Fun with Chalk!

Lilah (wearing a rabbit moon spaghetti strap short dress from the fleur-de-lys collection) showing her artistic talents

The sun seems to have finally come to the West coast (rain, rain, stay away)! We had a scorcher this weekend and it was a great opportunity to get out of the house and enjoy the weather. One of my daughter’s and my favorite summer pastimes is drawing with chalk. I love it when our driveway and front stairs are covered with chalk art. I leave it for days. It’s homey, colorful and makes me feel like a kid again. We regularly practice identifying and drawing letters, creating our own works of art, or even drawing hopscotch courts to play on. It’s fun for all ages and multiple kids can play at the same time. Even my teenage neighbors get in on the act by trying to “out do” each others creations then crossing each others out (teenagers – what can you do). What’s great is if you don’t like what you drew, then you can spray it down with water and start all over again. All-in-all, it’s an inexpensive, fun, creative activity that’s easy to clean up. What more could you ask for?

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Le Top Darlings of the Day: Alivia, Haddie, Sallie

Wow, their parents are so lucky to have not just one beautiful girl, but three.  These lovely siblings are all decked out in rabbit moon’s ‘cupcake‘ collection sunhat and dresses.  Way to show off our clothes!

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Steal a Magical Blanket

Great News!  Our limited-edition rabbit moon plush blankets are the exclusive steal-of-the-day on BabySteals — these four beautiful, plush, double-layer blankets are soft chenille on one side and deluxe velour on the reverse. They come in colors: rose, blue, pomegranate, navy (reverses to tan.) 30 x 36 crib size. Washable and snuggly! Go to BabySteals and get a steal on this exclusive — for yourself, or as a very special baby shower gift!  These blankets have been known to become a child’s favorite…steal one away before they disappear!

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She went shopping…and bought the Entire Store!

Hop Skip N Jump's Store Front Along the Old Underground Railroad

Heidi Strimpfel loved shopping at the local children’s store in the quaint and historic town of Springboro, Ohio. When Heidi learned the owner of Hop Skip n Jump had decided to sell the store her first thought was “Where will I shop?” Her next thought was…I would love to make a change in my life – so she entered into negotiations to buy the lovely boutique! Heidi has a background in business, and with her accounting knowledge realized that the little business would be a perfect fit for her talents.

Hop Skip n Jump had been in business for 7 years when Heidi made her decision to ‘jump’ into the children’s clothing business – that was 11 years ago! Heidi has fine tuned the boutique into a desired destination for doting grandmothers and professional mothers who love the assortment and quality of Heidi’s carefully chosen selections. One of the store’s specialties is special occasion clothing. One customer declares “if you’re looking for a christening gown or First Communion gown and everything you’re finding appears to be cookie-cutter and not special, make a trip up to Hop Skip and Jump in Springboro, you won’t be disappointed.”

Heidi and Her Wears

The charming boutique is located on a lovely, tree lined street in Springboro, Ohio – a mecca for history buffs. Springboro, established in the early 1800’s and settled predominately by Quakers, was a major stop on the Underground Railroad. The building that the store occupies was built around the time of the Civil War, is on the National Historic Register and was the town’s original Dry Goods store. Tour groups regularly make a stop to visit the notable site. Heidi loves putting together eclectic merchandise groupings, using an antique display case and the fireplaces that grace every room. Integrating the beautiful merchandise while paying homage to the significant history of the area makes Hop Skip n Jump very special.

Take a stroll through the historic area, and visit Heidi at:
Hop Skip n Jump
220 S Main St
Springboro, OH 45066
(937) 748-9000

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Creative Baby Shower Gifts: The Diaper Cake

My cousin, Joslyn, is getting ready to have Baby #2 (a girl, Haven Bella) soon and this weekend, we are holding her baby shower! Since I work at a baby and kids clothing company, it’s no secret that most of my baby shower gifts are going to be our gorgeous baby clothes from le•top and rabbitmoon, but sometimes I like to mix it up a little. “Surprise” is a big thing for me, and because my gifts are generally predictable, I like to throw a zinger in there.

• For Jess’ baby shower gift, I put together a HUGE basket of clothes, along with some great products I have come across since being in the industry (Nookie pacifiers, Baby Legs, Pedipeds, etc).
• For Erin T’s, I did the basket and a Starbucks Frappuccino 4-pack filled with clothes instead of drinks. (Erin T. LOVES Starbucks!)
• For Joslyn (since she already had a similar gift with the first baby), I decided my “surprise” would be a diaper cake.

I have come across a lot of these online, but was never sure exactly how they did it. So the other night, I YouTube’d it, and sure enough there was a cheesy – though resourceful – How-To video. I bought the diapers, the ribbon, the jewels, the rubber bands, and the pins (my variation from double-stick tape), and went to work. I had to roll the diapers slightly differently than the video explained because the cute “character scene” on the front was turning my white cake into a blue one. All in all it took about 45 minutes to roll 92 diapers (size 1 & 2) and assemble them in the cake layers; about 30 minutes to put the ribbons and the jewels on; and 5 seconds to lay the shoes on the top as the cake topper.

Remember, this was my first time doing this, and I have learned some lessons:

1. Use ALL white diapers, if possible.
2. There is an advantage to using the double-stick tape (my ribbons are falling down because I only tautly pinned them — and in one place for that matter)
3. I need to figure out a way to secure the shoes on top (double-stick tape?)
4. Use a circular cake stand to start out the bottom layer. My bottom layer is too big for the cake stand.

Have you done a DIY shower gift? Please share your ideas and/or pictures!

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Is there something in the water?

As of this moment, I know 10 women who are pregnant – all due at different times of the year. These are people I actually know, not just celebrities and their pregnancies. I remember a couple of years ago, I knew 14 women who were expecting! That’s a lot of babies. And a whole lot of baby showers! And then the birthday parties! (And we don’t need to mention all those diaper changes, clothing changes and laundry, right?) 😉

So it got me thinking, could it be something in the water? Or is it a cyclical pattern that women get pregnant every so often? Or is it, perhaps, that I’m just at a phase in my life when almost everyone in my age group is moving on to the next phase of life? Whatever it is, it’s quite amazing that I know so many women who will be giving birth and holding a new bundle of joy within the year.

Congratulations to all my family and friends!

Just for fun, here’s my list:

1. Kisha – Due June 2009
2. Anya – Due June 2009
3. Jessica – Due August 2009
4. Minnie – Due August 2009
5. Abbie – Due August 2009
6. Ana – Due September 2009
7. Kimmy – Due October 2009
8. Lisa – Due October 2009
9. Christine – Due October 2009
10. Grace – Due January 2010

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We’re the Daily Exclusive on BabySteals!

Our limited-edition rabbitmoon plush blankets are the exclusive steal-of-the-day on BabySteals — these four beautiful, plush, double-layer blankets are soft chenille on one side and deluxe velour on the reverse. They come in colors: rose, blue, pomegranate, navy (reverses to tan). 30 x 36 crib size. Washable and snuggly! Go to BabySteals and get a steal on this exclusive — for yourself, or as a very special baby shower gift (or, an effortless replacement of a magic blanket, as we did for Nadine)!

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Oh, They Grow Up So Fast…

Hey batter, batter, batter...

Faith (of Klassy Kids in Waldorf, MD) really knows how to make my day. I just sat down to my computer to go through the lot of emails flooding my inbox this morning (combined with a sinus headache from our lovely allergy season), and hers was the first one I opened. She attached pictures of my favorite le•top and rabbit moon model, Trey, from Mother’s Day! “He loves to play ball”, she captioned, and it really shows. I started cracking up when I opened the second picture. Trey’s facial expression is priceless, he really looks like he is about to throw a tricky slider and strike out batter #1 “Daddy”. I reminisced about the first pictures I received from Faith when Trey was born (not too hard, since they are posted just to the right of my screen), and marveled at how amazing it is to watch a child grow up. Trey is not even two years old yet, and he is already getting “So BIG!”  They grow fast, don’t they…!?!

OK, now of course, I have to talk about the clothes! 🙂 Trey is wearing (and expertly modeling, I must say!) the striped Submarine collection shirt and terry short (shown below) from rabbit moon. Click on the image to see the entire Submarine collection and use the store locator to find a rabbit moon retailer near you (if you don’t live near Klassy Kids!).

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Seams to Last in Port Townsend, WA

Seams to Last in Port Townsend, WA (a touristy little mecca outside of the Olympic Forest) is getting ready for a BIG bridge closure. We’re all too familiar with the bridge closures here in the San Francisco Bay Area, as the Bay Bridge, our main “crossing” to San Francisco, has been closed every Labor Day Weekend for the past three years for earthquake retrofitting. No matter where it happens, when these kinds of closures come, it can definitely create some retail headaches for local shops. But store owner Michelle seams to be rising to the challenge! She is gearing up for local shoppers and making sure she is stocked with items that will fill the needs for their little ones, so they won’t have to face the limited ferry options, or go out of their way to get them. Learn Michelle’s strategy on Seams To Last’s TV debut (and for your budding engineers who are fascinated with bridges, it’s pretty interesting to see just why they’re closing the bridge)! Best wishes to Michelle, Seams to Last and everyone affected by the Hood Canal Bridge closure the next six weeks!

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Do You Let Your Kids Dress Themselves?

“I’ve got all I need…my le•top hat, my rain boots and my bb (blanket).”

I have, ahem, some difficulty putting clothes on my daughter, Lilah. Considering her modeling “gigs” for our beautiful le•top and rabbitmoon children’s fashions, you’d think she’d be a budding fashionista, but, nope. She likes wearing nothing, or, when I “let” her choose, she comes up with ensembles such as this! It’s beyond ironic that I work for a children’s clothing company and my only child has clothing issues. On the other end of the spectrum, when she loves something, I can’t get her to take the clothes off, even though it is a major triumph when it’s an outfit I really wanted her to wear. I often wonder if I’m the only one who has such issues with clothing a young child. It’d be really fun to see photos of “interesting” ensembles that kids put together when they’re allowed to do so.

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