More coolness from recent weeks…
You know it’s natural nail polish when there’s spinach in it
I'm known to friends as slightly (ahem) neurotic when it comes to using eco and natural products for everything from face creams to house cleaners, so a line of natural nail polishes called Play Love Laugh from Hugo Naturals for my kids? A no-brainer. They get a...
New baby memory books for parents who find other baby books a little too traditional.
Being a parent definitely makes you realize how fast time flies by. Case in point: my baby girl, who I feel like I had yesterday, is almost ready for solids. Meanwhile, my nearly two-year-old son is spitting out new words every day. But when you're running on zero...
7 must-have poetry books for young readers, in honor of National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, so we're having some fun adding poetry to our bedtime reading routine. Of course, any reading out loud to my kids is good for growing brains, but kids seem to have a special love for poetry--even before they understand the words we're...
Handmade kid-sized hammocks that rock. In both senses.
When my kids try climbing onto the huge woven rope hammock in their grandparents' back yard, it inevitably flips over and leaves them dangling inches above the ground, hanging on underneath for dear life. It's so hilarious. I mean...awful. Right, it's awful. Either...
A Nest is Noisy: A children’s book that brings spring to life beautifully
Considering the winter we've had (and honestly, are still kind of having) in the northeast where I am, I nearly cried when I saw the crocuses coming up in my mother's garden last week. While spring is officially here, it never quite feels that way until I see the...
Custom art pillows: The Mother’s Day gift that lets your kids paint on the couch. Kind of.
Some of my favorite Mother's Day gifts are ones that my kids make for me, though I will admit that there are only so many macaroni necklaces a girl can own. So if you're looking for an enduring custom Mother's Day gift idea that combines the handmade art of your kids...
The ultimate roundup of last-minute Easter ideas: Crafts, printables, egg dyeing help, and lots and lots of treats.
If you're looking out for some last minute Easter ideas, we are here for you! You've still got a couple of days to whip up some fun treats, set up the kids with cute crafts, print out some coloring pages, or just figure out whether the Easter eggs will be submerged in...
Go Minted! It’s your birthday! And a special discount to celebrate.
We've all been huge fans and supporters of Minted long before they were a Cool Mom Picks sponsor, so it seems hard to believe that they are turning seven! It's no surprise their ever-growing collection of stationery, invitations, and gifts designed by indie artists...
The baby booster seat you’ll be sad to outgrow.
As you might imagine, we see a lot of baby gear 'round these parts (yes, I'm still a southern girl at heart) and that includes all kinds of booster seats. But the new Mamas & Papas Baby Bud booster is worth a look for several reasons, not just because it's nice to...
7 impressive make-ahead Easter brunch recipes. As in, more time to sneak handfuls of the kids’ jellybeans.
I love hosting holiday brunches for family and friends, but cooking holiday brunches is not so high on my list. I’d much rather ease into my day sipping a latte or, now that it’s spring, one of these amazing iced coffee drinks, than slave over a stove first thing in...
The most fun printable Haggadah for kids we’ve ever seen
While mostly what kids look forward to in a Passover Seder is finding the matzoh, reading the four questions and stuffing their faces with as many macaroons or chocolate-covered Matzoh as possible, a few years back we discovered a clever Passover Haggadah for...
Fast food gets a whole lot slower, and healthier, with the new Burger King Paleo menu.
As busy as we are with our kids and all the activities we're running to every week night, like most parents, we really do our best to feed them healthy foods. That usually means eating together before hockey practice, or packing some sort of meal on-the-go, which...
Getting back to basics. Affordable, lovely basics.
While I'm all for buying a few special items for my kids, like a crazy pair of polka-dot Doc Martens or some fun fuzzy vest they're coveting, mostly their wardrobes consist of affordable basics that can mix or match with the rest. Like, 20 different pairs of black...
The Book of Life is one fascinating website. Or is it a book.
So, there's this really interesting website called The Book of Life. And I'm trying to figure out how to describe it, but I keep coming up empty. Is it an encyclopedic resource? An online self-help book? A place to turn for philosophical discourse? It's kind of all of...
10 cool free printable Easter coloring pages for kids who’ve moved past fat washable markers
If you're looking for some last minute Easter crafts for your kids, and making your own hand-stitched Easter bunny doll from vintage fabrics you scavenged from estate sales isn't quite on the agenda, printable coloring pages are always a hit. At least in my home. (See...
Piki Piki: It’s a bike! It’s a trike! It’s the new top of your toddler’s wish list.
Vroom vroom! That's the sound of one very happy 21-month-old zooming around in my living room on the Piki Piki from Gallo and Spence Toys, a great new bike-trike hybrid for toddlers and preschoolers. And with my own toddler (and soon-to-be toddler, eek!) am so happy...
17 of the coolest bunny crafts for Easter we can’t resist. Oh, the kids too, of course.
Many of us are going to turn the calendar over to April and realize, with a start, that Easter is a blink away on April 5. Or today, it's a week away. So use this last week to decorate eggs, make Eastery treats, and finish shopping for those baskets. And if you need...
Swell Forever takes personalized baby blankets to a whole new level.
This spring, two of my friends have had kid number four which as we all know, makes it a little tougher in the gift-giving department. What baby gift do you give to the veteran mom who has three of everything already? Think heirlooms and personalized gifts. (Unless of...
5 knockout Passover dessert recipes that you’ll totally crave again before next year’s seder.
It used to be that Passover desserts were only good for, well, Passover. No leavening and no flour meant no fun. And it’s even trickier if you keep kosher. Times have changed, though, and while I’m not sure why seder sweets look so much better these days (maybe they...
We’re mod for Petunia’s chic new diaper bags
Maybe it's because spring is officially in the air, but mamas, I am definitely in love. With a diaper bag. More specifically, with the new Mod collection from Cool Mom Picks favorite Petunia Pickle Bottom. With three modern diaper bags that any mom -- or...
9 adorably modern Easter dresses for girls, all under 50.
When I look around for girls' Easter dresses, there's a whole lot of smocking and seersucker and box pleats and classic peter pan collars. Which can be utterly adorable, of course. (Is any little girl not super cute when she's all dressed up? Exactly.) Even so, not...