Molly Brown London, for stylish jewellery
Molly Brown London just knows how to spoil a girl. You should have seen the excitement on the face of our daughter Sara, when she received a chic, pink bag, filled with clouds of pink tissue paper and a hand-written card by Molly Brown… Inside, a pink jewellery box revealed a beautiful, sterling silver necklace from the Alphabet Collection, with an S charm hanging on it. I don’t think any other gift could have made her any more pleased!
Molly Brown London offers a sophisticated collection of pretty jewellery for (young) girls. If you’re looking for a special, keepsake gift for a birthday, a holy communion or another special occasion, Molly Brown London offers a very fine selection of choices. I love the colourful jellybean and heart charms!
xxx Esther
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Learning Maths with Numicon• Stitch ‘n Kids — DIY Easter chicks from pom-poms
• Easter Buddies
Left and right
Do your children know the difference between left and right yet? My kids really don’t. Even Sara, who’s nearly eight, can’t seem to get in into her head. This is why I love these shoelaces by Little Name. Such a cute and clever idea! And hopefully it will help her to finally master her left and right… (If it does, I should get them for my husband too!)
xxx Esther
I dream elephants — our favourite finds
Beatrix from I Dream Elephants asked us to put together a little board with some of our favourite finds in her shop, and it was fun to do! We loved browsing the collections and it got us all excited for our spring shopping. (Especially now that I Dream Elephants is giving a very generous 18% off to Babyccino Kids readers!) Here is our selection:
- Lemon Striped Boatneck knit jumper, so summery, and so fresh!
- A darling Dot White Summer Tunic made from 100% organic cotton.
- We love this blue Flower Pin! It will instantly ad a dash of style to any outfit.
- Barry the Crocodile. You just got to love him.
- Pretty Voile Scarf with little bells. The perfect accessory for summer.
- And awesome Drink Milk Sweatshirt, made from super comfy organic cotton.
- Adorable organic All-in-one Bodysuit with cute teddy bear print (and cruise ships!)
- Sweet, these striped Summery Soft Pants.
- Very cool, these unisex Light Denim Chinos!
- This Animal Family Scarf is so pretty! (We want it for ourselves!)
xxx Esther
Pretty Spring party dresses by Millie Manu
Spring flowers are finally in bloom in our garden — I saw daffodils this morning! This means that Spring is around the corner, with all its positiveness. A sweet smell in the air, gorgeous flowers sprucing up everywhere, fresh green leaves on the trees, the first picnics on freshly mown lawns, little boys in shorts and stripy jumpers, little girls in their new spring dresses… I can get pretty excited about it all. (I would be perfectly happy skipping the first three months of the year — cold, wet, boring and depressing as far as I’m concerned!)
I think the above dresses of the newly launched party collection by Millie Manu are just so, so perfect for any kind of celebration this coming season. I just couldn’t resist the mint green Flo Dress for Ava — so gorgeous! It’s entirely made out of silk — chiffon on the outside, and lined with silk as well. It has lovely little details and is made beautifully.
She’ll be the queen of the ball with Easter this year — and we’re all so excited because Courtney and her family will join us in Amsterdam to celebrate together!
xxx Esther
AlexandAlexa Global Kids Fashion Week
Last night I attended the first of three fashion shows as part of the AlexandAlexa Global Kids Fashion Week. The show featured a selection of the AlexandAlexa designer looks for Autumn/Winter 2013, and was followed by a fun after-party for the guests. What a big night! I was so impressed with the scale and ‘coolness’ of the event. There were celebrities (of course I never know who anyone is so I can’t even share who was there!), and press, and photographers and fashionista mamas, and several other bloggers. Fun!
Here is a selection of my favourite looks from last night. I think my favourite was that pair of ultra skinny green jeans by Paul Smith Junior. And I loved all the Dr. Martens shoes (let’s hope those are making a come-back!). You can see all the looks here.
x Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Olli Ella’s new gender-neutral range• The Rocking Company — cool retro finds!
Coos & Knits
As we’ve mentioned before here, we are big fans of Toto Knits. We’re also enormous fans of the inspiring blog, Coos & Ahhs (and even more so after meeting Amanda at Playtime last week!). So it was super exciting to learn about the collaboration between the two: a capsule collection called Coos & Knits featuring muted pinks, electric blues, soft greys and high contrast, unisex pieces for kids aged 0 to 6. I’m loving the color block pullover jumper and the two-tone vests. What a great teaming-up of two creative forces!
x Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Olli Ella’s new gender-neutral range• The Rocking Company — cool retro finds!
Manimal
When Esther and I were in NYC this past weekend we had the enormous pleasure of meeting the lovely Kirsten Lombardi, founder and creator of Manimal. We fell so in love with her moccasins that we immediately bought a matching pair of baby moccasins for Marlow and Casper, and then just couldn’t resist buying matching moccasins for ourselves! (Because friends who wear matching moccasins together stay together, I guess!) : )
Manimal was started in 2004 after Kirsten’s first visit to the American Southwest. Inspired by the traditional costumes and accessories of the area, Kristen developed a deep appreciation for the almost forgotten world of artisan crafts and craftsmanship. She went on to create a line of handmade leather moccasins and accessories for women, followed by the most adorable line for babies and children. All the products are handmade by craftspeople in Brooklyn, NY and other parts of New England.
It’s a good thing Kristen didn’t have any of her gorgeous tote bags with her when we saw her because I’m pretty sure I would have been tempted to buy one of those too! And then I might have risked divorce from my husband for having spent all our money in NYC! Ha!
x Courtney
Playtime NYC recap
The Playtime trade show is always such an inspiring event. So much talent, creativity, and entrepreneurialism all in one place. You would think that after visiting Playtime Paris just two months ago we would have seen it all… but the New York show offered up a whole new vibe, new designers and of course an excuse to catch up with some of our favourite brands. Here’s a recap in photos…
1. In addition to the cool neon reversible crowns we already know and love, Noe & Zoe are making Indian headdresses now! OMG! 2. Cute, colourful hairclips & accessories by Everbloom. 3. Drum roll please… Herschel is coming out with children’s backpacks and they are cool!! 4. Belle&Beanzer is a new baby brand with super soft Pima cotton baby basics and sweet little stripes.
1. Beautiful block-printed Indian fabrics make the dresses at Ode always so special. 2. We wanted to take home every single one of the adorable Hazel Village stuffed animals! 3. We loved meeting Alexis from Little Name and seeing all her great products in one place. 4. Of course this big green balloon was our favourite balloon at the show! : )
1. We loved discovering Radish Moon and their beautiful watercolour creations. We especially loved the round porcelain children’s dishes which remind us of our childhood! 2. Misha Lulu offers up something really fun and unique! 3. A cool collection from the Spanish brand Little Creative Factory. 4. Esther admires the sustainable kidswear brand KaLLio which creates cool children’s pieces from pre-loved men’s shirts.
1. The Oeuf NYC stand was really fun. It’s hard to not fall in love with everything they do! 2. We love the new pillows and all the prints at Mini & Maximus. 3. The highlight of the show was meeting these women: Celina Bailey from Petit à Petit and Family blog, Lindsey from Darling Clementine and Amanda from Coos & Ahhs blog. It’s really such a pity we don’t all live in the same city because I think we would all have a lot of fun together! 4. The lovely Celina Bailey snapping photos of the gorgeous Jess Brown dolls.
1. That Tootsa MacGinty bear jumper!!!! One of our favourite things we saw at the show! 2. Art installation which caught our eye. 3. At the entrance to the show with Celina Bailey. 4. Meeting the lovely Maria from Shop Belle!
1. The adorable little Lief, the inspiration behind the Little Lief brand keeping busy at the show. 2. Loved the organic colour-block pieces at Noch Mini. Keep your eye out for the hooded jacket. Very cool. 3. Another great Boy + Girl collection. 4. Pretty pieces and a fun time had at the Little Lief stand.
Frankie & Ava
Frankie & Ava is a new label from sunny Venice, California, which is all about a relaxed, feel-good attitude. Garments are made from high quality (and super soft!) cotton jersey, and there are also some thicker hand-knits for chilly days or evenings. The entire collection is easy to wear and to wash, sustainable, and created for everyday adventures.
I love the simplicity of the pieces, and little details like sweet pintucks, cute prints, tiny polka dots and mother-of-pearl buttons make them really stand out. This polka-dot hoodie might be my favourite piece — how adorable!
xxx Esther
Little Fashion Gallery
Little Fashion Gallery has been one of our favourite web boutiques ever since Babyccino began. I think it is one of the first webshops I got to know and it has consistantly been my stop for lovely kids clothes. And recently I even got some pieces for myself!
I was super excited when I heard that Little Fashion Gallery were bringing out their own label! And they did not miss a beat — the collection is full of fresh colours, lovely basics and fun accessories! I particularly love the little cardigans that my kids have been wearing almost every day since the sun started poking out behind the clouds. Also check out the darling little boater hats!
- Emilie
Glitter tattoos!
These Glisten Up! glitter tattoos have been a huge success in our house lately. We got them for Pim’s recent disco party, and the entire family — grandmothers included! — now is adorned with these glitter designs. They work a bit different than the usual tattoos: first you transfer the sticky design on to the skin, then brush on the glitter (three colours are provided) with the brush that comes in the package. It’s very, very easy to do, and the results are super cool!
Available through Amazon (UK
xxx Esther
Marie Puce, clothes made in France
The new spring/summer collection at Marie Puce is cuteness overload! And I love that a large portion of it (including everything pictured above) was made in France.
I am dying over that sweet floral baby romper! I can just imagine little Marlow crawling around (!) this summer in that cute little number. Or, even just a pair of their sweet bloomers?! Isn’t that the best thing about summer? That you can just throw a pair of bloomers on your baby and off you go! So easy!
Please summer, come quickly!
x Courtney
Pop Cutie accessories
Although it definitely has a Japanese feel to it, the Pop Cutie collection is designed by Danish girl Cecilie Lindemose and produced in Denmark as well. The range consists of jewellery, cell phone straps and stationery — all equally cute and want-able.
Even though the Pop-Cutie products are mainly aimed at tween girls (and make the perfect little presents!), they are equally attractive for littler girls, teenagers or young women. When a few Pop Cutie goodies arrived to our house the other day, there was an equal run to it from both my 2-year-old and my 7-year-old daughter, and, ahum, me. Fun!
xxx Esther
Anja Schwerbrock ‘Treehouse’ collection
Fashion designer Anja Schwerbrock is originally from Germany, and after spending some years in Japan (designing for Comme des Garçons!) she moved to Antwerp with her Danish husband to established her own fashion label. Quite an international affair! I loved meeting Anja over the weekend when I was in Antwerp. She’s such a fun, clever and pretty young woman. And obviously very talented — her fashion is amazing, and I hope one day I’ll be able to squeeze myself into one of her creations.
Last year, following the birth of her little boy, Anja started a baby fashion collection called ‘Treehouse‘ which is in one word adorable. I love the simple shapes, the dark colours, the natural fabrics. Most of the pieces are made so they can be worn for a long time: sleeves can be rolled and trousers can hang low and gradually become more fitted. The little outfit Casper is wearing here is from Treehouse, and it’s just perfect! I also had a little peak at the summer collection — with linen overalls and layered dresses. Swoon!
xxx Esther
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Iron-on patches• Comment J’ai Sauvé Mon Papa
• Welcome Celina from Montreal!
Miou Kids
Miou Kids is a brand I recently discovered and have fallen completely in love with. It consists of a fair trade line of gorgeous knit designs, all handmade from baby alpaca wool by artisanal women in Peru. The designs and the quality of the knitwear is amazing! Ava was wearing a Miou Kids cardigan and matching bonnet last week (see photo), when I had my five aunts over for a visit. My aunties know how to knit, so we were looking at the amazing knitwork of the Miou Kids pieces. You can see how knitting is such an important part of the Peruvian culture, and has been so for ages — we all agreed that the quality of the Miou Kids knitwear is truly something else!
Miou Kids is owned by Christine Dubin, a mother of 5 (!) who’s originally from France but is now living near Vancouver in Canada. Her designs are just adorable, so sweet, and practical, and the alpaca wool it is made from is ever so warm, soft and luxurious. For instance, these pants that I have for baby Casper close high up over the belly, which looks so cute but is also so warm and comfy. These tall booties can be worn high up or folded over, have anti-slip soles and are felted for extra warmth and can be machine washed without a problem. What else can I say about Miou Kids? Oh yes — the colours. Gorgeous.
xxx Esther
PS Christine is very kindly offering a 20% (!) discount to Babyccino Kids readers until March 8th — please check our shopping portal for details.
The onesie trick
It was only when I had my third baby (Ava) and was struggling with one of those typical nappy explosions, that someone shared with me a little secret. Something so simple, I couldn’t believe I’d never been told this before or that I never thought of this myself.
As all new mothers of all new babies know: nappies don’t always do the job properly. I will spare you the details, but baby poo can seriously end up in their necks at times. (In our case this happens multiple times a day.) Which makes nappy changing a messy affair!
So here’s the trick: onesies can also be pulled down, over the shoulders. Instead of taking them off over the head, you can take them off over the bum. Which makes a huge, huge difference! I can’t believe I didn’t know about this trick for my first two children. Did you?
xxx Esther
PS Casper is demonstrating the trick with a super cool onesie from Hello Apparel!
DIY: customize a blazer
I have recently been asked by French kids brand Du Pareil au Meme, to customize one blazer of their collection. This is the result of it!
I really enjoyed changing the look of the jacket and I had loads of fun. Nico loves the moustache so we are both happy. It also opened a new whole world in front of me, so now I am always thinking of things to add to Nico’s clothes!!! It can be a bit addictive 
.
- Maria
New Bobo Choses collection
Isn’t the new Bobo Choses collection just so fun?! I’m dying over that pink pear onesie! And the tomato sweatshirt! And the little madras culottes! Actually, I think I love it all.
You can find Bobo Choses at Darling Clementine in the US or from Cissy Wears here in the UK. Please, oh please, summer come quickly!
x Courtney
Bambinos & Bunny
I became acquainted with Bambinos & Bunny when my friend brought her toddler girl over to my house. She was wearing the cutest little harem romper with gold moccasins and I had to look the line up immediately. Having two girls I am always looking for a respite from pink and purple. Bambinos & Bunny feature bold yet sophisticated designs built for comfort and play!
-Elizabeth
Titlee, and Little Titlee
One of the exciting new discoveries we made at Playtime last weekend, is the Parisian jewellery brand Titlee (for adults) and Little Titlee (for kids). We instantly fell in love with the simple and fun designs! The strong graphics combined with the delicate chains result in very cool, contemporary and urban pieces, which are great for adults and children alike. I really love everything in the collection, and am tempted, sooo tempted…
xxx Esther
