I'm a little unbalanced when it comes to "Japanese cute" (kawaii!) like Momiji Friendship Dolls , the uber-trendy little resin dolls from London's Artforum, which are a modern and more affordable spin on the traditional Japanese wooden K…
I have a pretty wooden advent calendar/box with little doors that my boys use to count down the days until Christmas but I always have trouble finding cute items to put inside. Any ideas? -Kristin The advent calendar is the first thing m…
Loved my ginormous collapsible playpen / portable crib when the kids were little. Loved. Though I admit to doing a happy dance when I no longer had to lug that thing around to hotels and overnights at the grandparents. But because we're …
In our family, Christmas stockings have always been a really important aspect of our family tradition. Even on years we skip the tree for whatever reason, those stockings just make the house feel festive and fun. So I really love seeking…
With some of our closest friends and family (and yes, even you, our fabulous readers) taking the plunge into parenthood through the amazing gift of adoption, we're always on the lookout for amazing finds as a way to celebrate their journ…
For years I was mystified by the thong, an article of clothing that felt more "medieval torture device" than comfy undergarment. But, after hearing about Hanky Panky's thongs , I gave them a try and have been a convert to their comfortab…
We've been blown away by the awesome entries to the Shutterfly contest so far. We love seeing your families and your amazing books - so keep them coming! You have until tomorrow night to share your own book and win a bunch of great prize…
I've become a strong advocate of paper dolls since realizing that my girls can spend hours entertaining themselves with them. The only issue? That whole paper thing. Let's just say freak decapitations are are not an uncommon occurrence. …
Next week is Thanksgiving, and if you're like my family, that means lots of little kids around. The cousins are all getting to the age where they can entertain themselves (hallelujah!) which means we're stocking up on craft supplies and …
We've all got play dough connoisseurs for children at Cool Mom Picks, so I know that a few of the organic versions I've had a chance to try out recently have some tough standards to live up to. Past pick Eco-Dough so far is the benchmark…
With my family spread out around the country, my husband, kids and I often spend the holidays alone, which means I don't have the greatest excuse to buy my children fancy holiday-best clothes. So instead, I tend to look for festive cloth…
Considering my youngest is getting all her molars and eye teeth in at the same time (no kidding), the super smart Ringley teether, a mom-invented natural wood and organic terry cloth teething toy , is in regular rotation around my place.…
It's no secret that mail is cool. I'll bet I'm not the only person who still gets a little flutter of excitement when I come home to see envelopes poking out the top of my mailbox. In fact, I know I'm not the only person because my daugh…
Especially this time a year, we love opportunities to get our kids, even the really little ones, into the idea of doing nice things for other people. So we were glad to discover that November 21st is officially National Family Volunteer …
If you're looking to knock off a half-dozen of teacher gifts or cousin gifts or classmate gifts in one fell swoop, I love the idea of the holiday ornament kit from CMP fave, Thomas Claire . This wonderful mom-run company will hook you up…
Steer clear of the fruitcake and stinky pine candles, mamas! If it's cool holiday gifts you're looking for, then we've got you covered with our brand spankin' new 2009 Holiday Gift Guide . We've scoured the web to help you solve every ho…
I could count the many ways in which I am completely obsessed with Threadless , the original crowdsourcing art-to-product site, but who has that kind of time? Suffice it to say that the whole family enjoys their t-shirts, and I dream of …
With all the baby slings and carriers I've collected over the last five years, we've always kept the Baby Bjorn on regular rotation thanks to its simple, smart style, versatility, and ease of use. Plus, it's the only baby carrier my husb…
Oh my gosh am I excited to have discovered the personalized rubber stamps from Craft Pudding. I already loved the idea when I found them earlier in the year from Vlijtig - and while hers are gorgeous, and entirely customized based on a p…
We've been keeping our eyes open for those extra special holiday gifts, like for a baby's first Christmas. I'm very intrigued by Picture Book Originals which offers which offers original illustrations and signed giclee prints from childr…
With all due respect to the latest pop star du jour, most modern renditions of my favorite classic holiday songs leave me wishing for stronger eggnog. But now that I've started playing the Putumayo Presents awesome new A Family Christmas…
Our recent learning photo book contest for our awesome sponsor Shutterfly , was one of the most fun contests we've ever done here. Our readers submitted so many inspiring ideas for turning the photo books into learning books, that we wan…
I'm actually pretty practical when it comes to my girls' dressier shoes. I am willing to spend more than average, but I demand great design and excellent construction, and I don't want shoes that will either fall apart or feel out of sea…
My kids can play "birthday" pretty much every day. We have a ridiculous number of play cake sets, and if they're not around, my girls are happy to crumple up a piece of paper, stick a Q-tip in it and belt out Happy Birthday anyway. So wh…
