A certain purple dinosaur has given this dude a bad name. But I'm thinking Barney Saltzberg is taking the name Barney back (yeah!) with 30 incredible children's books and four really swell CDs in his arsenal, including his latest musical…
Call me old-fashioned, but I love the idea of calling cards. Problem is, I have different contact information for different people. It really ruins the elegance of handing over a calling card when I have to scrawl corrections on it first…
You know those people who have a second home and visit it every vacation? Well, that isn't me. If we are going to pack up our family of five and go somewhere, I need to figure out where we're going, where we'll sleep eat and what we'll d…
We're going to go out on a limb and say if you've got money tied up in petrochemical pesticide stocks, this might be a good time to get out. The entire world is going greener, right down to their fair trade organic cotton underwear. Yes,…
I really do love my kids' names. Considering how many fights my husband and I got into before we finally nailed down Quinlan and Drew I might have them plastered all over their walls except for the fact that I have yet to run across a wo…
What do you get when you mix modern sensibilities with the ancient art of letterpress printing, then sprinkle the top with a dash of whimsy? The sweet yet minimalist designs of Dee & Lala , it would seem. My kids are unfortunately too ol…
Say "bean bag chair" and my mind flashes back to 1975, an image of a shiny vinyl blob sitting on shag carpeting. I can even conjure up the squeaking sound it made when I landed on it. The bean bag chairs by Cocoon Couture? Yeah, not one …
The CMP staff has just returned from the BlogHer conference, that magical yearly event in which hundreds of bloggers gather together to hone our craft, take thousands of photos and drink copious amounts of wine - yes, even those of us to…
Personalized gifts are fantastic for new babies, but there are other ways for a mama to know you ordered something especially for her bambino besides having it monogrammed. A great new pick: The splendid custom wallpaper panel art from L…
You should know right off that I am not the biggest Barbie fan, for all of the obvious reasons. But there did come a day when my daughter's begging got the best of me, and I went out to survey the choices. I came home with a doll we henc…
We're always on the lookout for cool empowering tees for our girls that aren't so empowering that they're cheesy. You know what I'm talking about. Oh yes you do. A nice example of ones that work: The tees from Ava's Closet , mom Katie Di…
My daughter is insistent on drawing anywhere and everywhere, which isn't so bad when we're sitting in our kitchen. When we're in our car it can present a bit of a problem. But now with her Room it Up lap desk, I can barely get her to com…
I've tried several ways to manage the ever growing load of water toys that seem to be overtaking our bathroom. None of them have worked as well or looked as sleek as the Kuster Bath Toy Store . (Which is not actually a toy store, but a w…
Rather than argue about the value of a changing table, I'd much rather complain about the crappy changing pad options out there. Most are incredibly flimsy, and require covers that end up in the wash almost as often as I'm changing diape…
I hate plastic bags. There are just too many of them, and most end up in the trash to do nothing but take up space for the next bazillion years. I applaud Dallas mom Mandolyn's decision to turn hers into something useful, like clever bab…
When I see a beautiful, handmade creation, my first thought is: "Oh, how beautiful and creative!" The second thought that crosses my mind is "how can I make that myself?" Occasionally the item is actually in the realm of possibility, eve…
It's pretty hard to wow us with a baby blanket these days, but Canadian Milk Lush has done it in spades. Designer and mom Ashley Ransay has created a fresh square baby quilt called a myQuilt, and color us impressed. It's clear that desig…
Aside from my finger and a random corners of our furniture, the only thing that temporarily relieved my teething babes' sore gums was a frozen wet washcloth. So leave it to a fellow mom to create a teething toy with just that very thing …
Considering our kids have spent many a minute (okay, more like hours) watching Sprout TV , it seemed like the perfect fit when they asked us to join them as guest experts on their blog. Along with brand spankin' never seen before weekly …
The CMP editors and a few of our writers are packing our bags and brushing up on Apple Martini Drinking 101--at least those of us who aren't with child--in preparation for the BlogHer conference in San Francisco this weekend. If you'll b…
I see a whole lot of items presented as wearable art that, well, I would say wearable yes. Art, not so much. But in the case of Lark and Loon , the descriptor really fits. This two mom-run shop commissions original pieces from artists ac…
I wish I had that kind of eye so that I could cluster fifteen framed pictures altogether on a nursery wall and make it look like it does in the pages of Metropolitan Home or Apartment Therapy. But alas, I don't. So I'm grateful for the a…
I love the idea of reviving 60s-style psychedelic prints for kids bedding. It makes so much sense when you consider the wild colors, and the cool repetitive graphics. And no, I don't mean tie-dye. That's just what you'll get with the coo…
I'm a huge proponent of BYOB -- you know, bringing your own bag. But stuffing big canvas shopping bags into my already tightly packed diaper tote unfortunately affects the frequency of me actually doing it. Sorry Earth. That's not the ca…
