More coolness from recent weeks…
Regifting the gift bag
I have been a fan of gift bags for a long time, because I truly suck at wrapping gifts. And, we all know the dirty little secret when it comes to gift bags -- what comes around goes around. And around and around. That's why I love these Traveling Gift bags from Celery...
Stick it; stick it good
Why give a goodie bag full of useless plastic toys that will break five minutes after you give them out, when for the same price you could give each party attendee three sheets of personalized stickers that go with your party's theme? At least that's how I see...
Ballerina girl
Aside from good calves and bad toes, my many years of ballet training gave me a huge soft spot for ballet flats, especially when they come in mini versions for little girls. I nearly squealed when I saw these silver baby ballet slippers from Cheeky Little Soles. Like...
Mother’s Day gifts for the mother of all mothers (or at least the mother of you)
Holy weepy grandmother - I just discovered the personalized plates from Aedriel Dixon's etsy shop and if that's not going to have Nana or Bubbie or Gamma flying through the Kleenex Designer Florals on Mother's Day then I don't know what will.These ceramic plates...
A paint-your-own kit with an adorable twist
With two craft-loving girls, I have enough kids' art supplies in my home to start a small store. That said, I have never seen anything like the adorable set of paint-your-own nesting dolls from Kookle and know my kids would go ga-ga over this kit. Like traditional...
Your picnics just got eco-friendlier, at least as far as your butt is concerned
I'm the woefully unprepared mom at my daughter's soccer games -- the one who's sitting directly on the itchy grass (and who will probably forget to brush the grass off her rear end when she stands up). So I was practically giddy when I discovered the eco-friendly...
Carpool Karma – Turning the minivan into a mobile multitasking machine
My kids aren't even all in school yet, and I already feel like I spend half my day in the car. As a multitasking mom, it nearly kills me to sit there and do nothing but drive. Carpool Karma is an ideal distraction for those of us who wish we could find a way to...
Sales, Whoo! Earth week edition
You want more sales and discounts? You got it. Check in with us every Friday for our favorite steals and deals of the week. And make sure you've signed up for our mailing list. You'll get sneak peeks at special subscriber-only features, contests, and deals!The sale...
Biodegradable baby wipes that don’t suck. Really.
While I'm greening up my act in many ways, I'm still pretty picky where it comes to baby wipes -- it's not totally unreasonable that I don't want to cut corners with the one thing that's keeping me from getting poop all over my hands.So in one of those cosmic...
DAD IS SLEEPING AS HE ENJOYED THE WHISKEY AT THE PARTY and other hilarious emails from your mother
For years, I've saved the emails my mom has sent me. Some are funny, some are sweet, some are nothing anyone else would appreciate besides maybe my brother. I thought I was the only person nostalgic enough to do such a thing, until I discovered Love, Mom: Poignant,...
Another way to hang your kid’s pretty face on the wall
For as long as I can remember, my grandmother had silhouettes of her six kids hung along the fireplace. I loved the fact that just by looking at the profiles of these children I could identify the adults around me. I was happy to discover how Pretty Faces has...
And Chicken was his name-o
My taste in music runs more in the indie vein, but in kids' music, you've gotta hand it to Trout Fishing in America who have been putting out Grammy-nominated, family-friendly folksy rock for about 30 years. But this time around, they've created a Storybook/CD combo...
Time to go bananas
I'll grant you that -- my son's nickname being Monkey, after all -- my fondness for all things primate-related may be a bit beyond that of the average person. Still, if you don't think this little monkey clock by Tree by Kerri Lee is awesome, I'm tempted to believe...
When you need your own personal children’s librarian
What happens when you need to find a book on heroes the night before your kid needs it for kindergarten?After you've exhausted our favorite children's books, you can do what I did and check out the selections in What to Read When, by LitLife founder Pam Allyn. This...
Teething Washcloth 2.0
Since my daughter decided to be a super overachiever and cut two teeth before her six month birthday, I've been scrambling to find teethers beyond the frozen bagels, carrots, and celery that I used on my other two. But thanks to Bodhi Babies organic cotton teething...
Earth Day Pick – Worried about melamine in your children’s plates? Yeah, so are we.
When I first discovered Smiling Planet, I was instantly smitten by this mom and pop company's avid commitment to teaching children respect for the environment through artful, eco-friendly housewares. Essentially Freddy and Olivia Deane have devised a way to make...
Earth Day Pick – Barley & Birch. They mean green
I'm a sucker for cute kids' tees. You can tell by taking one look at my kids' drawers...er floor. And one of my new favorite eco designers, Barley & Birch, is doing amazing things with photography to create beautiful t-shirts for kids, right along with a corporate...
Earth Day Pick – Children’s furniture they can doodle on
I had the dizzying pleasure of attending the mammoth Toy Fair in February, and one thing that seemed to be everywhere was cardboard. Of all of them, my favorite was easily the U.S.-made Elia Mini Chair Kit which takes this basic material and turns it into a piece of...
Earth Day Pick – Eco barrettes that are way prettier than they might sound
I never really thought the words "eco" and "barrette" would be used in the same sentence, that is until I was introduced to the felt hair clips at Sophia Bella Mia. At first glance, you might think they look like any other cute girl's floral barrettes, but actually,...
Earth Day Pick: Great outdoor toys for the great outdoors
The first thing I noticed about Colorado's Sprig Toys is that they smell like fresh-cut wood, even while they look like strong molded plastic. Turns out I was right on both counts--their special "Sprigwood" is an eco-friendly, kid-safe material made from both recycled...
I can’t believe it’s not butter or eggs or nuts or high fructose corn syrup
I knew that I had found a winner with Home Free's line of allergy-free treats when I stole the last cookie before the kids came back into the room for more. At that moment, I would never have guessed that there was anything "missing" from these whole-grain cookies,...