More coolness from recent weeks…
The Cool Mom Picks Holiday Gift Guide is here!
We're kicking November to the curb and happily welcoming December with our highly anticipated, super spectacular 2011 Holiday Gift Guide! Whoo! For the 6th straight year, we've scoured the web for the best gifts ever--150 this year at every price point for everyone on...
4 modern nativity sets, not one of which lights up
Though my religious affiliation can best be summed up with a long puzzled silence, there are certain things from my youth that I carry with me to this day, like praying when the plane jets down the runway, and setting up the nativity scene before Christmas.Our...
Up where the air is clear
My kids fell in love with Anamalz right away. Not so much because they were made out of eco-friendly, organic wood and textiles by a super cool Australian company. But because of all the reasons kids like toys--they're cute. And they're awesome. They're bendy and they...
Deck the halls (or kids’ bedrooms) with Babybot and Blik
Along with decking the halls, we hope to finally redo the walls in my son's bedroom, but given that it has taken years for us to get around to this project, there will be no painted murals of his favorite cartoon characters. Instead, I'm digging the idea of decorating...
Hey, that’s got my name on it!
Looking for a gift this holiday season that won't take up any more space in the playroom? How about some practical and functional items for your little ones to call all their own? Artist Mayi Carles has a full line of pieces that you can order personalized...
Personalized initial necklaces made with real thread. Not fake gold.
I have an arsenal of go-to occasion gifts and one of my favs for the ladies in my life is the classic initial necklace. Perfect for a new mama or a friend's birthday it always leaves my girls feeling extra special. I couldn't be more thrilled with the discovery of...
6 special ways to celebrate grandma and grandpa birthdays
We're honored to be working with our sponsor the American Cancer Society, who's doing such good work in ensuring that all of us continue to have many more birthdays. My mom hit the big 60 birthday milestone last year (don't kill me for writing that, mom!) and while I...
Sweaters like Grandma would make. Because a grandma did.
I feel like, every fall, I end up on on a mission to find handmade sweaters and other goodies that have that little extra bit of TLC knitted in. You know, like someone made them just for my kids Robbie Carmack of RCforkids is pretty much that someone. Her sweaters are...
Tegu blocks go mobile. i.e. They like to move it, move it.
When we find something as smart and cool as the magnetic blocks by Tegu, we keep an eye out for whatever they come up with next, because we know it's going to knock our socks off. This time, they're knocking our blocks off by adding--- drumroll-- wheels
Eight Crazy Nights. (Not to be confused with Crazy Eights.)
Let's face it people, good Hanukkah items are hard to come by. Fortunately Emily Sper, creator of those clever Hanukkah activity books is back and I'm especially pleased to find a fresh pick from her for 5772. Emily' new collection of Hanukkah card games will be a fun...
Truly adorable kids clothes from Tea Collection’s newest arrivals
Of all the Cyber Monday deals today, we might be the most excited about Tea Collection. A frequent CMP sponsor and a label our own kids wear a lot of, they're not only offering 25% off their already reduced sale collection today, but for every purchase you make on...
Cyber Monday Deals – the ultimate list for the fashionably frugal.
First of all, a big welcome to The Today Show viewers! If you caught our Editor-in-Chief Liz Gumbinner today talking about Cyber Monday fashion deals--and you like the idea of doing your holiday shopping from work or from home while you catch up on Bravo (or uh,...
A Method to your holiday madness
Method definitely had me in mind, when they developed soaps and cleaning products that not only look good out in the open, but they smell nice enough that you don't mind washing everyone else's dishes. (Ahem.) This year they've got a holiday collection that's so...
10 spectacular advent calendars worthy of Christmas
We may still have Thanksgiving leftovers in the refrigerator, but December 1st is just around the corner. To my kids, this can only mean one thing: Time to get out the advent calendar so that they can start the countdown to Christmas. And just in time, we have tracked...
One gift for them, one for me. One for them, one for me…
While you're oh so busy shopping for everyone on your list (and man, doesn't that list seem to get bigger every year?) I say, don't forget to pick up a little something something for yourself. Something that you can show off at every store you hit, every party you...
Shop local, for Small Business Saturday is back. Hooray!
Last year we were overjoyed to learn that Small Business Saturday is now "a thing." Not that it hasn't been a thing around Cool Mom Picks for the last five years or so. And not just on Saturdays either. Even so, it's a great excuse to get out today--or heck, stay...
This advent calendar will stick around for years to come
Fewer things throw my kids into a tizzy of Christmastime anticipation as an advent calendar with its counting down of days. But the calendar grandma gets them with the waxy chocolate behind each door isn't much to look at and barely makes it to the 25th.I think I've...
Keep your elves busy with these Color-in Gift Tags
My kids really want to be helper elves when it comes to wrapping the gifts, but after a roll of tape and a yard of paper, I've learned to enlist their help in other ways. So instead of handing them the safety scissors and gift wrap, I'm going to hand them a box of...
A little techy help with Thanksgiving weekend
If you haven't visited Cool Mom Tech this week, grab a minute while the turkey is happily roasting. You'll find a whole lot of posts that we think can help make your weekend even better, from the kitchen to the weekend holiday shopping, to the long ride back home on...
Happy Thanksgiving, Cool Parents
Just a quick note to wish you all a beautiful Thanksgiving, however you're spending it. We hope you're surrounded by all the people you love, reminded of all the many, many things we have to be thankful for.As for us, we can say with all sincerity that we're grateful...
A new way to frame those fabulous family photos
I am always looking for fun ways to hang up pictures of the brood. Once I can convince my husband to help me arrange the pictures on the walls, they are pretty much up for good. We are big fans of Paper Culture around here, and they have come up with a perfect...