The only thing more impressive to us than an adorable handmade stuffed animal is one with an awesome do-gooding backstory. Like the one behind Kathy Chereck's "critters" at the shop Ashley Petite . When Kathy Chereck lost her grandson, N…
We totally dug the Invisibelt when it first came out (seriously - half of our writers bought one and they all rave about it) because it lies flat and gets rid of that lumpy bumpy crazy stuff that goes on under your untucked shirt. And no…
Despite the fact that we have managed to stay fairly clear of the princess movies, princess dress-up clothes, and princess storybooks around my place, my girls are still enamored of the whole princess thing. I give up! But if I do give u…
These days, not everyone wants (or needs) to spend money on a brand new backpack or lunchbox for the kids each school year. So I like the idea of finding those fun little doodads that help liven up backpacks and make them feel new again.…
Oh happy day; it's taken four whole years and my daughter is at last allowing me to stick hair clips in her crazy hair - and not pulling them out four seconds later. In fact she seems to like them. (And I say this hesitantly knowing I'm …
Of all the things my homeschooled kids miss about not going " back to school " in the traditional sense, it's not having a daily ride on a school bus that ranks at the top. And now that they've caught site of this handmade Painted School…
It seems like every week there is a new list of chemicals that I should make sure are not in my family's bath products, and frankly it gets hard for me to keep track. But Original Sprout has got worried moms covered. They have a fabulous…
As we mentioned in our back to school shopping guide (you have been to our back to school shopping guide, right?) stripes are huge for this fall. But they're not only for the school aged among us. At Australia's trendy Moppit clothing, I…
My husband and I are going to be finalizing the adoptions of our two daughters at the end of August. I would love to get them some beautiful dresses or outfits for this special day but I want them to be equally appropriate for when we ha…
Thank goodness for peanut butter (and yogurt and cheese) for without it, I'm not entirely sure how my practically vegetarian girls would get any protein in them. And thank goodness for Justin's Organic nut butters , which make me feel a …
I don't even want to think about how many plastic sandwich bags I go through a month. Every day my son takes at least two or three in his lunch bag, and I've felt it's either use a disposable sandwich bag or buy the much more expensive p…
If you've been known to lust after designer backpacks and dream of sending your kid back to school in impeccable style, but can't quite bring yourself to face the designer price tag, I have some great news. Now's a great time to buy thos…
Who knew, back when we were kids that there would be a lunchbox alternative besides those little metal numbers with the latch, the wobbly handle, and, if you were me, an illustration of the Partridge Family on the front. The contemporary…
While all of the trend forecasting is pointing to the 80s for fall, I'm loving the 80s-meets-50s footwear mashup of the new Keds saddle shoe sneaker , right in time for back to school shopping. It's that rare hybrid that's got all the co…
My days of drawing rock band logos on my knees are long gone, but life would have been a lot easier if the non-toxic Tee Juice fabric markers were around back then. My son and his friends tried them out during the world's best playdate ,…
Can I mention that I'm sort of freaking out about this whole packing a lunch in an actual lunch box thing, which is completely silly because it's just a lunch for goodness sake. So, I'm relying on my daughter's new Laptop Lunch box and b…
The day I realized how many plastic baggies I was using in my kids' lunches each week was the day I began trying every sort of reusable container and wrap out there. Nowadays the kids take a cobbled-together assortment of reusables in th…
I just do not have that kind of creativity it would entail to look at a traditional sock monkey and think, Hmm, I bet I could improve on that. But that's what CMP fave Clarity Miller did when she turned one into a Socktopus . It's virtua…
While I can't say that sleep sacks miraculously kept my kids from waking up, they at least kept me from needlessly running to their cribs to cover them up or untangle them from their web of blankets. It's a great practical gift for new m…
The cult favorite Patemm pad was one of the first products we ever featured on Cool Mom Picks, back when we all had one kid a piece and were astonishingly better rested. Since then, we've added to our own broods while Pattem has extended…
I'm pretty sure there's nothing most kids love more than seeing their name or likeness in anything, hence the slew of personalized books that cram my daughter's bookshelves. Her most recent birthday gift was a personalized book found at …
The first thing I thought when I saw the little audrey in the city dress was that I really really want one in my size. This black and white micro-polkadot dress is classic and cute in all the right ways. Blue Sky Rocket has a new selecti…
We're a crazy homeschooling family, minus the denim jumpers and 65 children (Kidding! Kidding!) and I'm always on the lookout for ways to teach the kids things without boring them to tears with text books and lectures. The 6 in 1 Educati…
My heart is going thumpity-thump on seeing the new Alexander Girard alphabet blocks by House Industries. Yes okay, so the set is 100 bucks at maXimo design but the truth is, if I add up all the disposable plastic toys we've received for …