Bestowe is offering up one gorgeous curated gift box in our giveaway at the end of this post, and until then, get inspired by their gift guides for baby, mom, and your bestie, too!

Bestowe’s Relax and Restore Box / Marisa Mason Lunar Earrings / Asmara Stripes Cotton Scarf / Morrow Emerson Alpaca Throw / Artifact Uprising Brass Easel Photo Desk Calendar / SollyBaby x Jenny Pennywood Dashes + Moons Wrap / Custom Macarons from Jenna Rae Cakes

If you’re unfamiliar with Bestowe, that sweet gift at the top right is the Relax & Restore rejuvenation box. Don’t all of those words just scream “mom”? Mhmm. It’s chock full of self-care goodies: luscious bath salts, a soft Turkish towel, fragrant palo santo incense, a ceramic dish, and rose hip oil. Pretty neat to have so many sweet products from artists and designers that you might not otherwise find (at least in a reasonable amount of time!) for loved ones to enjoy. Maybe throw in some custom macarons like the beauties above, if you can!

BZR Clay Ombre Tights / Bestowe’s Just Perfect Clutch & Lip + Cheek Stain (with different style options to choose from) / WKNDLA Coba Mobile Earrings / Sands Ojo 1 Wall Hanging from West Perro / HIMOART Tassel Wall Hanging / MQuan Bell… any one will do!  / Block print scarf (look out for it in Bestowe’s upcoming Valentine’s Day box!)

The bestie gift guide is heavy on the wall art, because isn’t *everyone* looking for the most unique way to adorn their walls right now? From decorated tassels to beads and bells, sometimes the best gifts are ones our friends would never think of buying themselves.

I Say, You Say Opposites board book / Coyuchi Pebble Stripe Organic Changing Pad / Urb Apothecary Baby Balm from Bestowe’s Welcome Baby Luxe Box / Hazel Village Max The Raccoon Doll / Bestowe’s Bundle Up Baby Blanket, Rattle, & Room Spray / The Pop Pacifier from Doddle & Co / Woodland Play Mat by Grounded

Now for a giveaway! One lucky Cakelet reader will win one of Bestowe’s curated gift boxes for themselves or to give this season. Enter using our widget below!

PS Everyone who who signs up will also get $10 off their first order on bestowegifting.com with code CAKELET!

*Head’s up! By entering this giveaway you’ll also be signed up for the Bestowe Gifting email newsletter.

The post Gift guides for baby, mom, and your bestie + giveaway by Bestowe appeared first on 100 Layer Cakelet.

Happy, happy Friday! Don’t know about you, but over here we’re ending the week on a high note, thanks to these mommy and me portrait sessions from Domus Aurea Portraits by Renee with styling + design by Joy Green. Even better, they didn’t just focus on one mama and baby, but different moms and their floral-adorned bebes took part in this sweet set.

A full-on greenery crown and white maxi gives this mama a whole Greek goddess-y kind of look we loooove.

When it came to the styling, Joy and the crew were all about achieving that ethereal boho chic vibe throughout. Mission accomplished!

Did we mention the pup yet? Too cute.

And. Are you DYING over this gal’s eyes right about now!? Maxit Flower Design gave her that extra fairy tale look with the flower crown.

Find all the baby outfits + more photos below!

View The Gallery For More

If you’ve ever thought about planning your own mother-daughter shoot, consider this your sign!

Photography: Domus Aurea Portraits by Renee / Styling & Design: Joy Green / Floral Design: Maxit Flower Design / Baby Outfits: Joy Plus Love, Lil’ Lemons, & Emmie’s Room

The post Floral Mommy & Me portrait sessions appeared first on 100 Layer Cakelet.

1. Natalie Martin Fiore maxi dress has the whole effortless boho thing covered
2. Loup Charmant Hydra dress is a cozy 100% organic cotton, made in NYC
3. The mama in these photos wore Joanna August and the Dorian long wrap dress is a fave
4. Doen dillon dress for a casual summer session
5. This Strawberry Fields embroidered gown from Fillyboo Maternity for the bohemian goddess
6. Love the simple elegance of the Dress the Population Phoebe chiffon gown
7. Because Show Me Your Mumu is just as gorg on baby bumps as on bridesmaids
8. A perfect coral vintage button maxi dress for all you Free People fans
9. You’ll wear The Paloma dress in vintage lace from Christy Dawn long after baby arrives
10. Lastly, a lovely Rachel Pally long caftan dress, though we love all her designs

Totally intentional that you can flaunt most of these post-bump, too. Flowy dresses forever!

The post 10 statement dresses for maternity photos appeared first on 100 Layer Cakelet.

1. Holiday bundles from willaby
2. One of these colorful baby quilts from Block Shop Textiles
3. You can snag these little Plain White Tee moccs from Lex&Live in sizes newborn to 3 years.
4. Skin dew coconut water cream from One Love Organics… Lots of moisture, no grease!
5. Romper from Chasing Windmills that comes in three different colors.
6. BUTTERelixir baby skin soother hair + body oil… Midland has so many giftable goodies.
7. There are a zillion caftans to choose from on Dwell and Slumber when dreaming up cozy gifts.
8. How cute is this pom bonnet from Briar Bonnets?
9. This 14K gold asymmetrical letter necklace from Maya Brenner would make a special gift for mom. (Psst, see Maya’s inspiring mom profile here)
10. Sweet blanket-slash-companion Lovie Bunny from bitte.
11. Avinash the Elephant makes for a lovely gift for all your mama friends with nurseries to deck out.
12. Sweet ‘n simple little grosgrain headband from Little Crane Headbands on Etsy
13. Have you read The First Forty Days? It’s a must for any mom who *just* welcomed baby.
14. Practical stocking stuffer alert… Boob Designs’ washable nursing pads!
15. After the holidays, you won’t see mom anywhere without a Solly Baby wrap.
16. Bannor Toys has lots of cute wooden gifts like this classic wooden rattle.

Don’t forget to share your own faves with us!

The post Gift guide for mamas and babes appeared first on 100 Layer Cakelet.

Morning mamas! You’re in for a treat today because not only have we got a QA with Maya of Maya Brenner Designs for the latest in our Inspiring Mom series, but lots of photos by Nicki Sebastian of both her gorgeous DTLA studio space and her home tour too. M started her jewelry business in 1999 out of her Manhattan studio apartment while working full-time as a social worker (so impressive!) so we’re extra excited to get a bit of perspective from a mom who has raised her two kiddos while establishing a brand over the long haul. Here’s what we learned…

Maya has this studio in LA’s jewelry district…

But she splits her time between it + her home office (which you’ll see after a few more studio shots!).

What was the inspiration or impetus to start your business?
I was looking for a 50^th birthday present for my mom and spent a lot of money on a necklace I found in a catalog. When it arrived in the mail, I thought, “I could make that!” so I returned it and made my own design. My mom (and everyone else) loved it so I started making necklaces at night when I would get home from work. I wore them around New York and a store owner took notice… and the rest is “herstory”.

How does your business inspire your family, or your family inspire your business?
My kids see me working every day at a company that I built. I want them to see that hard work and passion about things in life can pay off. My daughter wears my jewelry now and my son likes to see celebrities and people he and his friends think are cool wearing my designs. Recently Keke Palmer was wearing my K necklace and both my kids thought that was very awesome.

Such a beautiful, chic space. Her Silverlake home has a bit more of a relaxed California vibe:

How has the business changed or evolved as your children have grown?
When they were smaller, my work was just something that took me away from them. I traveled more because I was focused on building the wholesale side of my business. After my second child was born I changed the model of my business to focus more on my own e-commerce site so that I could stay home more. I thought my business would suffer but interestingly after I stopped focusing on wholesale, we got contacted from Steven Alan, Neiman Marcus, J. Crew and Mark & Graham—which are now our biggest wholesale accounts.

Do you find it challenging or refreshing to work for yourself? Are there particular places or people that you rely on for support as a creative business owner and a mom?
I love working for myself. It gives me so much flexibility and let’s face it—who doesn’t want to be a girl boss? But there are lots of different pressures when you own a business and the responsibilities of keeping it up and running for almost 20 years are endless. And there is no such thing as a true vacation or real maternity leave since there are always problems that need to be handled.

I rely heavily on the people who work for me. I have some amazing women who make sure that all the jewelry gets made and delivered each and every day, they have been incredibly supportive over the past year since my boyfriend and I are undergoing fertility treatments to have another baby. Anyone who has gone through that knows that it’s a full-time job in and of itself! But the fact that I can choose to be there when my kids get home from school and attend all their games and performances and provide for my family at the same time makes me feel very fulfilled.

How do you balance time with your children and time to work?
I don’t know how moms get everything done each day without a lot of help from others. I always say that it takes a village and that my nanny is “another me”.  Running a household with a dog, chickens, and two children with lots of activities makes my head spin most days.

I take the kids to school everyday but I usually have my nanny pick them up since it buys me a little more time to get things done before they get home. She helps with homework, dinner and will stay late if I have a dinner or an event. I also rely heavily on my boyfriend—he owns his own business as well, so we’re both very understanding of what it takes and supportive of each other, while finding the work/life blend that works for everyone. At the end of the day I try to not be too hard on myself and I know that it’s not a perfect balance but I’m just doing the best I can…

Love this lounge!

View The Gallery For More

Big thanks to Maya of Maya Brenner Designs for this peek into her life as biz owner + mama!

Photography: Nicki Sebastian

The post Inspiring Mom: Maya Brenner appeared first on 100 Layer Cakelet.