If you’ve poked around this site a bit, it should come as no surprise to you that I love very classic children’s clothing. That’s not to say that I always get away with making my kids wear it (It is sometimes expensive and my daughter has entered the age of Bieber and Justice. Sigh.) but I love it nonetheless.

First Communion and baptism attire are non-negotiables for me. No spaghetti-strapped, mini-bridal gowns. No pageant-looking party dresses. My son wore khaki linen trousers, navy jacket, blue dress shirt, bowtie and loafers – and looked darling. My daughter will look equally classic.

I stumbled across the Etsy shop of Embroidered Heirlooms today and it took my breath away. Let’s just say the word “heirlooms” in the shop name is not an exaggeration. Stunning.

The “Elizabeth” is made of 100% Handkerchief Linen. The bodice features handmade lace insertions with silk ribbon accents, and rows of meticulous pintucks. The silk ribbon at the waistline ties to a beautiful bow in the back. This dress is fully lined with 100% Cotton Batiste. The back closes with five mother-of-pearl buttons. If desired, Janet will embroider the name and Communion date in white on the front bottom edge of the slip for no additional charge. Seams are professionally finished – French seams available for an additional $30.00.

The “Grace” is a 100% Silk Dupioni First Communion Dress featuring an overskirt of silk organza trimmed at the hemline with a 2″ silk satin ribbon. Bodice is made of silk dupioni, and a centered French lace block of lace insertion with silk ribbon, entredeaux, and lace with a peter pan collar trimmed in French lace. Puffed sleeves are made of silk organza trimmed with French lace insertion and silk ribbon ties. The underskirt is also made of silk dupioni. The dress is completely lined in 100% Cotton Batiste, with an attached slip. The back closes with five mother-of-pearl buttons.

The “Ava” has a Silk Dupioni underdress with 100% Silk Organza overskirt and sleeves. Bodice is hand-embroidered with silk ribbon rosettes, white silk floss stems, pale green leaves, and seed pearls. Embroidery is framed with five rows of pintucks on either side. Collar is embroidered with silk ribbon rosette and trimmed in delicate French lace. Sleeves are made of Silk Organza and trimmed with the same delicate French lace. Both the underskirt and overskirt are a very full 90″ in diameter. The dress ties in the back with a full organza bow. The dress is completely lined in 100% Cotton Batiste with an attached slip. The back closes with five mother-of-pearl buttons.

The “Patricia” is a Handmade, Heirloom First Communion Gown of 100% Handkerchief Linen, trimmed in Swiss edging of beautiful, delicate flowers at the hemline and sleeves. Bodice features pleats framing the Swiss Embroidered Floral insertion at the center, and a collar edged in Swiss scallop trim. Side ties come to a beautiful full bow in the back. Fully lined with an attached slip in 100% Cotton Batiste. Back closes with five mother of pearl buttons.

These dresses range from $199 (the Patricia) to $225 (the other three dresses). They are custom-made and require eight weeks to make and ship.

What do you think? Pricey? Yes. But if you look at it as a family dress as opposed to a dress for one girl for one day, is the price a bit more palatable? Am I just trying to rationalize it?! (They are sooooo gorgeous!)

I adore a beautifully hand-smocked little girl’s dress. Nothing sweeter.

For The Love of Smocking is a shop on Etsy that has some of the most classic smocked dressed I’ve seen in a long time. Nothing kitschy or theme-y. Just great fabric (lots of floral and calico), puff sleeves, peter pan collars and traditional smocking.

Behold:

There are quite a few more in the For The Love of Smocking shop right now – ranging from $25 to $70 (for sizes 3 mos. to 5 yrs.).

Another Etsy shop – Gumdrop Grove – has some gorgeous smocked dresses as well:

The one pictured here is listed at $58 – which is about the same ballpark for most of the dresses in this shop.

Are you a smocked dress fan? Do you know how to smock? Is my affection for smocking nostalgia or old-fashioned?

Yesterday, I posted some great red, white & blue kids’ clothing I came across on Etsy. Good choices for fun Fourth of July wear. Here’s a few more!

Ogekko, $28 at etsy.com

GaGa’s Baby Designs, $30 at etsy.com

Pink Petunia Pearl, $15 at etsy.com

In honor of the Memorial Day holiday and our nation’s troops, present and past, many kids are sporting the red, white and blue this weekend. And I know that many more will break out their patriotic clothes for Fourth of July weekend as well. There’s more to choose from than the flag t-shirt at Old Navy though!

Noah and Lilah, $15 at etsy.com

Daffodillies, $15 at etsy.com

The Pea Green Boat, $68 for both top and clamdiggers at etsy.com

Bella Jean Boutique, $45 at etsy.com

My husband has always been a bit of a shopper. Until Harold’s closed last year, one of his favorite spots to shop was the clearance rack there. Always had a few XL gems for a good price.

And then he went through a little Nordstrom shirt-shopping phase too. A Von Maur opened near us, good shirts there as well. And good sales.

So, my husband’s shirt wardrobe rotates fairly regularly. In fact, he wanted to get rid of quite a few old button-downs last year. So many nice shirts that I couldn’t bear to just give them away (especially knowing what they had originally cost), so I sold about a dozen shirts on Ebay. That was a pain in the butt.

But take a look at this option for recycling Daddy’s old shirts. Lillipops Designs (a.k.a. Jayme Lillie, a clearly fabulous mom) will take a man’s old button-down, add some fun, patterned cotton and produce an absolutely darling dress for your little girl. Jayme will recycle a shirt chosen for you or she’ll use one that you send to her.

There are several different styles currently featured at the Lillipops Etsy shop, including some very cute flower girl dresses. I especially love this one:

$48, Lillipop Designs, custom-made sizes 6 mo. to 6x

It is time. The Halloween catalogs have started arriving at my house. My kids are changing their minds about “what they will be” for Halloween on a daily basis. And, unfortunately, every costume idea so far seems to be mass-produced crap. Can’t we find something better?

And off to Etsy, I went. Here are a few great kids’ costumes I found:

Complete Star Wars costume with tunic, robe, belt and pants by mulliganstewboutique, $140

Max from Where the Wild Things Are by katesy, $89

Little Bo Peep by WandasWhimsies, $75 (try to ignore the creepy mannequin/dress form head!)

Snow White by littleshepsters, $45

DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba by bamdesigns, $40 (Seriously, one of the weirdest shows I’ve ever loved…)

Pebbles byRaeGun, $39.50

There are more but I had to cut myself off at some point.  I hope you like some of these. I’ve gotta run and convince my oldest to be Max, King of All the Wild Things, for Halloween this year!

Lindy over at the appropriately-named Etsy shop “Crafted by Lindy” was kind enough to become a Facebook fan of Sassy and George the other day. So, I wandered over to her shop to poke around a little.

She’s got some really cute little animal prints for a child’s bedroom, playroom, or bathroom. They are whimsical without being overly “cutesy”, if that makes sense. And they’re very affordable. Six dollars will get you a 5×5 inch print. Couple that with a ready-made frame from Michael’s, Joann or Hobby Lobby and you’ve got some very economical wall pieces.

I like these in particular:

And……I’m back. Exhaling after the first week of school for my big kids. The little ones won’t start until after Labor Day. But, schedules (even for half of the kids) are good at our house. So, I’m back.

In church this morning, I was thinking that my oldest will make his First Communion this school year. Second grade. Big time.

I grew up in a small-ish New England town where almost everyone was Catholic and almost every Catholic was Italian. And, it was the late ’70s. So, First Communion was quite the sartorial display. Little over-the-top brides and dark-haired boys in white suits and white shoes.

Fast forward 30 years. I don’t quite envision my little red-head in a white suit. But I do know that he’ll wear a tie. Why not make it a fun one?

Check these out from The Belle and the Beau over at Etsy:

I’m so excited to have found these! They’re only $18.95 and just look at the fun fabrics! These are perfect little boy ties – and just maybe, perfect First Communion ties…stay tuned.

So, I was poking around on Etsy earlier. As usual. And I decided to go through my “Favorites” folder and clean it up a little. And I came across John W. Golden’s Etsy shop. I had bookmarked it ages ago when I started thinking about what to do for my 2 1/2 year old twin boys’ “big boy room”. (Still haven’t decided, by the way.)

I had forgotten how cute these “By Order of the Management” prints were. The ones I’ve listed here are 6″x10″ but John also prints these in larger sizes, specifically 10.8″x18″ and 12.8″x21″. They make me smile.

My favorite is “Mind Your P’s & Q’s”…what’s yours?

We haven’t shown any hair bows or hair clips or other hair-type accessories around these parts lately. I came across these cuties in mah travelz around the internets today. They’re over at Emma Lee’s Boutique on Etsy.

(Semi-unrelated aside: Etsy and I are experiencing a tough time in our relationship this month. She keeps posting super awesome art for me to buy for my walls at home. She’s bitchy that way. And I keep stalking her until I buy too much. Or so my credit card statement tells me…)

Anyway. Where was I? Hair clips. Emma Lee. Felt. Serious cuteness. And they’re all under $5. Over at Emma Lee’s. Go. Now. Buy.