I just LOVE getting the kids dressed up during the holidays. (I also admit, I have them trained well… they no longer complain about what they are going to wear, they actually look FORWARD to it!) Its no surprise that one of the reasons I started Shop Belle was from a love of fashion and styling my baby girl so there are always MANY reasons to stock the closet full of holiday wear including: a visit to see Santa and Mrs. Clause, Family Photos, Thanksgiving, New Years, etc. And of course I indulge and get the kids a different outfit for each – its all about justifying right?!?

The Shop has tons of fabulous clothes for girls, boys and baby this holiday season.  Here are my two littles coordinated for our family photo:

Oliver is wearing an outfit by Anais & I : Graham Cardigan | Mateo Navy Velvet Pant
(ps. my son is notoriously picky and he LOVES these pants!)

Evie is wearing a lovely classic outfit: Hucklebones Cardigan | Hucklebones Chambray Blouse | Anais & I Gold Tulle Skirt

On or visit to see Mrs. Claus and Santa we added some Holiday cheer!

Oliver is wearing : Mateo Navy Velvet Blazer|Mini Rodini Knit Bowtie | Mateo Navy Velvet Pant

Evie is wearing: Tutu du Monde Very Merry Dress | Tutu du Monde Gleaming Bow Headband

Here are some other mix and match combos that I’ve been kind of obsessing over…

This Louise Misha sweater looks good dressed up or down… for a cozy but holiday look pair it with the Sweet Melody Skirt.

View our Holiday Collection here >

Please note, many pieces are already marked down and sale/non-sale items are 30% off with code HOLIDAY30 

Holiday are here and the Shop has lots of special great gifts!

The Little Lisa Smile Dolls are a unique way to say Happy Holidays. They are hand made in France and each is one of a kind. Using beautiful tulle, stunning silks, my daughter Evie both plays with and cherishes hers!  View Collection >

We also have a sweet line called Mizy Me, also handmade, from New York City. The dolls come in their own dust bag and are also a gift to cherish! Check out Mizy Me >

Mini Rodini made some of the cutest back to school wear this year, including the ever popular back packs – we have ONE left in yellow.  Hurry… I’ve been hemming and hawing over pulling it for my own son  View Mini Rodini >

Limited Edition Back pack – nearly sold out EVERYWHERE!’

If you are looking for that extra something special for baby… consider the uber cozy Sew Heart Felt  slippers. Hand made in Tibet using fine wool they are simply adorable! View Slippers >

And finally… if you haven’t snatched up a beautiful handmade necklace by Modern Queen Kids, run… quick! We are almost all sold out and they are magic!

Hope you got some new ideas! We also have lots of amazing accessories from Tutu du Monde, Louise Misha and more to get you inspired! View Accessories >

Tutu du Monde has been a staple collection of Shop Belle for years now.  Each season the whimsical story is told in a new collection.  August brought us Free as the Wind, a collection that is perfect to usher in the harvest, long summer days and beauty.

This is the first season we have brought in the cotton rompers – Evie LOVES both the Magnolia Onesie and the Flamingo Playsuit.

And don’t get me wrong, I love everything that comes into the Shop… otherwise, I wouldn’t buy it but there are some pieces that are just spectacular stand outs for me this season… here they are:

Have fun and check out the full collection >

My kids LOVE Mini Rodini and I love it too.  Not only is it fair trade, organic clothing but its always fun and most importantly comfortable! The first drop of the Fall 2015 collection is now here – its small but there is more coming and its all GOOD! Here is more from Mini Rodini about the collection:

Mini Rodini AW15-collection is inspired by ’The Jungle Book’ look-a-like landscape of India. The Indo Persian influences from the Mughal Empire, the amazing wildlife and the decadent and mysterious life of the Maharanis and Maharadjas.

A large part of this collection is made in south of India in a factory run by wind and solar energy, the cotton is GOTS and Fairtrade certified and we have started a living wages project here. We pay our part of a living wage to the workers instead of just the minimum that is normally payed, required by law from the Government and almost impossible to live on. We hope to continue this type of projects in all factories we work with.

All previous collections are on sale now too!  SHOP NOW >>

As a Mama to two children with summer birthdays I have for the past 3 years had a joint birthday party for the both Evie and Oliver. Last year was a super fun co-ed super hero party.  This year they both went off to school and made their own friends so we opted for two smaller parties.  Here’s how they came out.

Oliver’s party

Oliver is BIG into cars and trucks and he selected a Hot Wheels theme.  With so many cars around the house I kept things simple and bought this amazing tape that allows you to make roadways (the left over will be used this winter when the kids are snowed in).  You can find the tape at Amazon.  I put down white paper for table cloths and then we build road ways all over and just put cars on them… the kids loved it!

We also utilized all the ride on toys outside with a little raceway and in this house, its not a party with out a piñata.  We gave each kid a Hot Wheel as a thank you along with their goodie bag from the piñata. Here are more pics from Oliver’s party.

line 

Evie’s Party

You may have seen in the previous post the plans I had for this party.  It came out better than I expected!  We had grass cloth skirts, leis and headpieces (I bought them YEARS ago from Lily Pulitzer – I can’t tell you how happy I was to use them!) for the girls and tiki masks for the boys to dress up. We also had a Ride the Wave photo booth set up with some props for the kids.  Since we have a fuji instamax camera (like the old school polariod) the kids loved getting to keep a picture.  The kiddos did some hula hooping and of course (did i mentioned we HAVE to have a pinata!?!) they took their strength out on a cute as a daisy floral piñata. I did go a little crazy on the paper flowers above the cake table but let me say… it was inexpensive, easy and wow! it was stunning.  I also used packaging from Amazon for the trees and table cover – talk about reusing and recycling! I used crepe paper to create a grass skirt for the paper, just rip the same length and attached it to some pretty washi tape.  No joke, it was the easiest party I’ve done yet for Evie and it probably looked the best! You know what else is fun… we hung the flowers in Evie’s room after the party for a couple weeks!  Evie did wear the How to Kiss a Frog Rio dress from the Shop (on sale now!).  Here are pics:

Hope this inspires you with some of your children’s parties.  Leave a comment if you have any questions.

As we continue to celebrate Shop Belle’s 4th birthday (24% off EVERYTHING with code BDAY4) I thought I’d share with you themes for my children’s birthday celebrations.  We will kick this off with Evie’s.  This year she’s chosen a Hawaiian Luau theme and OH have we had fun planning this party.  She will wear the Rio Dress by How to Kiss a Frog. What she and I love is how comfortable it is and how the string closures at the shoulder have wooden beads. My personal favorite part is the petticoat skirt that peeks out!

The party will be filled with lots of color, grass skirts, hula hoops, a glitter tattoo station, limbo, lei making station and more!  Check out our Pinterest board for the party, click here.

Half the fun of a party is the planning, don’t you agree?  What are you favorite party themes?

Wow… 4 years have gone by and this past one was quite fun! As the Shop celebrates its 4th birthday I am as thankful as ever to all of the wonderful customers who shop and so many who have become friends. I care about all of you, we love helping you out.  The coolest part of this year for me personally was watching Evie get more excited about putting together styles and helping me buy from our designers.  She has opinions…

Oliver may be younger but I can already tell he has taste and I can’t wait for him to weigh in.  As you can tell, this business was born out of a passion for styling my children and its incredible to have them see me work and run Shop Belle.  Evie wrote on her mother’s day story that she loves helping me do my work (aka buying) and it warmed my heart.  Hard work is taught by example here, just as love and respect.

Thank you again to each and every one of you for reading, shopping and being a part of the Shop Belle community!

With that, of course we are celebrating with a SALE!  Enjoy 24% off your purchase.  Please note, any item on sale and further discounted with the sale code is final sale.  May not include new merchandise including May Tutu du Monde. This sale can not be applied to previous purchase.  Free shipping on all US orders of $25 and International orders of $200.  

I have been a life long Barbie girl… I have collected every holiday Barbie since they started making them in 1988 (and all in the original package!).  Though Barbie has met controversy in her 56 years, I always found her as a creative and imaginative outlet for play.  Collecting and making fashions for Barbie is in part what lead me to become a boutique owner later in life.

So here we celebrating Barbie.  I found this gorgeous picture from Pinterest that I had to share… and while you are at it, you can view all of the beautiful dresses from the Shop to help a little lady celebrate everything from a birthday to a flower girl to the play ground. View all Girls >>

Blossom with Fruitful tropical colors infused with electric fluorescent accents. Rain forest orchids paired with lush opulent greens. The exotic orchids come to life in botanical illustration styling. Playful and chic silhouettes from day to beach wear. Our obsession of mixing and matching patterns on patterns continuous, the possibilities are endless.

Shop Belle is proud to offer one of our first and very favorites brands view the collection > We are currently taking pre-orders which will ship mid-March.  Please note, the selection of dresses sells out every spring season so if you see one you love and have to have don’t wait!

Here are a very of the beautiful pieces of the collection:

Here’s to dreaming of summer and celebrating it, not only in style but color too!

On New Years Eve my family lost one of our beloved pups, Buddy.  Andrew and I brought Buddy and his brother Ralph home and into our family when we were newly weds nearly 9 years ago.  These two pups were our first babes and over the years they have had many adventures together.  We had no idea that Buddy was suffering from cancer until he was dying from it.  It was a heartbreak to say good bye.

Evie, our oldest, understood what was happening and felt the loss as we did. Oliver, our 3 1/2 year old, didn’t react with loss as he is a bit young to understand it. Though on Sunday he asked when Buddy was coming home, I realized he didn’t understand the concept of saying good bye, to never see our pup again.  I used this experience to talk to our children about finding happiness in our memories and keeping the love that is in our hearts going.  We have been talking quite a bit about death and the idea of heaven.  I am thankful for our time with Buddy and the gift of allowing Ralph to have more family love as we focus on just one dog but there are days we all still miss him.

Have you dealt with the loss of a pet with children? How did you talk to your kids?