Kidstock 2013 Fundraiser in Beverly Hills

*I was invited to Kidstock, a private fundraising event to share the experience with you.  All opinions are my own.

walking in laA few weekends ago I was invited to a really cool fundraising event in Beverly Hills called Kidstock.  Held at Greystone Mansion, this annual interactive arts and music festival is a ridiculously fun family event.  Sponsored by Hudson Jeans, this event raises money for an organization called One Voice.  One Voice helps kids from inner cities prepare, attend and pay for college, as well as other holiday and emergency programs for deserving inner city families.  What I love about the scholarship program is that they don’t just get the kids in school and then leave them to fend for themselves.  The group supports the students all the way through graduation.

So I brought along my oldest son (who has been begging me to take him to LA – he hears about it from me and his dad) and carpooled up with one of O’s favorite friends (and daughter of the fabulous Nicole).

kidstock at greystone mansionThe kids were beyond excited.  They had no idea what to expect but I knew they were going to have tons of opportunities to make amazing memories.  I had seen a list of the sponsors and was blown away at what was going to be available.

kidstock at greystone mansion beverly hillsOf course we had to start the day off at the step and repeat.  I think at this point my son knew he was in for a lot of photos…I have a bittersweet love affair with Hudson Jeans.  About 5 years ago, I changed my eating habits and found myself at a size 6, a size I hadn’t been since high school.  I bought the most adorable pair of Hudson jeans.  Before I could take them to get hemmed, I found out I was pregnant with my second son.  Those jeans sat in my closet for years hoping, one day, that I would finally get to wear them.  But I have finally come to terms with the fact that I really enjoy food.  And those size 6 Hudson jeans had to be let go of.  They are on a farm upstate…

One of the ways they raise money at this event is the purchase of kid’s jeans and t-shirts by Hudson.  They were awesome!!  I’m totally kicking myself for not buying any jeans.  Especially since my son asked me for a pair.  And he is VERY picky about his clothes.  Plus they had a bunch of cool patches you could choose to customize your pants or shirt.

Sprinkles Cupcakes were on hand and let kid’s decorate their own treats.  Shwings also had a fun DIY customization station set up.  So.  Much.  Fun.  Stuff.

radio disney photo booth at kidstockRadio Disney had a photo booth area set up which of course we had to try out.

roger berman and son at kidstock 2013As we started walking away from the booth, look who popped up behind us.  Rodg and Sky Sky.  Maj!  (He was super gracious when I asked if I could take his photo.  His wife is my fave but, sadly, she was not there).

celebrity sighting at kidstock 2103We ran in to some of our favorite artists at Kidstock.  Dallas Clayton is awesome.  And O got to meet him.  He had a booth where kids could color some of his illustrations.  O got to meet Stephanie Scott, star of Disney Channel’s A.N.T. Farm.  Could she be any cuter!  And I loved getting a quick second with Peter Kim, CEO of Hudson Jeans.  Click on his name and watch the whole video.  I love what Peter has to say about his branding and company culture.  I pretty much only want to wear Hudson from here on out.  So inspiring.  He was so gracious and genuinely excited about the event.  LOVE that!

ziggy marley at kidstockAnd I was SUPER excited about seeing Ziggy Marley with his family.  While I tried to not approach the celebs and let them spend some time with their families, I had to get a picture with Ziggy.  And share a story with him.  Ziggy was the first concert I went to.  But I was only a sophomore in high school and the concert was in Los Angeles (I’m from Orange County).  So my mom took me.  The concert was at the Greek Theater up in the hills.  I remember that we left early because I had a migraine.  But I also remember that my mom went up to one of the security guards and made sure he knew that people were smoking pot around us.  The guard just looked at her like she was crazy.  EVERYONE was smoking pot around us.  I might have been a bit mortified.  I told Ziggy that story and he got a good laugh out of it.  I called my mom on the way home from Kidstock to tell her I had a picture with him and reminded her of that story.  She said she told the guard because the smoke was giving me a headache.  I laughed and told her it probably would have helped the headache.

kiwi crate at kidstockThere were activity booths set up all over the grounds of the estate to keep the kids engaged.  I was super happy to see Kiwi Crate was there.  My son made a drum in their booth.  See that arm around the little girl’s shoulder?  Totally a celebrity.  Seriously, can’t I just take a photo of my kid without a celebrity being in my shot?  Just kidding.

joanns craft booths at kidstockJoann had multiple booths set up with awesome crafts.  I was really impressed with the thought that went in to each booth.  Most of the activities were music or art themed and really made the event.  The materials were super high quality and while the crafts were pretty intricate, they were not too hard for the kids to do with a bit of supervision.

make your own soda with sodastream at kidstockMy son’s favorite booth was the SodaStream booth.  My son does not get to drink soda very often.  But I loved it too.  There were tons of different flavors to choose from.  I chose a delicious lime flavor that was not overly sweet.  And my son favored the Kool Aid Cherry flavored soda.  He BEGGED me to get a SodaStream after this.  And I considered it.  How awesome would this be to have at a party?!

custom converse airbrushing at kidstock sponsored by dswDSW sponsored this rad Converse airbrushing booth.  For a small fee, you purchased white Converse sneakers and then picked what you wanted painted on there.  Artists from A.M Style Entertainment then painted the shoes.  We were able to watch O’s shoes getting painted.  SO COOL!!!!!

blue and black custom airbrush converseI totally should have gotten a pair for myself!

live music on the radio disney stage at kidstockI was really excited for O to have a chance to see some live music.  While his father and I have talked about taking him with us to shows, I’m afraid it might make him prematurely deaf.  But I knew the music here would be perfect for the kids.  O got to see his fave, Stephanie Scott perform.  And later on in the day we watch this amazing family band called Rhythm Child.  How awesome to see young musicians putting on a really fun show.

o watching band and playing along at kidstockThe band encouraged the kids to jam with them and had percussion toys at the front of the stage.  O had a great time playing along.

andrea nicole and i at kidstockNicole and I had a great time with the kids but it was also super to run in to Andrea.  I stole this photo from her Instagram.

hudson jeans tshirt with red lightning bolt shwingsAnd though my younger son didn’t come with us, I did get him his own shirt and there was a pair of Shwings in the gift bag that he flipped for.

us weekly mention of final funds raised at kidstockThe  event was amazing.  I was grateful to be invited and be able to share that experience with my son.  It encompassed everything that we love and it was just plain fun.  I was delighted to see a mention in US Weekly.  So glad that Hudson Jeans and One Voice were able to raise a lot of money for a great cause.  The event staff should be so proud of what they have put together.

To find out more about One Voice, please visit their website.  And see more event photos here.

Kid’s Art Pillows for Mother’s Day

custom pillow for mother's dayHey mom.  Hey Marie (mom in law).  So I’ve now just ruined Mother’s Day for you because these kid’s art pillows are your gifts.  I know you read my blog, but I really wanted to share how cute these turned out with my readers.  Happy Mother’s Day!

I love when my kid’s draw.  They come up with the greatest characters.  When my youngest son drew this guy, I knew I had to turn it in to fabric.  And since Mother’s Day was coming up, it made sense to make the fabric in to pillow covers.  If you have never made your own fabric before it is SO easy.  I used Spoonflower and all you have to do is scan in the image and then follow their prompts.  It can be pretty expensive but I think it is well worth it to be able to create one of a kind fabric (and a keepsake).  Your local craft store sells pillow forms that are pretty inexpensive and make it so you don’t have to stuff your pillow with batting.  Super easy.

kid's art pillowsOnce the fabric arrives, you just have to find someone awesome to sew up the pillow covers.  And also to take pictures of the pillows for you since you are still trying to find your plates in your moving box hell.  (Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lauren!)

Have you ever made your own fabric?

Posting Schedule and Oh Crap I’m Moving

garage 3So I originally took these photos for a post I was going to write on styling.  And why I don’t do much of it.  This is just one portion of my garage.  I may or may not be a party hoarder.  I admit it.  But here is the thing.  We just found out that we will moving pretty soon.  A stressful idea for most people.  But then when you think about the amount of work just the garage is going to take, well let’s just say the stress eating has already begun.  We have been in this house for 3 years and I got super settled.  Although it might not look like it, this is pretty organized.  I know where everything is.  But nothing is easy to get to.  Hence, the lack of great props in most of my posts.  Trust me.  I have them.  See those white storage boxes?  Filled with rad vintage glassware that belonged to my grandma.  Those will all need to be bubble wrapped.  See that wood cabinet behind them?  Full of glasses, glass jars, and other items that need to be wrapped individually.

garage 1Over here we have my cake stand area.  Lot’s of breakables and odd sized items. Oh my gosh I think I just started sweating.

garage 4Oh hey, there is more glass jars.  And all most of my plates and serving dishes.  Oh and my huge ass container of straws.  And on top of the straws, cocktail paraphernalia just aching to be used.

garage 5And let’s quickly move on to the craft supplies.  At times this is organized.  But I’m super lazy and that coupled with my kid’s schedules means I generally don’t put things back where they go.  You can see the black dresser behind my excess Christmas paper.  That is full of linens.  Holy crap do I have to edit.  And this is just my garage.  So this is really a very long-winded way to say that I am cutting back on posting.  Which totally bums me out.  I’ve been working really hard to rev up my content and be super consistent.  But something has to give.  Starting next week I’m going to go to 3 times a week and if I need to will drop down to 2.  I’m sure you understand.  Do you hate moving as much as I do?

St. Patrick’s Day Picnic and Crafts with Solo Products

green solo cup st. patrick's day hatsSolo sent me some products and asked me to make some crafts with them for St. Patrick’s Day.  I know these cup hats have been done before but how cute are they!  I kept this first one really simple.  At first, I had wanted to fringe the felt on the bottom but loved how they look like little top hats.  And kids love them.  Just look how excited my son is to wear it for a photo.

Leprechaun hat with Solo CupAll you need is a cup, a little felt, some string or ribbon and a little hot glue.  My glue gun had its way with my thumb during the making of this craft.  I took some ibuprofen and I’m doing ok now.  Use hot glue at your own risk!

st. patrick's day hat with gold flowerI made a little girl’s version too.  Because girl’s stuff is so cute.

Little Girl's St. Patrick's Day HatAnd then I asked one of my favorite neighbors to wear it for me.  She was WAY happier to help me with a photo than my son.  And I didn’t even have to bribe her.  How refreshing.

picnic for St. Patricks DayI am going to be leaving to go out of town on a mother/daughter trip early on St. Patrick’s Day, but if I was staying home, my family would totally be having a fun picnic at the park.  It would include a scavenger hunt for treasure and other fun activities as well as yummy food.  Or maybe we would just do a big charcuterie spread with meats and cheeses.  I didn’t have a bunch of cheese on hand for the photo so I substituted the “cheese” banner.  I created a Pinterest board for my St. Patrick’s Day picnic, check it out.

plastic plates for teenage mutant ninja turtle craftAnd while I was messing around with the Solo products, I realized that I could make a homemade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume for my son.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Play OutfitIt is totally going to fall apart by the end of the day (the straps are made from flagging tape.  Ribbon would hold up way better) but that will save me from having to store it…

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Outfit out of platesI also think this method would be cool for making super hero chest shields.  Doesn’t he look so tough?  He was much happier to wear this for pictures.

What are your big plans for St. Patrick’s Day?

*Disclosure:  Solo sent me product to use for crafting.

Come to Craft with the Bloggers!

Crafted with the BloggersHave you all heard about this yet?  Me and a few of my fave local bloggers have teamed up to host a fun event at Crafted at the Port of LA!!  We’ll be making all kinds of crafts for Valentine’s Day!  Check out our Facebook page for all the info!  Who else will be there?  Lauren of A Fabulous Fete, Chelsea of Lovely Indeed and Kelly of Studio DIY.  Boom.  It is going to be such a fun day.  Join us, won’t you?  It is the perfect spot midway between Orange County and LA.  Grab some friends and come craft with us!  And while we aren’t tailoring the crafts to kids, older kids (age 9 ish) shouldn’t have a problem with them.

Hope to see you there!