Full disclosure: I recently bought myself one of those fancy adult coloring books. I lined up my new colored pencils with their perfectly sharpened tips, total ROYGBIV rainbow. I colored for about 5 minutes and threw the dang thing in a …
My kids, like so many, have this Monday off of school to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and I always find that craft activities are a good way to engage kids around any important day. So I've tracked together some really…
2018 is the year I turn 40. Wow. It seems like such a big deal, this milestone, complete with black "Over the Hill" balloons and all. No -- kidding. I mean, sure I was afraid of 40 once. But, now, thanks to the women in my life who have …
While every year we put together our favorite New Year's printables for those of you partying like it's...well, the beginning of a new year, this New Year's Eve feels a little different for a lot of us. Maybe you're saying goodbye to a r…
This year, I'm sticking to a pretty strict budget with my own Christmas shopping, because we're heading to South Korea very soon to finalize our adoption. (Best Christmas gift ever!) (Eds: WE AGREE! ) And, as you can probably guess, flig…
So apparently giving out holiday classroom gifts are a real thing. How I've managed to get my kids from preschool through middle school not knowing about this, is a mystery to me. But this year, I was tasked with searching for ways to ma…
For the little girls in my life, ages 6–9 has been a craftaholic phase. One that's moving away from cardboard and pipe cleaners and more toward DIY craft kits for kids that result in beautiful finished products they can keep themselves o…
My family has a tradition of reading Christmas books at bedtime every night during Advent. Some years, I wrap each holiday book in our collection, so they'll be surprised which book we're reading each night. Other years, we take turns ch…
Full disclosure: I was at Home Depot the day after Thanksgiving, picking out the perfect tree that I'll probably keep until it's brown and desiccated on Valentine's Day. I've got plenty of space for a gigantic Douglas fir, no family memb…
It's no secret that parents love finding tech gifts for kids that we can justify as being both fun and educational, but the true test isn't whether we think they're cool -- but rather, whether our own kids play with them. Over and over a…
Houses up and down our street are starting to turn on their holiday lights, and it's beginning to look at lot like Christmas in our neighborhood. My craft-loving kids would like for us to DIY everything holiday around here -- cotton-ball…
One of our most favorite parts of the holidays (no, not presents, though we like those too) are the family traditions we celebrate year after year. There's just something so special about looking forward to our annual holiday rituals, wh…
I, like Buddy from Elf , loooove Christmas. Christmas is my favorite. So once November gets here, I start planning my holiday decorations, meals, and festivities. And one of my favorite ways to kick-off the season is with advent calendar…
As a first-time pregnant lady, I've been dreaming up color schemes for a nursery for oh, the past 5 months or so. And with my recent gender reveal party (it's a boy!), I'm now even closer to honing in on colors, patterns, and styles for …
Who knew coloring would have become such a huge trend in 2016?Maybe it's a welcome break from so much screen time or just a way to keep ourselves sane in a crazy year. Because now our girls can even color in their own clothes, with the C…
I've always loved Thanksgiving and although I have been looking forward to it for weeks now, it feels like the events of the election may loom over the dinner table like 50-foot floats in the Macy's Day Parade (except not as cute and fri…
When Kristen and Liz started Cool Mom Picks, their desire was to highlight cool, indie shops that make innovative products with fresh ideas for kids and families. A decade later, that's still our driving passion, and the chic handmade ba…
Take it from an ex-face painter: Face painting doesn't have to be hard for you -- or on your kid. The first rule of Face Paint Club is to avoid using the crummy cheap face paints that are sometimes sold at grocery stores. They tend to be…
The holidays are fast approaching, which means it's party season! I'm thinking all about Halloween this week, but before you know it we'll be planning New Year's parties. Not to mention the, oh... 1,285 family birthdays that my family se…
When my kids were small I somehow had the time to make their costumes by hand -- things like princess dresses, a lion, and one amazing Nacho Libre costume. However, last year I literally pulled together a costume for my oldest in about 5…
I'm barely getting to the store before all the good candy is gone, so I'm definitely not looking for over-the-top complicated crafts and activities that are going to impress my friends at our annual Halloween party. And when I'm charged …
Some of my favorite posts here come from the things my kids ask me to find -- in this case, printable Halloween paper dolls. They loved some incredibly adorable paper dolls we'd featured here years back , but now they've gotten older and…
My daughter is 10 and already bemoaning her leg hair and asking why the boy who used to be her friend now teases her mercilessly. No wonder she gravitated toward a fabulous new book the moment it landed in our mailbox. Crafting with Femi…
Oh my yum -- we were so happy to find this new line of candy temporary tattoos. Colorful, cute, lightly scented, and utterly free of calories and cavities. The Arm Candy pack from our pals at Tattly are sure to be a favorite with your li…
