Design your own monster without the scary bill

At Cool Mom Picks we definitely love all these awesome companies springing up that allow kids to create their own stuffed animals, monsters, or mutant alien hybrid creatures. But if you're on a tight budget, you must head directly for CurlyQ Cuties.

While they don't take your kid's original art and turn it into a monster, their interactive site lets kids pick the monster's shape and color, and features like its kooky eyes, mouth, and belly button. Kind of Mr. Potato Head style.  In fact, my daughter had so much fun with the site, I've bookmarked it so she can go back and just play around with different monster combos.

For just $25, you'll get an adorable and completely original fleece monster in a flash (seriously, they must bribe the postal workers), making it an awesomely unique gift that won't tax the plastic. -Kristen

Congratulations to Pam W, winner of a CurlyQ Cutie!