time machine to the 90s

If you follow me on instagram you might have seen my sneak peek of this product, along with the caption "coming next week" ... a whopping 17 weeks ago. eek!

Well they are finally available, for real this time. Right here.

I've (obviously) been working on this for a quite a while and I'm so excited! I wanted to create a product that would feel like an actual time machine -- not just an item but an experience. When you first open the package, you'll see a link to a 90s playlist to listen to while you start looking through your time machine. The kit includes all of the sights, sounds, tastes and even smells needed to transport you back to your childhood.

I don't want to give much away since I think it would ruin the initial experience of reliving things that have been absent in your life for the last 20 years (or if you're an 00s kid with an affection for the 90s, experiencing these things for the very first time!) But suffice to say, there's candy and a boy band poster in every single box. The rest is like a mystery airhead candy -- you'll just have to open the package to find out what's inside! ;)

the slumber party kit!

The Slumber Party Kit is officially complete and up for sale! :) I am so excited about this! I've had the idea since around when I created The Book Fair Kit last April, and I hope to have some more kits in the future (I already have another one in the works!)

The Slumber Party Kit includes everything you'd need to recreate your childhood sleepovers -- whether you want to have a solo party (like I did for the accompanying photo shoot lol) or gather up your BFFs for an old-school sleepover or give your kiddo a little taste of what your own childhood was like! It would also make a cute thoughtful gift to send a long-distance BFF that's too far away for a real slumber party!

In the kit you'll receive a pre-assembled fortune teller, MASH cards, microwave popcorn, a friendship bracelet kit, a mix tape of 90's pop tunes with a hand-written bubble letter playlist and a "rental" movie that you get to keep. And it all comes in a hand-stamped canvas bag. It also includes a URL so you can download the digital slumber party kit, too! You can print out extra fortune tellers, mash cards and invitations and then use the scrapbooking elements to document your fabulous night!

The kit is available in my sweet and lovely shop here! :)

I miss the 90's.

I miss the 90's. Like, a lot.

I always do, but every once in a while that ache for days gone by seems to overwhelm me to the point where I feel genuinely upset that I can't go back. I'm going through one of those phases right now. Part of it is about being a kid... having a relatively carefree existence and having none of the problems that come with adolescence or adulthood. I look at the face in this photo and think "Oh gosh, young Kate. Enjoy your life now because in 2-3 years you'll have acne and periods and bras and unrequited crushes and terrible, terrible hair."

But it's also THE NINETIES. The decade itself. I am so incredibly happy to have been born just in time to have had a childhood completely devoid of anything related to the internet. Don't get me wrong, I do like the world wide web. I met most of my closest friends online, google searches have saved the day more times than I can count, and I make my living on etsy.

But I miss doing things without feeling that urgent need to share online. I miss waking up and NOT immediately checking my emails. Going a whole day without looking at my iphone or uploading something to instagram, or updating my facebook page. I long for a time in which none of my time was devoted to online sharing.

I miss the simplicity of early 90's technology... MS Paint and The Oregon Trail! And WordArt! I miss VHS tapes! I miss the video stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. Going there always felt like such a treat, and the whole place would smell like popcorn. I miss the ads for movies coming soon to home video in 1993.

I miss scrunchies, peace signs, smiley faces, yin-yangs and daisies. POGS!! Remember Pogs?! I miss the mail order ads in magazines like Teen Beat. I always wanted glow in the dark lipstick but never got up the courage to ask my parents to let me buy it.

I miss jean jackets and tye dye. I miss Drew Barrymore with light hair and dark lipstick. I wanted to look like that so badly. I miss the commercials on tv that STILL are more cool and cutting edge than things that try to seem cool and cutting edge today. I miss the macarena.

I even miss school. Not middle school or high school (Dear God NO) but elementary school, where everything I learned still comes in handy to this day, where learning was fun and my teachers were all super friendly (if Mrs. Copeland is somehow reading this, you were my favorite!!) I miss the book fairs (obviously), recess, school trips and lunch. Airheads, pop tarts, dunkaroos, fruit roll ups, gushers and capri sun!

Thank goodness for modern technology, though. Oh, how terrible life would be if I couldn't watch old back to school commercials on youtube or Aaahh! Real Monsters on netflix instant. The internet allows nostalgia to thrive, so for that above all else, I love the world wide web.

posh frock friday

dress - ross

collar - luminia

belt - old navy

shoes - modcloth

I have no idea why, but I've been thinking a lot lately about movie rental stores, and how much I miss them. It's been a couple years now since the last Blockbuster in my area closed, so now everyone has to rely on netflix or those redbox vending machines at the grocery store. It's just not the same, is it? There was something so magical about going out to rent a movie... the smell of popcorn when you walked in the store, hundreds upon hundreds of VHS movie covers calling your name. As much as I adore new technology (I'll be the first to admit, I use my iphone a lot more than my record player) I miss the experiences that technology is taking away. Watching a movie on my computer can't even come close to the joy I used to feel walking into that buttery paradise with a world of imagination waiting to come home with me.

Do you want to comment, but have no idea what to say? Trust me, I've been there! So to make things a little easier, here is a question you can answer if you can't think of anything else to say! :)

What do you miss most from the analog era?