The kids’ pajamas to wake up to Christmas morning – and every morning after that.

by Cool Mom Team | Baby, Kid Style

I know friends who have a holiday tradition of giving the kids a new pair of pajamas every Christmas Eve. It makes for fantastic photo ops on Christmas morning — but then I visit in the spring and those poor kids are still walking around in candy cane stripes...

A clean start to the new year

by Cool Mom Team | Beauty + Cosmetics

We have a tradition of visiting friends and family on January 1 – now that we have kids. And we’re not quite so hungover that day. For a New Year’s gift, I love the idea of grabbing one of the natural, small batch handmade Soaptopia gift boxes,...

Lovely gift boxes that take the ugh out of gift wrapping.

by Cool Mom Team | Party Ideas

I am beyond grateful for all the pretty boxes and gift bags out there because I am 1. Totally spazzy with wrapping paper (seriously, it’s sad) and 2. Totally impatient with long gift wrap lines at department stores. Let’s also add 3. Totally annoyed with...

The perfect little gift for the tween who has everything. (And don’t they all?)

by Stephanie Slate | Cool Tech

Got a tween girl on your list this year? I don’t, I confess. But if I did, I totally know what I’d get her. (See, isn’t that always the way? Now if only I could trade this great tween gift idea with someone who knows the perfect thing for a...

Giving the gift of creativity – Great craft kits for kids

by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings

As the nieces and nephews and various children in my life get a little older, I’m increasingly more into finding crafty gifts that not only entertain them for a little while, but let them show off their handiwork when they’re done. Here are a few favorites...

Not your grandma’s recipe cards

by Mir | Food + Recipes

My grandmother wrote recipes on flowery little cards expressly for that purpose, and my mother rebelled against the cute by using nothing more than plain index cards. Me, I fall somewhere in the middle–plain cards seem kind of depressing, but I’m just not...

The Whiplash Scooter according to Brodie – 4.5 stars out of 5

by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings

When the makers of the popular Wave skateboard asked me to send their much buzzed-about new Whiplash Scooter for a test drive, I was like uh…not on your life. But I have a 12 year-old nephew named Brodie who I knew could give me the scoop since that’s who...

Drink This – The perfect gift for wine lovers, wannabe wine lovers, or people who just want to punch pretentious wine lovers

by Cool Mom Team | Books for Adults, Food + Recipes

I’ve let my own wine knowledge atrophy since falling in love with someone who makes a point to say that actually, he prefers Northern Rhone wines. (Seriously.) So I was excited when I first got wind of Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl’s new tome, Drink This: Wine...

Cool robot toys that won’t give me a (bleeping) headache

by Christina Refford | Toys + Playthings

I’d like to make this holiday the Year Of Fewer Batteries, which could be a bitter pill to swallow for my little robot-aholic who hopes to add a few droids, bots or even a ridiculous robotic hamster to his collection. He’s in luck, though, because...

Please pass the gelt

by Christina Refford | Food + Recipes

Gold coin chocolates are certainly a Hanukkah necessity, although I love how this tradition can be made even better with Divine Chocolate’s gold-wrapped fair-trade coins. Made from cocoa coming from a farmer-owned cooperative of growers in Ghana, Divine...