the front of your crown. The design is up to you, I chose to do 3 points, with the center point higher than the outer two points. Between each point I wrapped the wire around the base a couple of times. I also alternated wrapping front to back and back to front, to make them a little bit sturdier.
• With your 26 gauge wire, wrap several times around each end of the crown at the back, to help the base hold it’s shape. Tuck the ends of the wire in under the wrapped area – this wire is thin enough you can almost work with it like a piece of cording.
• Now for the flowers! All the flowers on this crown were created using this same technique. Just change the size of your loops to change the size of your flower.
• Leave 5-7 inches of wire, and then begin creating the wave pattern shown in the photos. I used 8 loops for my flowers, but you could try less or maybe a couple more as well.
• Measure out another 5-7 inches after your loops, then cut your wire. Take one end of the wire, curve around to the beginning of the loops at the other end, and thread it through the base of your loops as if you are sewing them together. Weave the wire through the back and front of each loop.
• As you near the end of this weaving, begin pulling tight. At the end, pull the wire tight and you will cinch up all of the loops to create your flower. This is kind of magical, I’ll admit it. Then wrap the wire around the other wire tail a couple of times to secure things.
• Adjust your petals, you can also bend them slightly inwards with your fingers to create a curved flower bud.
• Attach your flower to your crown. Make another!
• Note: Most of the wire bending and manipulation I did was with my hands. the pliers came in handy when trying to tighten things up – whether it’s wrapping the wire at the back of the crown, or wrapping the wire ends of your flowers to the crown. Once you’ve wrapped the wire, clamp down on it with the pliers to help it “mold” to the area you’re wrapping. Note: regular household pliers will work, but the ridged grips will leave marks on your soft wire. Cover them with masking tape or some other soft material first!
• When you’re done with your flowers, cut off a small section of elastic, thread each end through the wire loops on the backside of your crown, and sew it together. Now find your little Princess and watch her swoon!

Happy crown-making everyone! Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions and check out more DIY ideas here!

YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL NECKLACE.

 WHAT YOU NEED:

• Different colors of Kool Aid- sugar free (I could only find 3 colors: Cherry, Grape and Ice Blue). Then I also mixed all the colors together and got a brownish colors.
• Natural wooden beads- light color and unvarnished.
• Natural or white wool. *** your yarn must be composed of wool or silk for the dye to stick. Kool Aid only works on protein based fibers.
• Hot water.
• Spoon.
• String and needle.
• Paper towel.

WHAT TO DO:

• We filled 4 classes with hot/ boiling water and stirred in about 1-2 tablespoons of Kool Aid of each color.
• We divided our beads into 4 and strung them.
• This makes it easy to pull out the beads from the glass and use the the dye mix for the wool later.
• Add the beads to the mix and stir often. We let the beads soak for about 5 minutes.
• Pull the beads out and let them dry on some paper towels.
• Next we put as much wool as we could fit into our dye mix.
• Then we microwaved the glass with the wool for about 2 min.
• We let the wool sit in the Kool Aid dye mix until the water was almost clear.
• Lastly rinse your wool and let dry.

The great thing about dyeing with Kool Aid is that you can get the kids involved, it’s non-toxic and it will not stain and it smells really good.

 Next we prepare the beads…

• I bought the alphabet beads in the Craft section at Walmart.- I used the Kool Aid beads.
• With permanent markers I decorated some natural wooden beads. I made stripes and dots.
• For the glitter beads, I covered my wooden beads with some white glue, then mixed them in my glitter. I made some gold beads, silver beads and a mix of the two. Then let them dry. Once dry I coated them with Modge Podge, this helped the glitter not fall off- a lot!

You can use any type of beads for your necklace, but these were a lot of fun to make.

Now get ready for some Pom Pom making…

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Yarn
• Fork ( small and big).
• I used a large fork for mixing salad. The straight the edges of your fork the better.
• ScissorsHOW TO:
• Cut a small piece of yarn about 15 cm long and place it in the middle of your fork. If you do this first, it will be easier to tie your Pom Pom later.
• Wrap your yarn around your fork. The more yarn you wrap the denser your Pom Pom will be.
• Tie your Pom Pom as tightly as you can.
• Cut along the edges of your fork.
• Remove your yarn, shake it and roll it your hands like if your making a meat ball.
• Cut and trim the ends to make your Pom Pom nice and round.

Use different size forks for different size Pom Poms, play with colors. The more you make them, you’ll get an idea of where your different colors will end up and you can come up with some really interesting Pom Poms. I am totally addicted!

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Animal Font.
• Computer and Printer.
• Paper.
• Scissors.
• Pleather or leather
• Felt.
• Heatbond.
• Iron and piece of cotton fabric.
• Washable Crayola marker.
• Nail or sharp tool.
• Silk Screen Foil paper.

HOW TO:

• First you’ll need to download and install the Animal font. I used the one by Alan Carr from DaFont.com. There are lots of animal silhouettes to choose from, it’s pretty awesome. I’ve made shadow puppets from these too.
• In Word or any other program, choose which is your favorite animal. I made it so that 2 animals would fit on 1 page, approximately 13 cm wide.
• Print and cut out the silhouettes.
• Grab your pleather or leather, heatbond and felt. Cut all three a little bigger than your animal and all three being the same.
• Iron the heat bond to the back of your pleather or leather. BE CAREFUL NOT TO MELT your pleather. I did! It is plastic after all. I used a piece of cotton fabric to protect my pleather when ironing.
• Let cool and peal off the backing of the Heatbond.
• Iron onto the felt, using the same technic. Be careful the felt can melt too.
• Make sure the Heatbond is well ironed and that your felt is well glued to your pleather.
• Trace your silhouette. I use a washable marker so that I can wipe the maker a way once I’m done.
• Cut your animal silhouette. You might need to iron your fabric once again, if you see the piece or edges unstick.
• With a nail or sharp tool, make 2 holes. I made one where the eye of the animal would be and one on the other end.
• If you want to add some shine, use some Silk Screen Foil. This foil will stick to leather or pleather just with some ironing. I created some stripes for my tiger by cutting some triangles and arranging them all around my tiger silhouette.
• For the donkey, I cut a piece of foil slightly bigger than my silhouette and covered my entire donkey.

Once again use your piece of cotton, cover  your animal and iron for the foil to stick, than peel off.

Ah, the holidays. Tis the season to be merry and bright and a little bit broke. Well, today’s giveaway might help with all of that. Li Li Picked is my secret weapon for finding good deals on a couple of my favorite brands – including Wobaby Basics, Kate Quinn Organics, and Tegu blocks, to name a few.

Li Li PIcked is managed a bit like a flash sale site but without the short deadlines. You’ll find cut-throat prices without cutting out the quality. Which means you can satisfy your need for the best for your kids, while still keeping your pocketbook semi-happy.

Now for the giveaway:

Today’s giveaway is sweet: win $50 to spend on anything you’d like at li li picked!
Entering is easy, and winning is too. Sign up below – enter 5 different ways for 5 chances to win!

CONGRATS to Esther, I’ve just emailed you with the details!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I found these winged wonders a little bit late for your Halloween plans, but I just had to share Big Bird’s Boutique’s amazing dress-up wings with you right away. I’m guessing they’re inspired by an amazing set of handmade wings I remember seeing around the web a year ago or more, but the beauty of these wings is someone else makes them for you – no DIY involved! As much as I like to make things, there are busy times like now when this fact is a major plus.

Available in 3 sizes, and in a multitude of colors, Big Bird’s Boutique’s Wings are the kind of beautiful dress-up clothes I wouldn’t mind letting Birdie wear to the grocery store. Has anyone else noticed that a kid dressed up in true kid gear (Read: anything but “normal” including pajamas, masks, costumes, tutus, etc.) gets not only a lot more smiles, but a lot more tolerance from other people in public places? I’m actually beginning to think we should intentionally have her pick her zaniest fashion ensembles to help smooth the way through various public appearances. Whatever it takes, right?

These images are so amazing I hardly want to say a thing. So, I will say simply this. Such Great Heights makes gorgeous year-round dress-up capes that will keep your Halloween costume alive and well far beyond the holiday. I think that covers that.

Oh, and Such Great Heights also makes some truly amazing play tents and adorable Merit Badges. I suggest getting one of each.

Oh lovely squishable huggable soft sweet-smelling babies. I was talking babies all afternoon on a playdate yesterday with a couple of expecting moms, and now I’m itching to squeeze one more than usual!  Add some pieces from Little Hip Squeaks and I think any baby would be absolutely impossible to resist.

Chevrons are having a Moment (with a capital “M”) and the print works so well for these modern baby layette pieces. But there are stripes and dots and mustaches too. Eco-friendly organic fabrics, handmade detailing, and monogramming make them unique to you and your precious bundle. Oh, and for those of us without the babes, Little Hip Squeaks also offers larger chevron-covered family-sized throws (55″ x 70″) to snuggle under this fall. I think the blanket below is “calling my name” (heh).

Thanks to Spearmint Baby for pointing me in their direction!

It has arrived. I think Birdie’s life has changed forever. Did you know bunnies have claws and say “roar” with a big fat grin? Well, when she dons this hood, they do. Did you know a cozy furry hood can make a kid giggle like crazy? Oh yes. I’ve always liked the look of the Spirithoods, but seeing my 3 1/2 year old play with it has been practically priceless.

Originally I thought we’d use it for our cold winter weather, but it’s clear this is not your regular winter wear. Our Spirithood has the plushest fur, and wherever she wears it I feel like I’m strolling behind a walking, talking 39″ tall rabbit. The long arms/scarf and interior are fully lined in a very cool stripey fabric, with an extra pocket, a lovely tag to write her name on, and of course her bunny pocket paws. Even sillier, the hood is sized 4 – 12, so at her young age I swear the hood is always slightly askew. Extra endearing.

Spirithoods’ newest launch includes Disney characters done in the coolest way, toddler hoods and rompers, and hoods with built-in washable earbuds. Add those to their adult and kids lines and I’d say there’s something there for everyone. I’m putting one on my Christmas wishlist right now, in fact.

Thanks to Spirithoods for providing us with a Brown Rabbit Spirithood for review. It was worth it.

Looking for a different – yet affordable – shop to find some fall clothes for your kiddos? I always am. Once again, the sleeper favorite at my house is Next Direct. Based in the UK, they’ll give you a different approach to all the clothes you’ll need. At least, it feels fresh to us, being the boring Yanks. And not to worry, they have US distribution and free shipping over $40. Not bad, right?

Neutral Knitted Cardigan, $37 | Navy Star Dispatch Bag, $17
Fairisle Pattern Cardigan, $29 | Grey Mustache Sweater, $22
The Leather Brogue, $44 | Glitter High Top Boots, $28
Denim Jodhpurs, $29

They have a massive selection, which always leaves me salivating but indecisive. So I was pleased as punch when Next Direct sent me their short list of fall favorites, and the chance for little Birdie to try one on for size. We chose the Neutral Knitted Cardigan (top sweater in the pic above!), which is really anything but neutral. The teddy bear ears keep her happy, and the warm wooly knit keeps her warm. You can see a little video of the girl and sweater in action right here:

As usual, I think I’ve overbought for our fall fashion needs. This year seems particularly bad because it appears a lot of her clothes from last year still fit her just fine. Poor girl needs a growth spurt. But, when that growth spurt hits, I’ll check back at Next Direct for some new style fixes. What about you? Where’s your favorite place to shop for fall and winter clothes?