Why Is This Finger Puppet Different From All Other Finger Puppets?
For those of you who have searched high and low to find a finger puppet in the shape of a piece of matzoh, you are in luck.
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Easter Baskets That the Tooth Fairy Approves of Too
Not every mom is a fan of doling out the high fructose corn syrup or imitation chocolate treats on Easter.
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Chocolate Bunnies Without the Sugar Hangover
The No Guilt Chocolate Easter Bunny found at The Silly Wagon is made entirely of felt - always a fantastic sugar-free alternative to chocolate.
Tattoo Valentine's Card: Next Best to the Real Thing
If the sigOth skipped the flowers this year and came home with a permanent heart on his arm with my name in it, well I'd just be tickled.
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Make-Your-Own Valentine
Upon scoping out the selection of Valentine's Day cards at our local card shop, I was nearly eaten alive by the sea of licensed characters professing their love. Eek!
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Upping the V-Day Sweetness Factor
Valentine’s is the kind of holiday that challenges progress. In other words, Snoopy is about the most cutting edge character I like on my cards.
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Valentine's Chocolate Gets a Run for Its Money
Let's face it, the last thing I want to be doing February 14 is baking cookies. Especially now that we've discovered the adorable Sweet Lil' Gems Valentine cookies.
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Little Love Monkeys
I know a few moms who think that Valentine's day is strictly for adult-sized people. But knowing how much my toddler adores holidays, there's no way I could leave her out entirely while her dad and I pop the Moet and scarf down truffles.
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Merry Christmas to All and To All, Free Legally Dowloaded Music
With all my gift budget tapped, I tried to save some cashola by searching the (extremely picked through) Christmas music offerings at the library. Bad call.
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A Super Eco-Conscious Pick, Even for the Super-Eco Conscious
While I do my part to recycle and use cloth grocery bags, I am definitely killing a few trees (okay, maybe more than a few) with my oodles of Christmas cards this year. Oh how my eco-conscience disapproves.
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The Best Wrapped Package of All
So we swore we weren't covering any cutesie Christmas onesies this year. No Baby's First Christmas shirts, no Jingle Bells jingly caps, no Bwing Me Pwesents Santa bib. (Eek)
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When Not Just Any Old Stocking Will Do
Considering I grew up with a gorgeous handmade felt stocking given to me by my godmother, it's not in me to settle for some $18.99 mass-produced one for my own kids. And so I've searched high and low to find the perfect Christmas stockings this year.
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Gift Wrap Without the Guilt
If you've been around the web anytime in the last few weeks you'd know there are eco gift guides galore. But I always have to snicker at the idea of some biodegradable hemp-based lipstick (or whatever) beautifully gift wrapped in one-time use paper.
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Because a Whole Lot of Kids Think That Christmas Celebrates the Birth of Santa
You might want to skip this pick if you left your sense of humor at the office, because this is quite possibly the holiday item that's made us all laugh the loudest this year.
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Hey, Snowflakes Really Are One-of-a-Kind
I've always been more of an artisan-made, crafty ornament decorator of Christmas trees. I know, you're not surprised, but shiny balls that come in the 30-pack from CVS are not really my style.
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Evidently You Can Run as Fast as You Can and Catch the Gingerbread Man
Plenty of families have their own weird Christmas traditions. At my mom's house, it was to bake gingerbread men to hang on the Christmas ficus, then bite their ilmbs off while they dangled from the tree.
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They'll Never Be Able to Throw These Cards Away
I've decided to forgo the traditional family Christmas picture holiday card extravaganza this year. And thanks to Ruva Cards, my excuse will not be total laziness (for a change), but rather, my desire to show off my daughter's artistic talent.
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Christmas Tea
Every time I click over to Tiny Prints for a little virtual window shopping for Holiday Cards, I've found myself drawn to the same kinds of designs--they've got a slight Asian flair, and incorporate more unusual motifs than holly, like birds and delicate flowers.
Dear Santa, Please Don't Bring Me Anything On the Recall List
I admit I'm cynical about a lot of things, but Santa, for some reason, is not one of them. I am already having the best time telling my 2 year old about how this guy sneaks into the house while she's sleeping and eats the cookies that she's just made.
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Meta Ornament
I have this thing about choosing holiday cards - if there's any chance that mine ends up shoved to the back of the mantle behind the 8 million other cards, I'd just as well not send one.
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You Say Draidel, I Say Dreidel...
If you've been looking for some Hanukkah cards that feel a little more you and a little less Great Aunt Rose, you must stop by Pop Judaica, otherwise known as ChosenCouture.com.
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Christmas Cards For a Song
We're always on the lookout for something a little special and different in the way of holiday cards. I mean, anyone can hit the local Hallmark for a box set--if you don't mind your generic card blending in with all the other generic cards on your loved ones' mantles.
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96 Pictures Are Worth 96,000 Words, Plus Your Signature
Living far from friends and family means that the holiday card has the burden of making up for a whole lot of missed milestones. But who can pick just one picture to represent a whole year's worth of cuteness? Well, now you don't have, to thanks to Ringobaby's brilliant solution.
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Sugar Skulls to Go With That Sugar Cereal
Happy Dia de los Muertos! Or, as I think of it, single coolest holiday not yet imported to America.
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Rockin' the True Spirit of the Holidays
Aside from stressing about what toys won't poison my kids this holiday season and trying to communicate that clearly and effectively to my in-laws, I've got our Christmas cards on my mind -- what to wear, what should they say, how are we going to strap down my son long enough to get his picture...
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A Bag To Bring Those Kit Kats Home to Mommy
I really ought to be too ashamed to admit this transgression, but for the past five years, my daughter has collected trick-or-treat candy in a plastic shopping bag.
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Procrasti-moms: The Halloween Costume of Your Dreams
I cannot be the only loser mom out there with the very best intentions as far as Halloween costumes go--only to end up sobbing in the empty aisles of the costume store on October 30, trying to decide if I go for the one cheesy cheerleader costume left, or just try to make something out of tin foil at home.
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It's Just a Fantasy (Whoa Oh Oh Oh)
Halloween is going to be here before you know it wouldn't you know, I still don't have costumes figured out yet. If you're looking for a little PVC-free inspiration, one of our favorite shops, Quiet Hours Toys, has a dandy little dress-up department.
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Your Tree Has Competition
Every year, just before Christmas the stocking debate ensues at my parents' house: "Whose is the reindeers?" "No wait, mine is the snowflakes." "Hey, his holds more than mine!"
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Crawfish Roasting on an Open Fire
I know there are plenty of Christmas CDs out there these days, but frankly I'm afraid to play half of them for my daughter, for fear that I'll be stuck listening to them every single day for the rest of the year.
Wrappers Delight
I'm a lover, not a wrapper. My version of creative holiday giftwrapping involves creating a messy patchwork of paper from mismatched leftover scraps.
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Another Chanukah Miracle
Chanukah-celebrating moms are busy enough picking out eight presents each for the kids, that the last thing they have time to do is weed through the paltry selection of decent cards out there. Most of them look as if they were slapped together in two seconds by design-school dropouts or little old ladies with a surplus of gold paint on hand.
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Photo Cards Just Got Less Photo Card-y
Holiday cards never fail to make me smile. Yes, even the ones containing a single-spaced, full-page dissertation of the year's activities--heavy on the boredom, light on the entertainment (and ocassionally the truth). My favorite cards include pictures, but let's be honest, most photo cards leave something to be desired in the taste department.
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The Lazy Mom's Photo Card
I am the great procrastinator. So much so in fact, that it's a wonder I'm even writing about the December holidays a full calendar month beforehand.
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Family Tree
For some reason, finding a photo ornament to hang on the tree is like looking for a recipe for no-calorie cheesecake--it's out there, but you're not gonna like it.
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Attention Holiday Shoppers...
Wouldn't you love this to be the year that you actually get your shopping done before the night before Christmas or Hannukah? 5 PM? As the shopkeepers are pushing you out the door and telling you, "come earlier next year?"
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cmp book club
If you think Madysynne is bad, this list of real names will have you equally howling and cringing.
Check out more CMP approved reads at our new book club!
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Ask Cool Mom Picks
I have been searching for a photo album or scrapbook that is NOT in the classic style you see everywhere that's either pink and fluffy or traditional leather. Any ideas? -Sarah
Googling "photo albums" can definitely lead to very bad things. We always find cool stuff at Zanisa and we like the Molly West books at Chittypulga.
But lately we really dig the handmade wooden albums from Tree by Kerri Lee [pictured] with metal hinges and the funky wooden ring and strap. And the prices are terrific.
Got a gift dilemma? A shopping conundrum? Write to CMP at info@coolmompicks.com.
CMP Flickr Group
CMP reader Sarah's daughter Alli looks cozy and snug in her Baby Bisou Carrier.
Have a picture of your little one (or yourself) in a Cool Mom Picks find or prize you've won? Join our Flickr group so we can show off your good taste to the world.
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