@thecreativeheartstudio
📷@weelovephotography
Rainbow Connection
The Creative Heart Studio: Your Source to DIY a Life-Sized Barbie Box
1908s Workout Girl Costume
@thecreativeheartstudio
📷@weelovephotography
Lilly Jimenez is the genius behind The Creative Heart Studio, a website and blog filled with inspiration and products to help you create accessible DIY projects.
If you follow us on Instagram or you've perused our customer photos and noticed amazing, colorful, magical, dream-like scenes created from balloons, then you've seen her work.
Our jaws have dropped so many times from her artistry that we might have Balloon Mosaic™-induced TMJ.
For Halloween 2019, she created a life-sized Barbie box as a scene to feature her daughter's favorite character from Toy Story 4 using our 1980s Workout Girl Leotard Costume.
She developed the original box design a few years ago, but decided to recreate it this year so she could share step-by-step DIY instructions.
This Barbie box is perfect for a special birthday party and can double as a fun photo booth! You can also paint and repurpose it for other occasions.
Visit Lilly's blog at thecreativeheartsudio.com for the easy-to-follow DIY Barbie box directions.
New! Snap Closures Are Now Available on Leotards
Hooray! Bodysuits — leotards with snap closures — are available at the Leotard Boutique in sizes P/6-12M and T/12-24M in all styles and colors. Diaper changes and bathroom breaks just got a whole lot easier.
We will have a limited offering of bodysuits in the following items for sizes XS/2-3 and up, specifically these items:
- Classic Long Sleeve Leotard - Black, Nude, Gray, Suntan, Yellow Gold, Green, Brown, Red
- Ruffle Long Sleeve Leotard - Black, Red, White
- Ruffle Short Sleeve Leotard - Black, White, Purple, Red, Ivory, Icy Turquoise, Light Pink, Lilac, Bright Pink
When you add an item to your cart, if there is a bodysuit (snap closure) option for the size/style/color, you can select it in the dropdown area.
Email hello@leotardboutique.com with any questions.
Leotard Boutique to Donate 15% of Net Sales on August 5, 2019
Today is the Leotard Boutique’s founder/CEO’s birthday! Since we have been celebrating our 5th anniversary with an ice cream party that lasted the entire month of July, Melanie decided she wanted to host a give-back on her actual birthday to benefit Beverly's Birthdays, a non-profit that provides birthday celebrations and gift baskets for homeless children in the Pittsburgh region. Leotard Boutique will donate 15% of net sales from August 5th to the non-profit organization.
“We connected with Founder/Executive Director Megs Yunn and knew immediately we wanted to help support Beverly’s Birthdays' mission to provide birthday cheer for children experiencing homelessness and families in need,” said Melanie. “We are so moved by the amazing work they do.”
How and Why Beverly's Birthdays Started
In 2011, a young girl named Beverly told Megs that she never had her own birthday party or even had her own slice of birthday cake. That moment inspired Megs to create Beverly’s Birthdays. Putting her plan into action, Megs was selected as a first place winner from more than 1,000 entries for a grant from a contest through The Big Red Dog® BE BIG!™ campaign sponsored by American Family Insurance. In August 2012, Beverly’s Birthdays obtained its nonprofit 501c3 status.
In 2018, Megs and her team launched a mobile fashion truck, Hope on a Hanger, which travels to the group birthday celebrations that Beverly’s Birthdays hosts at homeless shelters, family support centers, and community service providers. Children and families can “shop” for new clothing--an enormous need a need when you are experiencing homelessness.
"This is about making children and their parents feel special."
- Megs Yunn
Beverly's Birthdays
Founder, Executive Director
According to Beverly’s Birthdays, in 2019, nearly one in four children in the US live at or below the poverty line. In Southwestern PA, the area the organization serves, there are nearly 3,000 school-aged children identified as homeless. Children living in poverty often go without the everyday items that we take for granted. Special milestones, like birthdays, are often overlooked because of their families’ personal/financial circumstances. Beverly’s Birthdays enriches the lives of the children we serve by making sure they are remembered on their special day.
Good Morning America featured Megs and Beverly’s Birthdays on July 25, 2019, when the non-profit received a $10,000 donation from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) to help fund more birthday parties for underprivileged kids in the region.
We hope you will make a purchase today, or donate to Beverly’s Birthdays directly at beverlysbirthdays.org.
Enter Our Giveaway for a Chance to Win a $25 Gift Card
Download and print a PDF of our "First Day of Dance 2019" sign onto an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper for your daughter to hold in the photo.
Dance Recital Cards for Friends, Teachers, and Relatives
You're going to love our collection of sweet dance recital cards. For more information, visit this page. The cards are free to download. You just need to print them. Enjoy!
Your Holiday Purchase Will Help Keep Toes Toasty for Those In Need
Did you know?:
Socks are one of the most needed items at shelters, and often one of the least donated items.
Holiday Cheer for All:
Starting on Giving Tuesday, November 27th, 2018, through Friday, November 30th, Leotard Boutique will donate one pair of socks to charity for every order.
Charity:
We are working with a non-profit based in New Hampshire who will distribute the socks to shelters where they are most needed in the New England region.
Thank you and happy holidays!
xo,
Team Leotard Boutique
Melanie, Lindsay, Kathy, Heidi, Tim, and Heather
Choosing the Right Leotard for Your Daughter
When shopping for your daughter’s next leotard, it's important to consider which leotard will allow your daughter to not only perform her best, but have fun doing it! While long-sleeve leotards have traditionally been the default choice for gymnasts, short-sleeve leotards are becoming increasingly popular. Knowing where to look and what to look for when browsing leotards for toddlers and/or children is critical to ensuring your daughter absolutely loves her next leotard. Here are two things to keep in mind when shopping for leotards.
Top 2018 Trends in Ballet and Gymnastic Clothing for Toddlers
It’s no secret that toddlers are very opinionated. When it comes to clothing, most toddlers have already chosen their favorite colors and have likely chosen a favorite outfit as well.
Leotard Boutique Featured in Martha Stewart Living's Good Things
Halloween Costume Ideas
Halloween: It All Starts with a Leotard!
The first thing you should know is that we were a million times more excited compared to the very enthusiastic ladybug at the bottom of this page when we learned Martha Stewart Living magazine planned to use our leotards to create a couple Halloween costumes in the October 2018 issue's "Good Things" article. Yes, a million times is an understatement. There were shrieks of joy.
The second thing is that we sound like a broken record saying "Halloween: It All Starts with a Leotard," but you amaze us with the magical, creative, and fun Halloween costumes you create for your children when you use our leotards, skirts, or tights. You prove our point for us over and over again. We love that some of you keep things simple and that some of you unleash all your creative super powers. Of course, the best part is seeing how happy your children are in their costumes.
If you want to create the costumes below, visit the directions for the Ladybug Halloween costume or the Pegasus Unicorn Halloween costume on Martha Stewart Living's website, marthastewart.com. You can purchase the long sleeve black leotard and black tights and the white long sleeve leotard and white tights at leotardboutique.com.
Keep sharing your photos and tag them with #leotardboutiquehalloween for a chance to get featured!
@thatchicmom
@meganraemisson
@kristyn_johns
Back to Dance School Photo Contest 2018
Download This Free Sign!
As parents, there are so many moments that we save as snapshots in our minds—the first time you heard her voice, held her, saw those tiny wrinkly fingers, saw her take her first steps, and watched her dance in her first dance class.
Last year, around this time, Melanie, the founder of The Leotard Boutique, bought a very sweet back to school sign online that she downloaded and used for her daughter's first day of school photo. Melanie and her daughter loved this new tradition so much that we asked our illustrator to create one for the first day of dance school. Here it is. We're offering it to you, free of charge. You can simply click here, download and print a PDF of our "First Day of Dance 2018" sign onto an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.
It's just a little thing we can do to show you how much we appreciate you!
We want you to know that at the Leotard Boutique, when we wrap your items in tissue paper and include a little note, we imagine the moments about to be created and we feel so blessed to be part of them. Of course, we didn't start off in the delivery room with you; however, we've played a role in some pretty spectacular events in your child's young life simply because we make adorable, high, quality, colorful leotards and skirts that so many little girls love to wear on special occasions--birthdays, her first dance outfit, the flower girl dress for your sister's wedding.
Your tiny, sweet and sassy, shy or extroverted daughter—depending on her mood or the hour—will someday be grown up, maybe with a family of her own, but you will have these precious memories for an entire lifetime.
Thanks for letting us be part of it.
Post Your Photo on Instagram for a Chance to Win
We're celebrating our excitement for your daughter's first day of dance school 2018 with a fun photo contest on Instagram and a chance for you to win a free leotard. To enter, click here to download and print a PDF of our "First Day of Dance 2018" sign onto an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. Feel free to trim the edges or even have your daughter color in some of the letters! Then, snap a picture of your daughter in her dance outfit from The Leotard Boutique and share your photo on Instagram. Be sure to include #leotardboutiquememories and tag us with @leotardboutique. Your Instagram account will also need to be public for us to see your entry. Post your photo by September 21, 2018 for a chance to be one of three winners. (If you have your own letter board sign, you could use that too!) We'll have a special Judges' Award for our favorite back to school photo. The two photos with the most likes on Instagram will also be the winners. Contest open to US residents only. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Instagram.
@stephaniekursar
@kaseytrione
@lisa.williams08