Happy Valentine’s Day!
Dress, Button Up Shirt, Lace Kitty Headband, Blazer and Shorts :: My Little Dress Up at Shan and Toad www.shanandtoad.com
Photography by Stephanie Matthew
Styling by Heather Rome
Set Design by Michelle Shaka Berg
Featurekins :: How We Do TEA
Recently a couple of us were given a fun task- style our babiekins in Tea Collection’s winter collection. Their line of hats, leggings, and flannel shirts are perfect for these cold winter days and we love to mix and match the pieces in their wardrobes.
FASHIONKINS :: Happy New Year!
We are so excited for the New Year! 2014 is going to be a good one! And we love an excuse to dress up and celebrate. These pieces are perfect for a New Year’s party- colorful and fun yet comfortable enough for your best dance moves. Matilda Jane fans will love the bright colors and prints in their Encore line, the final release from the Paint by Numbers Collection. And we love to dress them up with gender neutral blazers and velvet pants from La Miniatura. And we can’t forget the boys! We love the classic blazer and tie combo and pairing them with bright skinny jeans and Converse.
We want to start your New Year’s off with a bang! Head over to our Instagram @babiekinsmag to see how you can win a $50 dollar gift card to Matilda Jane and get the party started.
Photography by Stephanie Matthew
Set Design by Michelle Shaka Berg
Gold sweater : H&M :: Turtle Dove Knot Top : Matilda Jane :: Velvet Pants : La Miniatura :: Shirt and Tie : Sovereign Code :: Gray Blazer, Mustard skinny jeans : La Miniatura :: Sneakers : Converse :: Gallery leggings : Matilda Jane :: Yellow long Sleeve Tee : Matilda Jane :: Black Blazer : La Miniatura :: Velvet Headband : Wild and Whimsy
Craftykins // DIY Yarn Pom Poms
This season yarn pom-poms are everywhere and they are really a cinch to make! All you need is some yarn and a pair of scissors.
You can make adorable garland on a strand of twine, or use them as gift toppers. Or come up with your own creative use for them!
Step 1: Hold the end of the yarn on your palm using your thumb. With your other hand, start wrapping the yarn around your fingers (you can use 2, 3 or 4 fingers depending on the size of pom-pom you want).
Step 2: Wrap the yarn around your fingers for a minimum of 40 times (the more wraps, the more dense your pom-pom will be). Don’t wrap too tightly. You will need to slip the bundle of yarn off your hand eventually.
Step 3: Cut another piece of yarn about afoot long.
Step 4. Turn your hand with the yarn bundle palm down and thread the foot long piece of yarn through your index and middle finger.
Step 5: Turn your palm up and tie a tight knot around the bundle. Make sure it’s in the middle of the bundle.
Step 6: Slip the tied bundle off your hand
Step 7: Tighten the knot even more and turn bundle over and tie a knot on the other side
Step 8: Cut all the loops in the middle, all the way aroud the bundle. But DON’T cut the two ends of the foot long piece of yarn (you will use those to fasten the pom-pom onto whatever you want.
Step 9: Cut around the pom-pom to make all the yarn pieces uniform in length
Step 10: Rub the pom-pom between your hands to fluff it up
– Monica Martin :: Kindred Work + Shop
Photos by Harmony Pyper
FEATUREKINS :: Kindred Work + Shop
I’m very excited to share with you the space of Kindred Work + Shop. If you aren’t familiar with Children Inspire Design beautiful, unique prints then do your self a favor and check it out here. We are huge fans. Well, Kindred Work + Shop is home to artist and founder Rebecca Peragine’s studio as well as a creative space, craft lab and boutique. Check it out.
We spoke to Rebecca about her space and thought she could tell you all about it :
“As an artist working from home, I deeply craved connection with other like-minded people, I craved a community. So I set out to develop a collaborative, creative space that would fill that need many of us feel. Kindred Work + Shop is a place where art, craft, artisanal home decor and social initiatives come together. We offer art/craft classes for adults and children to allow people to connect with their creative side and with each other. We do in-house printing for my two art companies, Children Inspire Design and Fresh Words Market in the back space of the studio. That is also our playground, where we get to work on our own home decor designs. We also support local indie artisans and fair trade companies by carrying small numbers of carefully curated home decor and gift items.
The vision of Kindred is very much in line with that of my two companies, which seek to inspire, educate and connect people. One of the strongest links among the three companies is social giving. A percentage of all proceeds will be invested in micro-financing initiatives focused on empowering women around the globe, mainly artisans to become self-sufficient. We believe empowered women leads to empowered children and subsequently, empowered communities.”
– Stephanie Matthew ::
Photography by Harmony Pyper
FEATUREKINS :: American Roadtrip
As soon as we saw this submission from photographer Hayley Sparks we knew these had to be shared. As she said, “I just took a three month long road trip across America with my family, and I did a photo project of my children on the journey. It was an amazing experience; we traveled in our Prius with just a couple duffle bags of clothes and camping gear. We were ready for a big life adventure and decided to move to Sydney; we thought we’d show the kids America before we left. The images span from New York, Chicago, Memphis, Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Craters of the Moon, along Route 66, The Redwoods and California.” Enjoy!
All photos by Hayley Sparks
Fashionkins :: Black and White
Black and white, the most classic of combos. The duo is one of fall’s biggest trends, simple but packs a punch and we love combining black and white prints and patterns with oh so cool graphic tees and sweatshirts.
Photography by Stephanie Matthew
Tees : Quinn + Fox :: Tutu : Funky Legs :: Striped Pants : H&M :: Boots : Timber and Tamber :: Bird Print Shorts : Funky Legs :: Star Tights : Funky Legs :: Trucker Hat : Happy Chance Apparel :: Cat Sweatshirt : H&M :: Star Harems : Arrow and Aspen :: Jacket : Elskan :: Bird Skirt : Funky Legs
FEATUREKINS :: Maja Lindberg
I see her stuff all over Pinterest, she is one of my favorite children’s artists. Her work is dreamy and whimsical but also a little mysterious and magical. Meet Sweden based illustrator and designer Maja Lindberg. She says her work is inspired by fairy tales, dreams and childhood memories so I wanted to hear how she came up with these amazing drawings.
Fishing for Stars : Sometimes you feel lonely, even when you are surrounded by friends and family. But tomorrow is a new day…
Night Meeting : Face your worst nightmare, and hopefully you’ll learn that it wasn’t that bad.
Up In The Air
The Balloon : In many of my illustrations the children are up in the sky and flying. The best dreams that I’ve ever had is when you realize that you are able to fly. It’s so easy and you wonder why you never done it before. I still remember one special dream that I had when I was a kid, I just moved my legs and started to raise up in the sky and I flew over the landscape, looking down on the hills, fields and the ocean.
Field of Dreams : This illustration makes me think of one of the most beautiful places in the world. My family has a summer place in the southeast of Sweden, and it’s surrounded by moorland, forest and the ocean. A lot of the atmosphere in my illustrations are inspired from this place.
The Frog Prince
Thumbelina : These two illustrations are inspired from fairytales by HC Andersen. I love fairy tales, I always have and I believe I always will. Stories can make us understand each other and the world that we live in.
Calm Water : The ice is melting on our planet, everything is calm now, but if we don’t go together and do anything about it, we don’t really know what will happen, do we?
The Delivery : Last january I started to write a little children’s book from this picture. It’s the same boy as in the illustration ”On the sea”. Normally I draw pictures inspired by old fairytales, but here I’ve twisted it, and decided to get inspired by my own illustrations instead. Unfortunately I’m not a writer, so I don’t know if I will ever finish it.
The Babysitter : Who hasn’t been surrounded by kids and felt like this?
The Babysitter : Who hasn’t been surrounded by kids and felt like this?
Maja, tell us about yourself : I live in the south of Sweden together with my husband and two children. I started my career as a ceramic artist, but after a couple of years I decided to change tracks and began to work as a web assistant. But in 2005 we moved to Beijing, since my husband got offered a job there. We enjoyed China a lot but after three years, we missed family, friends and the fresh air, so we moved back. I didn’t know what to do and it was hard for me to find a job, since I hadn’t been employed for several years. So I started to draw and after a while I decided to try selling my work at Etsy. Now it’s almost four years since I started my business and it looks like I’ve finally founded what I’d like to do for the rest of my life.
These aren’t just drawings right, you use the computer as well? : I always begin with paper and pencil. When satisfied with the drawing, I scan it and continue the work in Photoshop, where colours, shades, background and texture are set.
: Don’t you just love them? Which one is your favorite? -Stephanie :
All drawings and designs by Maja Lindberg