Smart Clothes for Girls

Cute girl clothes with a science theme?

Yep, that's right. Instead of I'd-rather-be-shopping (than doing math) themed clothes or revealing outfits, Lands' End for Sears has gone in the "Let's promote science for young girls" direction, and I couldn't be happier.  I showed my support by purchasing a few tees on the spot last week. There's still plenty of cute genius stuff on the racks for your future scientist to enjoy. I'm spreading the word here and on Facebook because I'd like for this "trend" to continue and, even *gasp* become the norm!

Know When to Hold 'Em

And know when to return 'em, so that they get folded by someone else. :(

If it's for the children and/or costs more than $20, our purchases need to be approved by each other. So what I do is buy what I think is charming at a good price, hold on to the receipt, and run it by the man when either one of us gets home. This is our system. It works for us. I believe in it.

Except when it causes heartbreak like this:

Boden girl skirt

Goodbye awesome puppy skirt, you didn't make the cut. You were deemed pathetically puppyful, and not worth $19. Waaaaaaaaahhhhh.

The two shirts shown above, they are keepers. (But really, a sparrow wearing a crown is less offensive than a pack of cuddly pooches? C'mon! That bird could be a gang banger.)

The shoe decision is also hard. My girl has thick wide feet and our options are limited. You'll see a theme there above, this is the shoe type with the easiest toe entry. The purple & orange Tom's and the glitter knock-offs are the same size. The knock-offs (from Meijer) are pretty flimsy, have very little cushioning, but are almost half the price as the others (though all things shown above were on clearance). We're trying to decide between those two first, because if it looks like the Tom's are not worth it, then that means the other pair in red & white, which are in a larger size for down the road, will be returned, too.

Ugh, having a girl, if you don't watch out your closets will be filled to the brim with the cutest stuff known to mankind. . . Wait, is that so bad?

Fierce, Baby!

Stripes and florals

Glad to report the headband saga is over. While looking for materials for Leepo's Halloween costume at Hobby Lobby, I found both brown and black headbands meant to be purchased for crafty adornment. *Yoink!*

And check out that baby maxi-skirt! Adorable, right?! Got that from here. If I weren't so busy these days I'd try to sew one myself because it doesn't look too hard.

What's taking up so much time? Well, besides the two kids and part-time job, I've been trying to get my other blog up and running (this is taking a lot of time spent in research) and we just closed on our new-to-us home. We met with the contractors last night, and they seemed to humor all my crazy requests.*

I've been joking with Tim that the REAL reason we're moving is because we need more closet space for this girl. . . "joking."

*More on that later. We can't DIY everything in this next house if we hope to move there in 2013. 

Goodbye Pukey Pink!

Let me start this post by saying that I really do like, nay, I love pink. But not all pinks are created equal, you see. I love the sort of pink that mixes with grays to create something flirty, modern, and unmistakably feminine. Look here:

Emily Procter via
Lonny Mag Oct 2012 pg. 130

Lovely, right?

Then there's what I like to call "pukey pink." See here:

Before

Having a baby girl means I am bombarded with items like these. So what to do? I went ahead and purchased some i-Dye by Jacquard. I read up a little bit and understood that there are two basic types of dyes: one for cotton, and one for polyesters. Since most of Beanie's clothes are cotton, I went with a color that would look good next any remaining pink or white in the ribbons and logos that are polysynthetic. I chose Modern Mango, or as it's formally called 'Gold Ochre.' (My name is better.)

Since none of these items cost more than $1 each (I hit Goodwill and other resale events like mad), I was willing to experiment. That's not to say, however, that I wasn't crossing my fingers when I did this:

Here are the results:

Much better!

Happy, bright, and hip

Things didn't go perfectly, though. There was some splotchy-ness in one of the sweaters, which could have been avoided had I pre-mixed the dye with salt and hot water first.

FAIL

All is NOT lost, though. Since I have two of the same sweater, my plan was to re-dye one of them. --Probably a darker color. Maybe a deep eggplant-y purple? This was so easy to do and overall things came out so beautiful that I have a feeling I won't be able to stop myself from doing this many times over.

Pukey pink be gone! Viva the bold and the beautiful. :)

Zuzii Barefoot Sandals

ZUZII 

(Hope you like baby products because that's about all you're going to get these days leading up to my due date.)

I just purchased this 'barefoot sandal' DIY kit and couldn't be more excited about it. I think this little footwear will be perfect for my summer baby and offer just enough of the feminine touch to balance the rest of her wardrobe that is a bit more gender neutral.

Compared to buying expensive shoes that she'll only wear once also puts this purchase in the Score! category. Can't wait to get this in the mail!

A Modern Layette

Less is more, right?

I'm expecting a little lady in July, which means I need to get going on a girl's wardrobe.

Spending a lot of money on baby clothes is inherently ridiculous. But you want to know what's also silly? Letting people bombard you with what they think your baby should wear, even if it's plastered with garish advertisements for toys and 'witty' phrases like "trouble" or "brat."

I have been able to avoid most of those offending items so far, yet I had little or no input into what my son wore during the first two years. I was in the middle of residency, studying for boards, and just trying to stay afloat. My extended family gave me much needed help, even informing me what my son's birthday party theme and Halloween costume would be each year.

This time, I hope to have a hand in everything and organize a practical, budget-friendly, and even stylish wardrobe for my boy and girl. My strategy is this: Purchase the necessities in gender neutral colors and patterns (in case we have another child in the future) and accessorize in small doses. I think it's also important to have fewer articles of clothing that are of decent quality, than to have a closet bursting with clothes that make things hard to find, add to the laundry load, and don't make you smile.

To that end, I have created a "layette scheme." It's my own little pin board that also serves to give my family an idea of what I'm trying to achieve.

Call me crazy, but I'm also photo-cataloging what I have already so that I can visually survey what I'm missing to create an outfit, and remind me of what I have enough of.

In addition, I'm totally digging this guide from Copy Cat Chic about what a baby really needs ages 0-6mo., and am using it for motivation.

Another thing I'm working on is finding a tactful way of telling people to keep their receipts. After our son's baby shower, we returned more than $300 worth of items and put that towards the gear we actually needed. People seem to be much more invested in putting their 'signature' on our daughter than they were with our son, though. I've already been told "I bought your girl some clothes, I BETTER SEE HER IN THEM." *gulp*

Perhaps my quest to streamline things is more like mission impossible? Will I be maneuvering through piles of pastels to get into the nursery? Time and perseverance will tell.