BLEUBIRD VINTAGE OFFICIAL BLOG

HER FIRST BATH.

here are photos of the little birds very first real bath. i say "real bath" because we had to keep her umbilical cord dry and wait until it fell off before she could be submerged in water. it took about a week and a half before it finally fell and as soon as it did, we pulled out the puj. she didn't really enjoy her first bath, but she loved being squeaky clean afterwards.

yes... that would be baby puke on my shirt. i have pretty much come to terms with the fact that i will be wearing regurgitated breast milk as an accessory for awhile. but it's okay, this tiny girl melts muh little heart baby puke and all.

all fresh and clean and ready to snuggle.
XO.

GUEST POST: ALIX FROM MODERN KIDDO.

Well helllllllo friends of bleubird! This is Alix from Modern Kiddo and Strawberry Lemonade again.

Here's another post while the lovely *miss* james welcomes her little bird into this world! So as you may have gathered from my last post, I loooooove my vintage! On Strawberry Lemonade I have a feature called "Storytime Tuesdays" where I show off some of my favorite vintage children's books. I started collecting these long before I had my own little kiddo because I was totally smitten with the amazing design and illustrations. I thought it would be fun to show you a little sampling of some of my favorites! I love to read these to my little guy, Wolfie (who is six) but I have to admit sometimes I like to just sit and look at the pictures!

This first one has it all. Groovy lettering. Excellent colors. And the rad, rad artwork of Art Seiden—one of my tippy top favorite illustrators! This book is from 1971. I think one of my favorite things is how cool their clothing is!

This next one is from a book called, “The Pocket Book” and it’s all about the pockets on your clothing. Such a cute idea for a story, but I mostly love how awesomely snooty each kid is about their pockets. "Oh yeah? Well i've got TWO pockets!" haha.

This fun book is part of an Encyclopedia Britannica series of school books that have names like “Learning About Shapes” and “The Magic of Everyday Things”. This one is “The Thinking Book” and its pretty darn cute.

I'm loving the cute and proper people in this book. They remind of a hipper version of Dick & Jane!

Speaking of hip, this last book is one of my all time favorites—not so much for the images, though those are pretty great, but for the writing. It is a decorating book written in 1960 for teen girls and is SOOOO chock full o' slangy goodness. This little treasure is all about decorating your room and making it the perfect lil hideaway. This is from the intro: "It's not written for squares. It's for you, in your language, giving you jivey pictures, plans and color combos. Dig this too, you'll get tons of tips for making your room totally YOU!" Hee. I keep thinking I want to introduce "jivey" into my vocabulary more. I found this baby on eBay and have been smitten ever since!

As I flipped through the book, I couldn't help but wonder what real teens thought of this. I mean, on the one hand it seems SOOOO over the top, like "Really? Did the kids reeeally call each other "Cha-Cha"?? At the same time I was thinking, maybe back then no one ever really took the time to write from a teens point of view. Who knows? Maybe kids thought "Wow! This is soooo cool! She's like totally part of the beat generation!

Well that’s our post for today, cha cha. Hope you found these illustrations inspiring! For more vintage kiddo goodness, please swing by Modern Kiddo and say hello!

Xoxo Alix

HAPPY GIRLS.

oh what a happy day it was for my girls. a couple of sweet little packages arrived on our door step today and we were oh-so-excited to see what was inside... the first was from the lovely rachel denbow for little miss gemma bird.

it was cutely wrapped and oh-so thoughtful. rachel sent the cutest little vintage chalk board along with a pint sized mexican embroidered dress and the cutest pair of beaded moccasins. a gift after my own heart.

thank you so much rachel & baby ruby for the adorable gift. little gemma sends squeeks and smiles of thanks your way!

the second box was a sweet little sumthin' i purchased for milla a few weeks ago.

it was her very own blythe doll! something that she has been b-e-g-g-i-n-g me to buy her for ages. we adopted apple (that's her name) from the lovely miss holly who was sweet enough to include a little hand knitted hat that she made for her and also a cute little pair or trumpette socks for gemma. thank you holly so very much from all of us!

my girls are happy which makes this mama happy! hooray for sweet packages in the mail. XO!

footnote: we have received so many lovely gifts for little gemma bird and unfortunately i haven't had a chance to photograph and blog each one, but i think i will try to do so very soon. until then... thank you to my dear readers and friends. you are all so very sweet and we appreciate the sweet packages, cards and notes. ♥

GUEST POST: SFGIRLBYBAY

hello, hello bleubird readers...it's victoria from sfgirlbybay stopping by for a guest post while miss james enjoys some mommy & me time with beautiful baby gemma. i thought it would nice to share some pretty things for little girls, since the only baby girl in my life is my pup lucy and i rarely get the opportunity to play dress-up. here's a look at all things girlie. and welcome to the world sweet gemma!

it's never too early to get her started on her vintage couture collection, via ethanollie.

but, who says little girls can't play cowboys & indians? via little red stuga.

good idea to keep their sweet noggins nice and warm, via kudum.

always stress the importance of shoes.

every girl needs her own doll case, via trampoline.

make time for lots an lots of tea parties, via {manda}.

laundry isn't so bad, when you've got lots of cute dresses to keep clean, via snappy shop.

and make certain she knows she's always loved just the way she is, via dottie angel.

thanks again for having me!
victoria

sfgirlbybay.com
sfgirlbybay.etsy.com
lepetiteflea.etsy.com

I'M GILTY.

i just had to share with all of you the uh-mazing sales going on over at gilt group today. the items above are baby must haves and they are up to 75% off on gilt right now and for a very limited time. i picked up a bunch of bottles. (those bright colors and the low price were too hard to resist) and i got a baby bjorn bouncer for cheap! so to all you mamas and mamas-to-be, head on over and grab a great deal on the things you were planning on buying for baby anyway.

still not a member of gilt? join now for instant access to these awesome sales. ♥

...

hello friends. yes, that is me in labor and i am half naked. eek! i'm hoping to post our birth story here on the blog a little later this week or early next week. i've had such a lovely break getting to bond with my tiny bird but i'm excited to say that i will be back to regular blogging very soon. we still have two lovely guest posts for you before i return so i am going to take advantage of these last couple of days with little miss gemma bird before i get back to work. i have some fun new features & projects coming to the blog along with our regular weekly giveaways and i've got a few little secrets up my sleeves that i can't wait to reveal to you all soon.

how was your labor day weekend? ours was lovely and i will post some photos soon.

love & big hugs!

LITTLE SWIMMERS.

i'm convinced these little kiddos are part fish.
they love the water almost as much as i love them. ♡

GUEST POST: SOMETIMES SWEET.

Hi Bleubird readers! My lovely friend James will soon be delivering her sweet little birdie, so I was happy to contribute a small something to tide everyone over until Mama Bird is back!

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite things with all of you, from my little corner of the world! I live in a small town in Northern Arizona, alongside my husband and our Boston Terrier Madeline. We're expecting our first baby, a boy named Henry, this November. I'm currently a high school English teacher to a bunch of rambunctious 10th-graders but will soon become a stay-at-home mama when our darling boy arrives in a few months. I also run a blog called Sometimes Sweet so feel free to pop over and say hello- I'd love to meet you. So, without further ado...these are a few of my favorite things!

my Angelique Houtkamp prints, cuties- so obsessed with these little fruits, finding fun fabric for Home Ec class, my Sweet Darlin' tattoos.

my favorite shoes, one of my beloved Anthropologie initial mugs, a favorite summertime treat on the Seaside boardwalk, Russian dolls.

taking silly photos with my husband, little Miss Madeline, our adorable downtown, watching my husband's band play.

girls' nights, shopping for vintage dresses, my Kindle, Grandma's homemade apple pie (especially while pregnant)!

Thank you so much for checking out some of my favorite things, I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my life! xoxo.

♥

two. weeks. old.    

and cute as a button. i am so in love with this little girl. XO!

handmade bunny, sleepy king. bamboo knit blanket, shi shu baby.
fiberglass rocker, modernica.

GUEST POST: FRECKLEWONDER.

hiya there BLEUBIRD VINTAGE readers! my name is jenny and i run a blog + shop called frecklewonder.

i love all things vintage and have a special spot in my heart for anything with polka dots, starbursts and birds. i have oodles of collections that i've been working on for years: vintage cameras, 50's lamps, kid's books, fabrics, globes, 50s + 60s dreses, and pretty much anything else that catches my eye! and since miss james is expecting a little baby bird of her own any day now, and i know how much she digs the vintage, i thought it would be fun to share my *own* bird's vintage dress collection. i started gathering about two and a half years ago when i found out i was expecting a baby girl- and after having a boy, i was all too familiar with the struggle to find good vintage. let's face it: it's pretty slim pickins. stripes, stripes, and more stripes with the occasional bear or dinosaur mixed in. the little fellahs sort of get the short end of the stick when it comes to fashion! (though, there's nothing like a hanes white tee + osh kosh overalls + high top chucks. that's pretty much what we dressed our son in till age 4 or 5.)

so when i realized the possibilities that lie ahead, i just let myself go nuts. vintage polly flinders smocked dresses! ruffly things and rick rack! polka dots and fluffy skirts and flowers and colors i'd never bought before like PINK! and lucky for me, the thrift gods were very, very generous.

this is dorothy bird (aka dotty) and she is one lucky little lady. her closet is chock full of the cutest dresses from the 50s, 60s, and 70s in the most fun prints and colors. and there's enough in there to keep her styled up until, oh, age 12 or so.

see?! i told you the thrift gods were good! it became official some time ago: i've been out-vintaged by my two year old. here are some closer peeks at some of my favorite gems:

what i find so great about these (aside from their total swoony awesomeness!) is that they're so affordable (dare i say, cheap?!) and chances are, you're not going to be running into a playmate who's wearing the same dress. you know, we can't have that happen, now can we? :)

if you don't want your kiddo looking like they stepped straight outta the 70s, you can always modernize- i'm a big fan of dresses over jeans- makes for a more practical outfit for a little girly who still likes to run and get crazy outside. also, mixing patterns and unexpected color combinations makes it even more fun and gives it a perfect vintage-modern twist!

so there ya have it! hard to argue with cute, affordable + one of a kind.

and if you're on the hunt for some cute vintage for your own wee ones, check out some of my favorite etsy + ebay sellers:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lishyloo
http://www.etsy.com/shop/midstatevintage
http://www.etsy.com/shop/3ringcircus
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Robot-Parade-for-Kids

thanks so much to miss james for letting me share! and hugs + kisses from my bird to yours!!! XO