More coolness from recent weeks…
Back Away From the Stinging Nettles, Young Person
Having grown up in Iowa on a farm, I'm probably at a slight advantage for identifying poisonous plants and snakes. But for the rest of us, or just kids who love all things creepy and crawly and generally nasty, there's Don't Touch That! by Jeff Day, who is...
Bring It.
It's the invasion of the eco-bags! They're flooding the market and the truth is, as long as they keep being cute, we're going to keep posting about them. The latest entry: BYOB from two ever eco-consicous women up in Vancouver, Canada.The ethically-made totes have a...
Barney. The Good One.
A certain purple dinosaur has given this dude a bad name. But I'm thinking Barney Saltzberg is taking the name Barney back (yeah!) with 30 incredible children's books and four really swell CDs in his arsenal, including his latest musical artistry, Crazy Hair Day. (Did...
Fill-in-the-Blank Calling Cards: Sooooooo Smart
Call me old-fashioned, but I love the idea of calling cards. Problem is, I have different contact information for different people. It really ruins the elegance of handing over a calling card when I have to scrawl corrections on it first. The fill-in-the-blank line of...
Wooden Name Signs We Can Get Behind. Finally.
I really do love my kids' names. Considering how many fights my husband and I got into before we finally nailed down Quinlan and Drew I might have them plastered all over their walls except for the fact that I have yet to run across a wooden name sign that suits my...
Ethical Underwear? Sure, Why Not.
We're going to go out on a limb and say if you've got money tied up in petrochemical pesticide stocks, this might be a good time to get out. The entire world is going greener, right down to their fair trade organic cotton underwear. Yes, underwear. We've recently been...
Your Very Own Family Travel Muse. No Resemblance to Sharon Stone.
You know those people who have a second home and visit it every vacation? Well, that isn't me. If we are going to pack up our family of five and go somewhere, I need to figure out where we're going, where we'll sleep eat and what we'll do once we get there. Travel...
Letterpress cards for moms that don’t scream LETTERPRESS CARDS FOR MOMS
What do you get when you mix modern sensibilities with the ancient art of letterpress printing, then sprinkle the top with a dash of whimsy? The sweet yet minimalist designs of Dee & Lala, it would seem. My kids are unfortunately too old and cynical to endure the...
Sometimes Mama Needs a Cocktail. Even if Baby Doesn’t.
The CMP staff has just returned from the BlogHer conference, that magical yearly event in which hundreds of bloggers gather together to hone our craft, take thousands of photos and drink copious amounts of wine - yes, even those of us toting our babies in CMP-approved...
Not Mrs. Brady’s Bean Bag Chair
Say "bean bag chair" and my mind flashes back to 1975, an image of a shiny vinyl blob sitting on shag carpeting. I can even conjure up the squeaking sound it made when I landed on it. The bean bag chairs by Cocoon Couture? Yeah, not one of those. This Australian...
Dream Big, Little Girl
We're always on the lookout for cool empowering tees for our girls that aren't so empowering that they're cheesy. You know what I'm talking about. Oh yes you do. A nice example of ones that work: The tees from Ava's Closet, mom Katie Dietrich's effort to send more...
Wonderland Meets Wallpaper
Personalized gifts are fantastic for new babies, but there are other ways for a mama to know you ordered something especially for her bambino besides having it monogrammed. A great new pick: The splendid custom wallpaper panel art from Lisa Golightly of Kiki and...
EthiDolls: Not just a Barbie with darker skin
You should know right off that I am not the biggest Barbie fan, for all of the obvious reasons. But there did come a day when my daughter's begging got the best of me, and I went out to survey the choices. I came home with a doll we henceforth referred to as...
Lap desks for kids that they’ll totally use
My daughter is insistent on drawing anywhere and everywhere, which isn't so bad when we're sitting in our kitchen. When we're in our car it can present a bit of a problem. But now with her Room it Up lap desk, I can barely get her to come out, even when we're pulling...
Bath Toy Storage That Actually Stores Bath Toys. Crazy, Huh?
I've tried several ways to manage the ever growing load of water toys that seem to be overtaking our bathroom. None of them have worked as well or looked as sleek as the Kuster Bath Toy Store. (Which is not actually a toy store, but a way to store toys. A little...
Poo-Pourri: The $9.95 Marriage Saver
When you get a pitch for something called Poo-Pourri you think it's a joke. Maybe a teaser for a Will Ferrell movie or an April Fool's email that got lost in the ether for three months. But holy cow, it's for real...and it's good. Very good. The whole idea is that you...
A Changing Mat That’s Changing Minds
Rather than argue about the value of a changing table, I'd much rather complain about the crappy changing pad options out there. Most are incredibly flimsy, and require covers that end up in the wash almost as often as I'm changing diapers.The genius Kuster Jellybaby...
I, glasses
While I've got way too many little pouches and cases to keep all my kid's items clean and safe, I tend to just toss my own things right into the depths of my diaper bag without even thinking twice. That's probably why I'm on my third pair of sunglasses this...
Crafty Mama Helps Make All Mamas a Little Craftier
When I see a beautiful, handmade creation, my first thought is: "Oh, how beautiful and creative!" The second thought that crosses my mind is "how can I make that myself?" Occasionally the item is actually in the realm of possibility, even for sleep-deprived...
In Your Next Life, You Could be a Bib Too
I hate plastic bags. There are just too many of them, and most end up in the trash to do nothing but take up space for the next bazillion years. I applaud Dallas mom Mandolyn's decision to turn hers into something useful, like clever baby bibs. At her shop, The Pretty...
myQuilt: You’ll Wish It Were Your Quilt
It's pretty hard to wow us with a baby blanket these days, but Canadian Milk Lush has done it in spades. Designer and mom Ashley Ransay has created a fresh square baby quilt called a myQuilt, and color us impressed. It's clear that designing and assembling each...