Cool Mom Picks - Flying the Friendly Bookshelves

Saturday 01 March

Flying the Friendly Bookshelves

It's hard not to be slightly obsessed with planes when you're married to a pilot. But I learned very quickly that not just any plane will do - it's got to get the family pilot approval, which is sometimes hard to come by.

The bi-plane bookends from toy shop Giggle Fliggle passed with flying (heh) colors. Created from natural maple right here in the USA, these clever, brightly painted bookends are a great detail for any little aviator's room and make a better gift than some stupid airplane knickknack.

Trust me, we've seen our share.-Kristen

Find More: Art+Decor (Sounds Fancy)

sales, whoo!

- Giggle is holding an end-of-summer sale, boasting 25-75% off select stuff.

- NEST Materity & Baby is currently have an end of summer sale (up to 40% off items from NEST by Swanky, Fleurville, JSchatz, MDMoms, Pedipeds, Kate Quinn Organics and more!)

- There's so much gorgeousness on sale at Nonchalant Mom at up to 50% off right now, it's crazy not to pop by and take a peek.

- Save 10% at the very cool BlueSky Rocket through 9/30 with code BACKTOSCHOOL

-Amazon's doing an amaaaaazing promo for new moms: Shop your registry through 9/30 and get six months of free Seventh Generation diapers! Click over for all the details.

Ask Cool Mom Picks

I need some gender neutral birthday gifts for 3-4 year olds to stock up on for the year. Any ideas under $10? -Tara

Ask Cmp Placeholder

Wow Tara, you're testing us!

Back to Basics Toys lets you sort by price and age - We found a classic Slinky, a fun Richard Scarry book, and a rubber horseshoe set, or for $12.99 there's a Viewmaster set - awesome!

A few others sites to check out: Kangarooboo (use code CMP5 for an extra 5% off), Fred Flare, and One Good Bumblebee.

And you know what's cool and generally under $10? Mr. Potato Head.

Got a gift dilemma? A shopping conundrum? Write to CMP at info@coolmompicks.com.

Here's Something Cool

Attention all junior artists: Help Kideko design their next line of cool kids bedding and win some cool stuff, including possibly the first produced work for a design portfolio. All the details here.

Your 3rd or 4th grader can win $500 cash for coming up with the next story for the Casey and Bella series. Click over for details!

Enter "The Baby Formula" instructional video contest, benefitting Any Baby Can, and you could win prizes up to $1500. Enter now through November 3rd. click for details

L.A. Moms: Buy tickets now to the Rich Lil Pishers Kids Sample Sale for Wednesday September 10th - view the evite.

Club Med is inviting kids to win their family a free vacation by submitting a dance to "Dance in the Sun" by September 15. Watch this instructional video or visit Club Med Crazy Signs for complete rules.

Sesame Street has totally redone their website including over 3000 videos and 400 games. Which means we can plop our kids in front of the computer now instead of the TV and feel way better about it. Nice job, Sesame Workshop!

Attention lucky Portland moms! Make sure to check out the Green Sprouts Fest on September 13 at Peninsula Park. Great way to check out eco-friendly options for kids and the whole family.

The Responsibility Project website may have a humongo corporate backer, but it's got some excellent content too, like a series of short films made by very high quality directors that's worth watching with older kids.