More coolness from recent weeks…
Going orange for the ASPCA
April is already a busy month with Easter, Passover and Earth Day on the brain, but on Tuesday the 7th, I plan to go orange and help the ASPCA kick off Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month whatever way I can. Sure, time and money are tight right now, but I'm all for...
Goat milk soaps – a family affair
When I was in Maine a couple of years ago, I found the most incredible handmade goats' milk soap at a farmer's market. I'm such an idiot for not scribbling down the name, because I haven't been able to track it down again. But recently, I found something equally as...
Cute stuff for an amazing cause
Sometimes you want to donate to a good cause, and sometimes you want to buy cute stuff. And sometimes someone gets a fabulous idea like The Emancipation Network did, and they start selling cute stuff made by the very folks the profits go towards supporting--in this...
Organizational help that doesn’t make you feel like a loser for needing it in the first place
I'm always looking for ways to get more organized, but I cannot abide the sort of "helpful" service that makes me feel like I'm a slacker just for being there.The newly relaunched Buttoned Up never skewers me with guilt; this website (from the same makers of all the...
From Eat A Lot of Peaches to Three Blind Mice
You know the indie pop band Presidents of the United States of America? Well now lead singer Chris Ballew has an alter ego called Caspar Babypants, and he's replaced the more grown up alt-rock sound with a more folksy beat and lyrics especially for tots on his debut...
The perfect shirt and tie for little boys who, really, shouldn’t be in perfect shirts and ties.
I hate to admit this but most of the time, my son's dressier outfits are left as complete afterthoughts compared with my daughters' pretty dresses. It's not like he gets all excited to dress up in his tie each day and run around the house playing "office."...
Letters from the Easter Bunny rock the USPS in a very small way
The Easter Bunny doesn't receive letters, he sends them. And evidently they're very, very small. The World's Smallest Postal Service courtesy of Lea Redmond of Leafcutter Designs can rock your kid's world with a teeny tiny letter in a teeny tiny envelope stamped with...
A little pampering, in whatever spare moments you have
Honestly, I'm not that into bath salts and scrubs and fancy pampering- maybe because my shower lengths are too often determined by how long I can stand to hear the baby cry. But I do understand the advantages of smelling nice, which is why gift boxes of organic...
These children’s shoes go to Eleven
If you need another reason to be happy it's spring, just check out Eleven's new Spring line of kids' shoes. A sort of "big sister/big brother" to our fave See Kai Run, Eleven offers children's shoes in bigger-kid sizes 9 to 3. I've gushed about Eleven's footwear...
Step away from the chocolate bunnies. At least until after breakfast.
Before my kids consume their body weight in candy on Easter, I try to get something healthy into their bodies at breakfast. One really clever way to do this is to put the colorful Rise & Shine Gift Box from Kid Central Kitchen on the table and let them think that...
Kids’ playhouses that make your backyard the most coveted real estate on the block
This city mom has a dream, and it includes a second bathroom, a third bedroom, and some actual outdoor space that isn't owned by the city parks department. If I were to magically come across this dream townhouse (which also should, by the way, be precisely between 5th...
Easter Baskets. Hold the Baskets.
Growing up, our Easter baskets were these monstrosities that my mom lovingly decorated with ribbons and bows, only to have them shoved back into a box for next year. Well, for my kids, I've decided to go a little more subtle with these handmade bags from Ecco...
The Cool Mom Picks gourmet Easter basket roundup
It's easy enough to fill up our kids' Easter baskets on one stop to the drug store, but for the more sophisticated palates on your Easter guest list, step it up with delicious, artisan chocolate that will make them forget the foil-wrapped stuff faster than you can say...
Easter eggs, hold the sugar high
Nothing like a holiday to make me feel like the harried mom buying last-minute decorations that probably aren't even worth saving for next year. That's just bad for my wallet and bad for the earth. So this Easter, I'm ahead of the game, thanks to the adorable Star...
Felt like Easter
Much as I love to color eggs with my kids, there are only so many hard-boiled eggs one family can eat. And while the plastic eggs aren't perishable, they aren't particularly attractive or earth-friendly either.These felted Easter eggs from astashtoys are a great...
The incredible, edible, obedient egg
Raising two voracious but sometimes picky readers, I've learned that there are a few factors that go into a guaranteed successful kids' board book: Simple concepts, not too many words on each page, and ideally, anything a kid can touch/move/smell/poke/feel or...
Eh, moms get enough freakouts all year long. Let’s skip the April Fools joke this year and go right to the giveaway.
If you happen to get the Medela Mom Mavens newsletter which came out yesterday, you might just have noticed that your humble Cool Mom Picks editors are featured. We're so honored! We're offering up a few As to some good Qs about blogging, how we pick our picks, and...
(Interjection)! Schoolhouse Rock Is back to rock the earth
When my kids heard Schoolhouse Rock was coming out with a new DVD, Schoolhouse Rock! Earth, they were as excited as I was, seeing that they've heard the original songs since they were old enough to say Unpack Your Adjectives. I can't think of a better reason for...
Some girls have all the luck, as the new Ses Petites Mains line will hereby demonstrate
Are you sick of us oohing and ahhing over our favorite girls' clothing for spring yet? No? Good. (Yes? Tough.) Because once again, Beth Miles of Ses Petites Mains is wowing us with her new spring/summer collection of spectacularly gorgeous dresses and separates for...
Because the Easter Bunny loves kids with food allergies, too
My daughter is allergic to milk, meaning her Easter basket is usually filled with jelly beans and stickers while her siblings chomp on those awesome chocolate bunnies. So this year, I'm planning ahead and ordering Divvies' hand-poured, solid chocolate bunny. It looks...
A website for crafts and activities of the non-lame variety
I like doing crafts with my daughter, but usually one of two things happens: either the craft I come up with is lame (like taping purple things to a piece of paper and writing purple at the top) or the sites I visit for inspiration assume that I have such esoteric...