We all know that personalized items make a baby's or kid's gift ten times more special. While many of the big catalog stores offer custom embroidery, they'll usually only personalize their own brand's items--which is kind of limiting. So…
I confess: I have a love-hate relationship with planning birthday parties for my kids. While picking a theme can be fun, I also find it a little exhausting to sift through website after website looking for cool activities for a superhero…
For many of us, this is a sobering and painful day, one that we will always remember. Whether we lived through the darkness in NYC and DC 11 years ago, or we watched the terrible events unfold from our homes and offices far away, 9/11 wi…
When I was a kid, instead of a growth chart, my parents measured us old-school style on the doorframe between the kitchen and the dining room. Quaint they were, but old-school doorway measurements had their drawbacks. Before my folks eve…
One of my most favorite items is a quilt made by my great-grandmother, handed down to me by my grandmother. There is something so special and meaningful about a handmade quilt, although quilting for most people seems like a talent reserv…
I admit, I'm a little over the "Yay, let's celebrate moms who suck!" thing that seems to have grown in popularity over the last few years. However, the hilarious new book Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us may be one of t…
The Cool Moms (me especially) always check EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database before reviewing a product to make sure the ingredients meet a persnickety mom's health and safety needs. Now we're excited to announce that EWG is going furth…
Don't miss an exclusive discount just for Cool Mom Picks readers, below! We can't help but get nostalgic seeing the wonderful new fall baby fashions for Zutano, since all of our older kids, now too big too fit them, wore so many of their…
One of the awesome things about this job is getting to discover so many wonderful small businesses run by the most amazing people. One of the hard parts: hearing that they're closing shop to move onto new ventures. This is the case with …
While we love tracking down hostess gifts for all those summer weekend invitations, it probably doesn't end with Labor Day. Especially with the holidays (eep!) coming up. So I love this fabulous, affordable gift that feels a little more …
From pretty clever to pretty washable to just plain pretty, here are a few of our favorite tech picks from the last week, in case you missed them. 1. Want to know about the big tech news this week? We've got the details on the upcoming i…
We just returned from our third tent-camping excursion, and while I wouldn't call us back-country experts, I've learned a lot since that first trip when I was still nursing a toddler while trying to keep the other two from falling into t…
Last week, I was so thrilled to be invited to attend the fashion show for the Ralph Lauren Fall and Holiday Girls collection. I have to admit, I was surprised at how wearable and funky a lot of the fashions were, as opposed to the seriou…
I'm not a huge cook but I do dabble in cookie-making. Even I know my way around a hand-mixer, and can manage cookie cutters without any major culinary trauma. However if I had mad fondant skills? I would totally be making these vintage t…
All kids can rock their little league team uniforms but alas, my kids don't play traditional team sports and therefore don't get a complimentary skateboarding jersey (should there be such a thing). They want jerseys, but they want them t…
I love paging through home-furnishings catalogs and feeling that combination of envy and absolute astonishment. Have you ever looked through a spread and thought: "who the heck lives like that?" Of course you have. Well get ready to laug…
Yesterday we introduced you to the fantastic new kids line of clothing at UNIQLO, the affordable styles, and the wonderful social good that this global company (and our newest awesome sponsor) is committed to. Oh, plus a chance to win a …
The start of the school year means once again, the hunt for creative party favors and teacher gift s begins. Well we've brought you cookies in a jar , dreidels in a jar , and pickles in a jar . Now we've got a forest in a jar-- made by y…
I have been a huge UNIQLO fan for ages. I love their chic mix-and-match basics, their long-lasting wear, the great prices, and the social responsibility commitment of this global company. And now for the first time, US kids can get in on…
I am a big fan of family traditions. And one of the best parts of having a family of my own is that we can create our own traditions. Whether schlepping to Aunt Stacy's every Thanksgiving for her perfect roasted turkey or watching the NY…
Soda, or "pop" if you're from the Midwest, is not something you tend to think of as homemade. Even as one of the great American culinary traditions it tends to be mass produced and super sized, laden with high fructose corn syrup, and ta…
During this back-to-school season , it can be kind of easy to forget that there are some kids in the world who don't go to school at all. But you can help--all with the purchase of a super-cool bookbag or backpack from an amazing company…
You know how it goes: your kids wear their clothes for a ridiculously short period of time. Sure, there's always hand-me-downs, or consignment and Craigslist, if you're motivated enough to try to make some money. But those routes require…
On one hand, actual paper recipe cards seems like they could be going the way of the Betamax and the Rolodex. On the other hand, here comes a wonderful stationer creating lovely free (free!) printable recipe cards that actually make use …
