Smart Tips for Back-to-School Shopping & Le Top’s NEW Pre-Fall Styles!

To your kids, shopping for new clothes, gear, and school supplies may be the only good thing about going back to school. Here are some back-to-school shopping tips to get you in the mood for fall clothes in the middle of summer!

Shop Le Top’s NEW pre-fall arrivals and click HERE 

• Start early. If you haven’t already, try to get your child’s school supply list from the school. Or compile your own list of items (backpack, notebooks, pencils, pens, etc.) you think your kid will need right away versus items (calculator, text book covers, Spanish dictionary, winter coat) that can wait till later in the school year.
• Shop at home first. It’s easy to forget in August that you’ve packed away extra school supplies last spring. Try to find as many items on your list around the house before you hit the aisles. Chances are, you probably have binders, colored pencils and highlighters left over from last year. Once you’ve completed your search, gather everything together to determine where you can save.
• Make a list and a budget and keep it with you at all times. You never know when you might stumble onto a sale on your way to the dentist or the grocery store.
• Buy a lunch box. You can save so much money when you send your kids to school with a homemade lunch. Added bonus: It’s likely to be a healthier choice. And you can monitor the cost of your homemade lunch purchases by using grocery store coupons, packing leftovers and reusing water bottles.

Also check out Rabbitmoon’s mix and match styles HERE

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Le Top and Rabbitmoon Casting Call!

We are looking for models for our upcoming photo shoot. If you think your child may have what it takes bring them to our go-see. Click on the flyer for a larger version.

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITES BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW!

www.letop-usa.com
www.rabbitmoon-usa.com

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Hand Cookie Recipe for Kids! Fun!

To all of our loyal readers:

I am sorry I have been a little M.I.A. lately! I am getting ready for my wedding that is in 2 weeks (and counting), and working diligently on prepping and gearing up our Le Top and Rabbitmoon websites with our Fall 2012 collections for you shoppers and fans! I promise to be back with great daily blog posts soon, and appreciate your understanding for our minimized  blog posts the past few weeks. Keep busy with your little ones with this SUPER CUTE cookie recipe…could be a cute idea for mother’s day!! Or to even give to your grandmother’s (as long as they aren’t diabetic)!

 

THE RECIPE!
Yield: Makes 8-10 cookies

Cookies are a perfect-size snack for little hands. This recipe was designed with kids in mind!

Older children can use their hand to outline the cookies, drawing around it on the dough with a skewer and using a knife tip to cut along the line. If your child can’t cut with a knife, make a pattern from a manila folder or translucent parchment works well; it will allow you to see the shape of the cookie through it.

INGREDIENTS:

For Dough

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, for decorating

For Decorating

• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon water
• Sanding sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, and beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Add reserved flour mixture, and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.
4. Make cookie pattern and heart stencil while wrapped dough is chilling. For the pattern, have your child trace his or her hand on a manila file folder, and cut out the tracing. You will lay this on the dough and trace around it with the tip of a paring knife. For the heart stencil, cut a heart shape from a piece of parchment paper, discarding center.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a well-floured work surface, roll out cold dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out hand shapes. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Dough scraps may be re-rolled twice.
6. To decorate the cookies with sanding sugar hearts, lay the heart stencil over a cookie. Combine the egg white with the water in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash in the heart, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Lift stencil and repeat with remaining cookies. Bake until edges just begin to brown lightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on pans for 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

CHECK OUT LE TOP CHILDREN’S PLAYWEAR AT
www.letop-usa.com

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Last Chance for the Casting Call Tomorrow!

The Le Top and rabbitmoon casting call for our Fall 2012 photo shoot is tomorrow. If you are still interested in having your child model our beautiful clothing then contact acoutis@letop-usa today with all the information outlined below.

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Casting Call on Friday

The Le Top casting call is just a few days away. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and have a child that wears a size between 9month and 3T (unwashed) that loves to ham it up for the camera then read on. Your child could end up modeling Le Top or rabbitmoon clothing. All the details are below. The deadline for submissions is tomorrow!

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Le Top and Rabbitmoon Casting Call Next Week

CHECK OUT LE TOP CLOTHING AT
WWW.LETOP-USA.COM

CHECK OUT RABBITMOON CLOTHING AT
WWW.RABBITMOON-USA.COM

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Trendy Treasures eBoutique: ONLINE PREMIER STORE SPOTLIGHT Q&A

This Friday we are giving you the gift of Trendy Treasures as our “Online Premier Store Spotlight.” We know the holidays are quickly approaching and what mom has time to go out into the cold and shop ‘til they drop? We know we are busy elves over at Le Top prepping for the holidays. We would love for you to check out Trendy Treasures for all of your holiday clothing needs and a gift or two for others (‘tis the time for giving right?). We interviewed Dawn Watson and Karen Schirmer of Trendy Treasures to find out about their upcoming sales and deals for the holiday, wintery style tips, Thanksgiving traditions and of course the top gifts to buy this year from their boutique!

Trendy Treasures Online

818.263.1501
www.trendytreasuresonline.com

CHECK-IN and JOIN 
Trendy Treasures
Facebook page by clicking HERE

1.    Tell us the inspiration behind opening your own eboutique? How long has your online store been around?
My inspiration to open our Trendy Treasures Online store came from a few different things: 1) the birth of my third daughter who is now 7 years old 2) curiosity 3) and my 20 year sales background. Trendy Treasures Online was founded in 2007 and has grown tremendously since then.  Trendy Treasures Online is a family owned and operated global business.

2.    How did you come up with the name?
We originally had a cute pink treasure box (as seen at the bottom of our homepage) as part of our original logo and we knew we wanted the word Trendy as part of our name. We chose the word trendy because part of our goal is to keep up with new and old high quality clothing from all over the world.  So, we combined the word Trendy with the treasures toy box idea and magically came up with the name Trendy Treasures. Since we are currently only an online store we added the word Online at the end when we came up with our formal logo that you see today.

3.    Tell us the inside scoop about any special events that you have planned for your eboutique for this winter, especially the fun deals we can expect! Anything for Thanksgiving or Cyber Monday this month?
Although we always have some sort of a sale going on, this year we have two super special sales.  We are having two special 20% off sales on Black Friday, November 25th and Cyber Monday, November 28th from midnight to 11:59 am PST.

4.    Please tell us one fun Thanksgiving tradition you had with your family as a child that you can share with our readers?
Since most of our family lived on the East Coast in Connecticut, my parents, sister, brother and I, along with a few family members here in California, got together for a traditional Thanksgiving Feast. Part of the fun was sharing this meal while using china that was passed down from our great grandparents. What brings back my fondest memories are the times that we used our matching pewter silverware, glasses and plates because we purchased them as a family on a trip that we took together to Connecticut. We still use these today on Thanksgiving as they remind us of our father that passed away in 1990. What was also special is that we would all make phone calls back East to speak to all of our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.      

5.    What are a few of your “go-to” staples to keep kiddos warm this winter on your website?

1. Warm and comfy brand named pajamas and robes for all ages including: Esme, PJ Salvage, B Up, Books to Bed, Petit Lem and more.
2. Socks and leggings from Country Kids and Jeffries.
3. Our top selling Pluie Pluie kids raincoats and matching kids rainboots and umbrellas.
4. And our trend setting variety of Le Top and Rabbitmoon baby and toddler winter matching sibling outfits.

6.     If you had to give 3 great kids gifts for a “jump start” on holiday shopping from your online store, what would they be and why?

1. Books to Bed matching books and pajamas because they encourage boys and girls to read and they are always kids favorite gifts.
2. Esme and PJ Salvage mom and daughter matching pajamas.
3. Zoobies character pets, which are plush toys, comfy pillows and cozy blankets all-in-one.

7.    Many families are looking for outfits for family holiday portraits for kids. What are some of the hottest trends right now?
Matching sibling outfits from Le Top and other brands and matching Christmas pajamas.

 

 
8.   Tell us…before you “had kids or grandkids, what is one thing you swore you’d never…?”
I swore I would never say, “Go ask your father.”

9.    What Le Top or rabbitmoon Fall 2011 collection is your store’s favorite and why?
For boys, the Le Top “Run Run Reindeer Collection” and the matching girls called “Little Deer” Collection outfits.

Trendy Treasures Online

818.263.1501
www.trendytreasuresonline.com

 CHECK-IN and JOIN Trendy Treasures Facebook page and click HERE

 

 

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Missing the Milestones

Elijah in a rabbitmoon "altitude" graphic footed coverall

My husband is the primary care giver for our 6-month-old son. He is an out-of-work construction worker and with recession, there is not much work in sight for him. This meant that after two months on maternity leave, I packed my lunch bag and headed back to work as the sole provider for our family. I have been noticing that our “a-typical situation” is rapidly becoming more a typical situation for many families across the country, where a mom works and a dad stays home with the kiddos. It is a mental adjustment for everybody and definitely has its pros and cons – at least as far as I am concerned.

• Pros: I don’t have to pay for day care, I get to be with “grown-ups” all day, and I get a sense of self-worth out of working.
• Cons: I don’t get to spend every waking moment with my little guy and the biggest one of all – I am starting to miss some of the milestones that he is hitting.

The single idea of missing Elijah’s milestones has been a heavy subject on my heart even before he was born. I always thought I would get to be there to watch him roll over for the first time, crawl for the first time, and take his first steps. As much as I wish I could be there for all of these great accomplishments, I know that I can’t. And so it is with that, I am coming to terms with this fact of life and trying to figure out how to cope with it.

I read some mommy blogs about this topic, as I know I am nowhere near the only person in this boat. It really helped to ease my mind that almost every working mom was on the same page as me: sorry they are missing the milestones, glad they can provide for their family, and finding ways to make each milestone a celebration, even if it is not really the first time for the child. One of the resounding comments throughout the blogs was: tell your caregiver to not inform you of the milestones so that you can still be surprised when you see your baby rollover/crawl/walk etc. I love that idea for the most part, though part of me wants to know as soon as it happens! My husband called me today to tell me that not only did I miss Elijah’s first “roll over,” but he did too! He looked away and then all of a sudden he looked up and there he was on his belly! It was reassuring to me that I may have missed this moment myself had our roles been reversed.

I am still trying to figure out what it is that I really want to know and not know (and when!), but I am confident that my husband and I can work out a plan. Maybe it will be different with each milestone. Who knows?!

If you have any suggestions on how you or your partner coped with missing milestones, please share it with us in the comment field below. We’d love to hear from you!

VISIT OUR LE TOP HOME…
www.letop-usa.com

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Tiny Toes Trunk Show in Maryland

Come check out one of our favorite boutiques! Tiny Toes! They will be featuring a Spring 2012 Le Top and rabbitmoon trunk show on Friday, October 21st and Saturday, October 22nd…get a sneak peak of our new threads if you live in Maryland! See below for more details.

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Le Top Darling of the Day: John William

Thank you Dina at the Monkey Barrel in Amelia Island, FL for this oh-so-adorable photo of John William. This little dude is the epitome of glee while playing at the park in his rabbitmoon “splash” collection pieced short sleeve shirt and french terry cargo short. Ah, to be a child again! Congratulations to John William for being chosen as the Le Top Darling of the Day!

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