It’s that time of year again, the stores are a buzz with back to school shoppers! I always like to start my back to school shopping early, not only to beat the crowds but I like to be organized with everything labeled and ready to go for the big day. This year I set out to find the coolest things for kids while I was shopping and I found some amazing clothing and products I wanted to share with you!
Alligator Pie Kidswear has been around since I was a kid, this local Edmonton boutique is a must visit for us every year when it comes to back to school shopping! We love all the different brands they bring in like Stella McCartney, Mini Melissa, Hugo Boss and Hunter for kids. I first met Catherine the owner when I had my company Kula Klips, I loved visiting the store to drop off hair clips so I could do a little shopping for the kids!
Girls – The fall collections in store for back to school are adorable this season! There was lots of embellishments, pinks and greys which our daughter Quinn loves. She ran in the store right to the Petit Hailey collection, she loved the unicorns and pom pom leggings! Our daughter is very tall and slim; this brand fits her perfectly!
Other looks we loved include the Karl Lagerfeld shorts with leggings and a tee, paired with a Habitual Girls jacket. Billieblush has an adorable collection in store including pom pom jeans that we paired with a long sleeve tee and animal print jacket. Alligator Pie also has a great selection of accessories like Hunter backpacks and boots, scrunchies and the cutest fluffy happy face bag which Quinn also loved!
Boys – Our son Logan is at the tail end of kids clothes this year, making it harder and harder for us to find him items for back to school. Alligator Pie is one of the only kids stores in the city that carries up to size 16+, which we love! Our son has very long legs and Catherine was able to show us brands that work well for tall slender boys. We loved the style and fit of Hugo Boss and Zadig Voltaire for Logan in the jeans and long sleeve tees. Logan also tried some great Hugo Boss jackets that were perfect for the cold, wet fall days ahead.
Yumbox – Our daughter Quinn does not like traditional lunches for school, so we were excited to discover Yumbox last year for our picky eater! Her finger food requests all fit in the pre portioned illustrated trays making lunch time hassle free! We love that the tray can be removed for quick and easy cleaning and have never had any issues with leaks or food mixing thanks to Yumbox’s single lid seal. This year we are excited to try the Yumbox Mini Snack for snack breaks at dance too!
Wrap’d– Our son Logan loves turkey sandwiches at lunch, he will literally eat them every single day. I’m always looking for ways to change up his sandwich of choice so I was excited to discover wrap’d this year for back to school! It’s never been an option for us to send him a wrap for lunch because the truth is he’s a messy eater and all the toppings would just fall out the bottom. Wrap’d allows us to send him with a sandwich wrap and not worry about it falling apart in transit or when he’s eating his lunch. We tried it out this summer and it works well! He’s excited to have a little more variety this year in his lunches and we love that it’s reusable and cuts down on waste!
Fluf – Organic, washable lunch bags and totes for all ages, Fluf offers a different kind of lunch bag! I find kids lunch bags are never big enough for all the containers we send our kids with everyday, so I was excited to find this line that will work for our family! They are durable and come in the most adorable patterns for kids and adults! The lunch bags are lined for easy clean ups and we love that they are machine washable for bigger clean ups.
The kids picked out the shark and popsicle lunch bags for back to school this year. Quinn wanted to get a mini backpack she could use for when we are out and about and absolutely loved this unicorn bag! She has been using it non stop this summer to carry her wallet and toys when we go to the park or to restaurants. It’s the perfect size and is durable enough to last us a while! We love all the fun patterns and designs that Fluf has, they are different than anything else we have seen out there!
Mabels Labels – We have been long time customers of this amazing label brand. I love them because they are durable, stand up to the dishwasher and a full school year! These days we don’t send anything to school without a label on it, with the kids in the classroom all having similar things it saves us from having to replace things like water bottles, markers and shoes. We ordered the kids the Ultimate Back to School Label Combo that includes 126 labels in a variety of sizes plus 2 tags we can use for their lunch bag and backpack. They picked their own designs, Quinn went with pineapples and candy and Logan chose skulls and emojis!
Ore Originals– Our family is big on using reusable containers over plastic in school lunches, it’s amazing how much waste can be cut every year once you make the switch! These adorable vintage patterns on the Good Lunch Bento Boxes make lunchtime fun and easy! The compartments are large enough to stack a sandwich cut in half and you have two more compartments for some fruit or veggies and a treat as well!
The Silverware Set comes in its own travel container making transportation clean and easy. I love that you can get them in matching designs to the bento boxes, we often send utensils with our kids for yogurt, spaghetti and fruit!
