Caden Lane

I often get asked how I started Caden Lane. Where did I get the idea? How did I market the product? Did I sew the original samples myself? Let me make this perfectly clear: I CAN NOT SEW. We’re talking not even a button to a shirt kind of no-sew talent. If it had been up to me to produce the first diaper bag or bedding sample – the entire thing would have been hot-glued. Thank GOD for talented seamstresses who could take my hand-drawing of perfection and bring it to life.

 And in case you are wondering – everything can be fixed with hot-glue. (And cleaned with windex.)

So, speaking of talented people that can SEW…check out this adorable line of hand puppets by Cate and Levi. I just received their catalog in the mail for Nursery Couture, and couldn’t resist their adorable puppets! They are handmade in Canada, with reclaimed wool…. so even this cute puppet puppy leaves the smallest “pawprint” possible on our planet!

These puppets even give the muppets a real run for their money!

So what do you think? Is this a winner? Should we bring them into the store? Surely at only $28 each it would be a cute addition to any shower gift, right?

I’ve never really been a fan of yellow, but lately I find myself drawn to it….. it’s so bright, and happy, and sun-shiney. And when I think of yellow in the baby’s room – I picture pastel yellow, a lot of it…. in an attempt to keep things “gender neutral” – and in the process, have ZERO creativity in your nursery design. Up until now.

Obviously, I’m new to this blogging thing… but as I start to do the research on really cool nursery design blogs out there (like ProjectNursery.com, and Ohhdeedo.com) I’m finding all these beautiful pictures of nurseries that are COMPLETELY outside the box! And I’m loooving it!

I’m loving it so much, that one of our new Limited Edition color combos features this happy-not-pastel color.

And how about this room? Does it not make you droooool? Scroll down to the bottom pic! The creative mommy-to-be made these herself using a tutorial she found HERE. And I’m totally stealing this idea for my kiddos rooms. Especially since I LOVE fabric. What a cool way to add more “design & print” elements to the wall!

(photos courtesy of ohhdedoh)

My kiddos are 2 and 5 now, so we are past the age of “oh my gosh how cute…” and “oooooh i could just eat those squishy cheeks….” – in fact, when strangers approach them, it’s more common for me to say things like “careful, they are sticky” or “touch at your own risk”.

But it wasn’t long ago that I remember toting them around in their (oh so heavy) car seats with a blanket draped over the top. What is it about newborns that is so hard to resist? It’s almost like a magnet…. pulling your hand in…. forcing you to touch them… just one toe, one cheek…. pleaaaaseee…. let me just get within 12 inches of them! We are all just as guilty as the next person. If only there was an invisible shield that protected our newborns from un-washed hands, un-covered sneezes, and peering toddlers.

And then some GENIUS mom invented this.

It’s a pod. It’s a tent. No…. it’s BRILLIANT! And now it’s available through Caden Lane in a variety of fun and funky fabrics!

Our Car Seat Covers ($48) have an elastic bottom that fits securely around almost any infant car seat. It’s easy to get on, and even easier to take off, and the design of it keeps the fabric away from the baby’s face (something that my “thrown” blanket never did). It has a slit in the front for accessibility (something you first timer mommies will appreciate), and a small pocket on the side to store that emergency pacifier! The best part, it keeps those baby-obsessed people (like me) from touching all over your precious, clean, and healthy newborn.

Disclaimer: If I know you personally, or you just seem super nice. This will not deter me. I will immediately reach through your cover to cuddle on that baby. I know your secrets. You can not hide that bundle of joy from me. (But I promise to have clean hands!)

Living in Texas, you think I’d be used to all the stuffed trophy animals hanging on my friends walls. Okay, so not my friends. But I’ve definitely been to houses of people I “know” that display these as fashionable wall art. There are entire stores that display coordinating furniture to go with their stuffed-dead-glass-eye-animal-heads. Ugh, sick out. And surprising, if you google “taxidermy blogs” you find very interesting things like…

a drunk raccoon. I mean, who wouldn’t want this in their home? Such a statement piece.

Or, if you prefer to purchase someone else’s road kill to decorate with… you can shop here, and show off to your friends with special decor like… a canoeing squirrel (only $195), a motorcycle riding squirrel ($295), or for a whopping $795 you can get a paddlin’ beaver. Apparently squirrels and canoes are popular decor these days. Poor squirrels, they draw the short straw every time.

Okay, so obviously none of these items are good for your children’s rooms. But, we do have to give some recognition to this new trend – “trend”, really Katy? Ugh, let’s hope not. This is the thing though…. I saw these heads hanging at my favorite store a few weeks ago. A lady was oooohing and aahhhhing over them for her husband because I guess he had a fascination with animal heads in their home. (Yes, that is common in Texas, and NO, we don’t do it.) But I have to admit, I did think they would be cute in a little boy’s room or gameroom if done right!

Each animal head is $68 and available HERE at Anthropologie.com. I took one off and studied it, it was paper mache-d (so it had an artsy homemade feel), and definitely no glass eye balls. What do you think? Is this baby room material? Or perhaps more kids playroom… when they are old enough to know that a animal head (like the see in the Zoo) isn’t staring them in the face each morning.

And for you more “modern” nursery design peeps… well, don’t fret – you can get a white resin assortment of animal heads at Z Gallery for around $150.

I always knew that a chandelier belonged in the nursery. For girl OR boy! That’s why we photographed the Boy Luxe Collection with two different chandeliers, I wanted to prove to mommies everywhere that hanging a fancy light in your little boy’s room was nothing shy of fabulous. And not the hand-flipping kind of fabulous, we’re talking future football star fabulous.

As I mentioned before, I have a slight obsession with this whole “salvaged wood” trend. First it was a table, then it was mirrors, chairs…. and now, lighting. In fact, after seeing all of it at market this past week, I changed my entire house (that we are building) from the heavy dark iron fixtures, to the washed-old-wood look that Currey Lighting PERFECTS. I mean really, even with a iphone picture, you can’t resist the drrroooooool.

I also decided to move my daughters previous turquoise chandelier into my new closet. And paint my walls turquoise to match. If you squint your eyes, it will look almostlike it belongs on Sex and the City. Haha…

Here’s my options so far that I’m considering for her new room – which will showcase the NEW Boutique Big Girl Collection! I’d LOVE your opinion… which is your favorite??? (See this post about my other purchases for her room.)

Option 1: Option 2:Option 3: 

Option 4:Option 5: Option 6:

I’m loving the rose theme. Can you tell?

And hell, after having to buy all of this lighting…. I might have to get one of these too.

This morning (between me and my 5 year old):

Cade, “mom, close your eyes and stick out your hands.”

Me,“okay…. Ahhhh, Cade – don’t spray silly string on me!!! I told you not to play with that inside.”

Cade, “Sorry. And I’m sorry it’s on your roof.”

Me, “On my roof? Cade what did you do????”

And then, as I walked into my living room, I saw the WEB of purple silly string that was ALL OVER my ceiling. “CCCAAAADDDEEE! I told you not to do that! Ahhhh!”….”but mom, doesn’t it look cool?”

Why is it always on the days you are in a rush, there’s silly string on your “roof”. This is my life.

We are back from market and I’m furiously trying to play catch up! I have the video of our booth (as I promised) – I just haven’t figured out how to load it to the blog yet. I’m working on it though, promise!

In the meantime, you can check out this awesome giveaway that RosenberryRooms is hosting for a FREE bedding set! All you have to do is comment to enter!

I really should try to do our entire booth set up in one day more often! Today was so much fun! This morning I got to sleep in, the clock actually said EIGHT am on it when I woke up, that never happens! We got dressed, grabbed a $8.98 latte and orange juice (since when did coffee and juice cost almost $10? I’m in the wrong business!), and headed to Building ONE at the Atlanta America’s Mart.

16 floors of furniture, home decor, rugs, floral, bedding… all at prices well below what you can find online (even though there was minimum orders, but I’m not raining on my parade just yet). It was better than red wine. Better than guacamole & queso. Better than HBO Sunday nights when Sex and the City was no re-runs. It was the shopper’s heaven. I could almost hear the heaven gates open as I walked through the door. Ahhhhhh…… (that’s the angels singing).

Okay, so I’m building a house right now. My dream house. The house that I’ve promised my husband that I’ll live in for more than 3 years. (That’s about how often we’ve moved over the last 8 years.) The entire house is a hacienda-style, minus the saltillo tiles, plus the dark hard wood floors, white walls, and old world feel.

I’m obessing over lines like Aidan Gray, and  Vagabond Vintage. The white washed reclaimed wood. The old world feel, in NEW-unused products. Cracked furniture, grey finishes… LINEN. I really thought I had found a diamond in the rough. A style yet to be discovered. Up until Restoration Hardware took the best selling products from companies like the ones I mentioned above, and either knocked them off, or had them produced under their label (YES, large brands do that sometimes.) And today – my suspicions were confirmed. To my surprise, there was an entire FLOOR of this old-new look. I’d like to say it was upsetting, but honestly, it was AMAZING! I found old suitcases (for $18-$45), white linen upholstered furniture with white wash wood trim (for less than $300), old wine bottles in really cool rusty iron barrels, and lighting fixtures that held wine bottles! Turns out I’m not so original in my new style afterall. Oh well, i guess good taste is contagious.

Speaking of those wine bottles… I know this iphone picture doesn’t do it justice, but the rep for the line (The French Market Collection) had the best idea! She said she had one of these in her home, and every time they finished a bottle for a special occasion – they had the guests (for a wedding, graduation, birthday, etc) sign the bottle, and she hung it on the chandelier. It literally became a permanent scrapbook that served as decor and memories. How awesome is that? Too bad I’d fill it up in 2 weeks. But it’s still a great idea! Lol.

Our final stop of the day was at Golden Stella. The cheap-jewelry haven. There’s no better way to describe this place than rows and rows of beaded craziness. They have every trend setting, color coded, bracelet, necklace, earring, or ring you could ever want. And I swear everything is under $10. Check out my little collection below. (I see a pattern in my buying – turquoise and orange, my wallet in the bottom right corner even matches, hmmm, be a little more daring next time Katy…)

Tomorrow morning is the first day the temps open at market! We have to be there at 9am, ready to sell sell sell! Tomorrow I promise to whip out the iflip and take some video! For those of you who haven’t been to market before, it’s pretty exciting!

Oh! And I found some great new products for the store today. They aren’t on the website yet, but should be arriving at the store in the next few weeks and we will get them online ASAP! We ordered the coolest drying rack, feeding spoons, and bath toys from Boon, and for you super-parents, the coolest little snack organizer from Packin Smart. Plus lots of new Longhorn, Aggie, Baylor Bear, and Texas Tech baby goodies!

Day 1 of setup at Atlanta Market (the actual market starts on Friday)! You’d think after 6 years I’d be used to this by now, but still, the night before I leave, I can barely get any sleep obsessing over what we might have forgotten… if our stores will like the new collection…. if our walls will fall over mid-show… if our crates don’t show up… if we arrive on the wrong date… if my teeth will fall out…. if someone will chase me and I can only run in slow motion… and if a tsunami will hit. Okay, I’m a little neurotic.

So, as promised – and for those of you who have never been to market – here’s a few pics from today’s set up. Amy and I had a record breaking ONE DAY set up! Which means, tomorrow is reserved for a day full of shopping – including a visit to my favorite cheap-y Golden Stella which has all the cute trendy jewelry at DIRT CHEAP MARKET prices! Come to mama!

These pictures were taken with my iphone, so excuse the bad lighting!

Picture #1  is the basically how the booth starts out! We lay down a foam hard wood floor tile (that’s super squishy, and helps with the loooong 9 hr day on our feet). Then we put up our 8′ tall white panels… and get ready to decorate. The oh-so-fabulous white curtains and blue carpet are a gracious gift from America’s Mart, and unfortunately, some booths keep just that! Sure would be nice if we got a little more with the small fortune we pay to exhibit at these things… I’m just sayin’.

IDEA: if I can remember, tomorrow I’ll take pics of bad ass booths and their ghetto counterparts! Walking the isles of market is one of my favorite things to do! And it amazes me every year at the creativity and magnitude of some of these booths.

 

Picture #2 is the half way point! Once we have the floors down, the walls up, paper hung, and the cribs & table assembled… the decorating begins. (All with only ONE broken nail today, thank you very much…) So that’s it! It’s nothing super glamorous, but it’s cute, and inviting, and has our smiling faces inside! How can you NOT want to place a huge order if you were to shop this booth! (See picture #3) Our Vegas booth is the best! We show almost every bedding set, and have a massive 20×20 booth! That is NOT a one day-er.

So, that’s about all I can muster up tonight. It was a long day. My back is killing me, I’ve stuffeed my face with pizza, poured a BIG glass of “hotel” wine, we just watched “It’s Complicated” in our hotel room, and I’m D-O-N-E.

Luckily, Amy did not require me to bathe her, feed her, or remind her to go potty before bed. Funny how a work trip can turn into a semi-vacation.

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” – Confucius.

I was never a library girl. In elementary I remember coping almost word for word from the encyclopedia to finish my report.

In middle school, I was the girl who bought the cliff notes even for education staples like To Kill A Mockingbird (this was before the term “googling” was alive).

In high school, I could write an entire book summary in itty-bitty-teeny-tiny words, like a 2 pt font, on a piece of paper the size of a quarter (again, pre-computer & iphone - damn I’m getting old).

In college, I paid for this note service, where they actually hired “nerds” to go to class and take notes and then sell them to students like me.

And now…. I’m forced to deal with all these “book clubs” that my friends do, and want me to join.
Who? What? Books? I’m not a reader. Now, if this was a club that served wine and we all talked about what the celebs were wearing in the weeklys, and who’s hooking up with who… well now, that’s my kind of club! It would be a picture-book kind of club. The only requirement would be that you have to look through all the weekly magazines and look at all the pictures – reading the blurbs next to the pictures is only extra credit!

I never read Harry Potter. I don’t do scary. I tried at one point to get into the girly-shopaholic-type books… but never made it more than half way through. Nope. It’s just not me. I don’t have time! I don’t know about you guys, but between three businesses, two children, a marriage, and LIFE – who finds time to read? Maybe they read during that time that I’m soaking in the bath with my glass of wine? Or perhaps it’s during that few hours I get every weekend to sit on my ass on the couch and watch mindless TV.

Or maybe it’s on all those luxury vacations I wish I was taking? Ugh. I just dont’ have time. Did you hear me Mr. Confucious! And, to comment on your thought of “surrendering myself to self-chosen ignorance”, well, I do read occassionally, but I prefer the books that I can benefit from.
The marketing, consumer science, how-do-deal-with-employees…kind of books.

Until I found this book. It’s called “NutureShock” by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman, and it’s fantastic. It doesn’t tell you how to put babies to sleep… if you should or shouldn’t be attachment-parenting, co-sleeping, breast-feeding, pro-drinking, anti-sleeping, nanny-seeking, what-happened-to-my-life parenting! It’s about our kids.

Our society. It’s a perspective on childhood, and raising our children. It’s not a manual. It’s not the bible. It’s just these two author’s observation on years of research on raising children. And you know what? I think they have A LOT of it right!

Chapter 1: The Inverse Power of Praise. “Sure, he’s special, But new research suggests if you tell him that, you’ll ruin him. It’s a neurobiological fact.” The chapter goes on to explain how studies have shown that children that are over praised try less because they know they only have to try so hard to impress. One example was a group of kids that were given a nonverbal IQ test in New York. Half of the group was told “you must be very smart,” and the other group was told “you must have worked really hard.” On the second round of tests the children were given a choice on a harder test or a test of the same level as the first. Of the kids praised for their effort, 90% chose the harder set of tests. Of those praised for their intelligence, a majority chose the easy test. The “smart” kids took the cop-out. They concluded, “When we praise children for their intelligence we tell them that this is the name of the game: look smart, don’t risk making mistakes.” And I don’t know about you guys – but I want my kiddos to take chances, and not “expect” results.

Chapter 5: ”The search for intelligent life in Kindergarten” – explaining why children pre-exposed to social environments like day care and pre-school do noteably better in school, with friends, in life, etc… that children who stay at home until Kinder. Other chapers… “The Sibling Effect”, why only children have issues…..”Plays Well With Others”, why modern parenting has failed to produce a generation of angels, and “Why White Parent’s Don’t Talk About Race” – does teaching children about race and skin color make them better off or worse? Are you hooked yet?

OOOOh, it’s all so good. You can read one chapter at a time, or read the entire thing in one weekend. I’ve read several chapters twice. And I’ve recommended it to anyone anytime a “book” conversation comes up. Again, I’m not an avid reader – but that’s why this book should receive an award. VERY seldom does a book capture my attention like this one.

Oh, and I like  anything by Jenny McCarthy and Chelsea Handler. They are just freakin’ funny.

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I don’t know about you guys, but I’m always up for a little FREE MONEY! In return for the years of love and support, and with the launch of our new collection, The “Boutique” Collection, we’ve decided to share the love with a little contest. Who doesn’t like a contest?

CADEN LANE IS GIVING AWAY YOUR CHOICE OF

A $1000 Gift Certificate to Southwest Airlines,

OR

A $2000 Shopping Spree at NurseryCouture.com

OR

A $3000 DONATION TO YOUR FAVORITE CHARITY!

HOW TO ENTER:

Your name will be entered based on the number of points you earn. Each point is worth one entry. And you may earn points by doing any of the following activities:

Worth 1 POINT each:

- Tweet about this contest or about Caden Lane in your Twitter status.

- Post about this contest or about Caden Lane in your Facebook status.

- Become a fan of Caden Lane on Facebook and comment.

- Follow Caden Lane on Twitter, tweet about it and comment.

- Comment on this blog post (AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST).

- Sign up to be on our mailing list.

- Comment or post a review on one of our products on our website.

Worth 3 POINTS each:

- Blog about this contest and/or about Caden Lane.

- Send us a picture of wall art, rugs, frames, lighting, furniture… basically any decor item, gift, and/or accessory item (with a link to the store or manufacturer you found it at) that you think would coordinate perfectly with our new Boutique bedding collection (must be 700px wide).

- Send us a link to your favorite online baby store and their blog! If they carry Caden Lane, we’d love to feature them, if they don’t – then tell them why they should!

- Make a donation to the charity of your choice. If you don’t have one, we love St. Jude and March of Dimes, and a local favorite is Child Safe. This is on the honor system. But remember KARMA – what you do always will come back to you, so be honest!

*Note: You may repeat the same task, but it will NOT increase the number of points earned. In other words, you can tweet ten times about us, but it will still only be worth one point = one entry. (plus, you might annoy your friends )

Worth 10 POINTS each:

- Purchase anything from Caden Lane before midnight (CST) on August 31, 2010.

- Send us a photograph of your current nursery and/or kids rooms telling us why you neeeed Caden Lane! Unfortunately creativity is not worth extra points, but it will definitely earn you brownie points with us!

- Make a creative video or take a funny photograph about how much you love Caden Lane. Be aware that we will probably post it on our blog and/or on our facebook fan page.

____________________________________________________________

Afterwards, email us at ihopeiwin@cadenlane.com. Include your name and your total number of entries in the subject heading. In the body of your email, type a list of everything you completed including the verifiable links. We will check all the links, so make sure they work!

IF YOU DO NOT SEND US AN EMAIL AT IHOPEIWIN@CADENLANE.COM WITH YOUR COMPLETED TASKS, THEY WILL NOT BE COUNTED. PLEASE DO NOT SEND MULTIPLE EMAILS. JUST SEND ONE EMAIL WITH YOUR TOTAL ENTRIES.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS August 31^st, 2010 at midnight CST.

____________________________________________________

What if I already purchased something from Caden Lane and/or completed some of the above tasks without even being tempted by a killer prize?

Then you are among our favorite people! So don’t worry, just email us with any of the above task(s) that you’ve completed along with your order number. We will enter you accordingly. BUT YOU MUST EMAIL US WITH YOUR ENTRIES. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT ORDERS FOR JULY WILL NOT BE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU HAVE TO PLAY TO WIN. 

How will you pick the winner?

The winner will be selected using an online random number generator; and announced on the Caden Lane blog by September 10, 2010.  

Why did you pick a gift card for Southwest as the other choice for a prize?

Because Caden Lane is about exploring, traveling, and always making time for a little insanity break from the hubbie and kiddos! Grab your best girlfriends and plan a last minute trip somewhere fun – but first make sure they have a spa! We chose Southwest simply because they are our favorite airline, and because they give drink coupons. J Southwest did not solicit our opinion. Caden Lane is not affiliated with Southwest, and Southwest is not sponsoring this contest in any way whatsoever.

Why is the shopping spree at NurseryCouture.com?

NurseryCouture.com has compiled a wonderful assortment of furniture, decor, bedding, accessories, and gifts all that coordinate with Caden Lane. With your $2000 shopping spree (which can include Caden Lane product or not) the talented designers at Nursery Couture will help your design your dream nursery! Over the phone/email of course, unless you live in the San Antonio area – only then might they make a house visit for you! And yes, NurseryCouture.com is affiliated with Caden Lane.

Will I have bad karma if I don’t pick the donation?

No, don’t feel bad. We just wanted to offer it. We love every charity that involves the safety and health of children. We donate thousands of dollars worth of product to these types of charities every year, and we hope everyone on some level gives on. The charity you choose to make the donation to must be a qualified charitable organization.

More details:

No purchase is necessary to win. Please do not contact us to make sure that we received your information. If you choose the shopping spree on NurseryCouture.com it applies to all in stock merchandise. Shipping fees will be calculated into the total, and the free shipping promo does not apply. Any amount above the $2,000 credit must be paid for by the winner before the products ship. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This contest is void in Puerto Rico, and where prohibited by law. It is solely your responsibility to ensure that contests like this one are not prohibited by the laws in your area. Contest subject to all applicable federal, state, and local law regulations. Actual prize awards will be sent only when you prove your eligibility with an affidavit. If you win, and live outside the US, you are responsible for all shipping costs incurred in sending your prize including all taxes, customs, brokerage, or any other related fees. Caden Lane is not responsible for delays in receiving your prize caused by Customs clearance, or anything else that is beyond our control. Videos and/or photos that are offensive, vulgar or attack any individual or company will be automatically disqualified.  By participating, entrants agree to these official rules and accept decisions of Caden Lane INC as final. This promotion is offered in the United States only and shall only be construed and evaluated according to United States law. By participating, you agree that Caden Lane and its employees will have no liability for any injury, loss, or damages of any  kind to persons, including death, and property, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from the acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of a prize or participation in this contest. By entering, you agree that Caden Lane, and those acting under its authority, may use your name, likeness and/or voice, and the video(s) you submit as an entry for advertising and promotional purposes in any media without limitation and without further consideration, unless prohibited by law. By entering, you agree that Caden Lane shall have all rights to copy, edit, broadcast, publish, and use your photos/videos, in whole or in part without further compensation, both during and after the contest, unless prohibited by law.

Unclaimed prize (after seven days) will be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner. Prize is not transferrable or redeemable for cash.

HAVE FUN AND GOOD LUCK!