Message Shirts We Can Definitely Get Behind

I had decided that 2008 was going to be the year to move past the message shirts. But then BreeAnne Clowdus, owner of CMP fave Tiny Revolutionary sent me her new "This Shirt Saved a Life" tee (available in mama sizes now too!) and I was totally sucked in. ... [More]

A Little Bit of Do-Gooding on Mother's Day with Global Giving

Not everyone wants another piece of jewelry for Mother's Day. Why not, it's hard to say. But if you've got a mama on your list who prefers to give than to receive, I recommend checking out Global Giving. ... [More]

Laying Down Roots for Mother's Day

Not every mama wants something on Mother's Day. Plenty of mamas are very happy with just a phone call, a handmade card or a contribution in her name to a decent cause. For that latter group, TreePeople is a great dot-org that does some good in the actual US of A ... [More]

Art, Charity and Shoes. Three of Our Favorite Things.

Now kids everywhere have an excellent reason to go all Jackson Pollack on their white shoes. ... [More]

Little Fingers For Big Change

Fable and Lore's beautiful, substantial, fair-trade finger puppets found at My Princess Closet are made from extra fabric scraps so no two dragons, wizards or knights are alike. ... [More]

Children's Car Seats: Better Safe Than...Not Safe

Of all the things most likely to make a new parent's head spin, I submit that it's not the colicky baby or the first diaper blow-out that's the hardest. That honor belongs to the selection of a car seat.
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An Amazing Gift for Any Kid: Values

It's important for me that my kids grow up understanding the concepts of charity and benevolence, and that the season season isn't only about what's under the tree. ... [More]

Paying it Forward (and Jewelry Too)

As the year draws to a close, we hope you're looking for a few well-deserving organizations to which to bequeath a few tax-deductible dollars. Not that there's any lack of such dot-orgs in the world, but we thought we'd add a really cool one to the list: Trickle Up. ... [More]

Giving Thanks to the Trees, Too

Team Cool Mom Picks has always been a bit rah rah about books as gifts. Besides the obvious benefits, they're not quickly outgrown and they're pretty much guaranteed not to be on any recall lists any time soon.  ... [More]

How Many Trees Have Died for Our Mindless Bathroom Reading?

I cannot be the only mom dreading the walk up from the mailbox these days. It would be fine if it was filled with all sorts of cards and gifts and, you know, envelopes of free money. But nope. Just bills and about sixty million pounds of catalogs that I totally don't need.

Laptops All Around!

We Interrupt Your Shopping For A Random Act of Do-Gooding

We post a lot about lotion/potion alternatives for the kiddos that are organic, natural, and hopefully bad-stuff-free. If you care about what goes into you children's shampoos, diaper creams and bubble baths, consider helping out the non-profit Environmental Working Group. ... [More]

Heal the World Through Dolls

I remember, with some regret, the first doll my daughter was given. It was made from a heavy plastic and had a gigantic wobbly head -- certainly not something I'd like to cuddle up with in bed. ... [More]

Life-Saving Baubles

It might be cool to wear your "peanut-free" backpack patch when you're running with the elementary crowd, but not so much when the hormones start kicking in.
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Mothers for Women

While we've got no problems with the "ply me with gifts" aspect of Mother's Day (obviously), we're no less fans of using the occasion as an opportunity to reflect on how lucky we all are--and pay it forward accordingly. ... [More]

Little Green Thumbs

There's no better way to honor Earth Day than to grow something. Anything. That is, something besides mold on the expired sour cream in the back of the fridge. Or is that just me? ... [More]

Shopping With a Conscience

I simply can't say enough about HandCrafting Justice, a partnership in which women from developing countries have an opportunity to better their lives by making and selling handmade items under decent working conditions for fair wages. The organization absolutely stole my heart with their mission of economic justice for women - to say nothing of the fantastic items they offer on the website.
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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. 

Helping Rwanda, One Fashion Pick at a Time

Every year the cold sneaks up on me. Sure it's been December for days now, but that doesn't mean I'm not entirely in denial that it's time to take the gloves out of the back of the closet and start looking for a great new scarf for the season. ... [More]

We're Here, We're Adopting, Get Used to It.

When I was young, mentioning that a child was adopted was akin to disclosing Daddy's salary or talking about how Mommy drinks too much wine. Thank goodness for progress. ... [More]

It's Actually Pretty Easy Being Green

As I am just beginning to realize, there is no end to the fears we have as parents. Just as our kids outgrow the SIDS risk, we're worried about mercury in water. When they're done with the finger in the electric socket phase, we're reading up on what's in those plastic Halloween masks. ... [More]

Mod Farm

Cool Mom Picks is constantly on the lookout for truly fantastic kids' room art, and it's not easy. Just google "nursery art" sometime, and behold the frightening array of garish watercolor farm animals in straw hats. The prints look more like something from one of those Starving Artist stadium shows than something you'd be proud to display over a crib. ... [More]

Ta-Ta For Now

Who does not like a healthy set of ta-tas? No, one that's who. Which is exactly the premise behind Save the Tatas, Julia Fikse's humorous tee-shirt company dedicated to promoting breast cancer research through humor.

Chocolate: It Does a Boobie Good.

With so many important causes that speak to me, I find it hard to keep track of them all. And while I do attempt to donate time or money to at least one charity a month, I'm fairly certain that I can singlehandedly fund breast cancer research with this one. ... [More]

C is for Cure

My mother-in-law successfully beat breast cancer several years ago, and while she doesn't talk about it much, we all know it's a cause she adamantly supports. We do our best to buy breast cancer stamps and wear any pink ribbon paraphernalia she sends us, but I'm always on the look out for something extraordinary that expresses our support for her courageous battle. ... [More]

Adopting Style

I just received an email from a friend who's recently returned from Kyrgyzstan with his beautiful new adopted daughter. Another friend is currently in China on a similar mission, and then CMP received an email from the author of a popular adoption blog--all of which made us realize that the adoptive parents market is underserved when it comes to cool gear. ... [More]

Cop A Feel, Save A Life

Today marks the beginning of breast cancer awareness month. While  seeking out some cool but under-the-radar organizations affiliated with the cause, one of the first we fell in love with is Feel Your Boobies. And that was just on the name alone. ... [More]

Maybe Pooh Needs a New Home

I won't go into exactly how many stuffed animals I have lying around my house, but I will say that I recently sent a few into on an extended trip to "toy vacation land" in order to make room on my daughter's bed for, well, my daughter. ... [More]

There's a Future Johnny Cash in There

Run Mommy, Run

I learned that if there are two things that all new moms have in common, it's the desire to meet other new moms, and the desire to fit back into the pre-pregnancy jeans. Like, yesterday. ... [More]

Seeing Read

When a recent trip left me pondering The Complete Works of Shakespeare versus How to Fix The Kitchen Sink as potential beach reads, I realized I had a problem. The shelves in my home library are overflowing with nonfiction and kids' books, but the fictional reading selections are positively uninspiring.    

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Out of Africa

One of the greatest gifts my daughter received for her recent birthday was a pair of hand-batiked t-shirts--especially once I discovered the story behind the label. My ever socially-conscious (and gift giver extraordinaire) best friend  tracked them down through Global Mamas, a non-profit helping small women-led businesses in Africa.

Where the Real Stars Hang

If you're a frequent reader of Cool Mom Picks, then you know we believe that being a cool mom transcends what kind of diaper bag you carry. For the past three years I've balanced my love of stuff with my work for the Starlight Starbright Foundation, a non-profit organization for seriously ill children and their families. ... [More]

Even Better Than Being Made By Elves

We're suckers for charming handmade baby toys, doubly so when they're crafted from natural materials like recycled wood, and double that when buying them does a little good for humanity. Pastel Toys hits the Trifecta for sure. ... [More]

Booking Agents

Hurricane Katrina's wrath was devastating for sure, but it also did damage in ways we don't always think about. Consider the public libraries, for example. Seeing as how water and paper aren't a very good combination, several libraries lost entire book collections--every single book--and desperately need to restack those stacks. ... [More]

Food Allergies, Now In Fashion

I have a child with a peanut allergy and I can't tell you how many times I've told people about it, only to watch them cluelessly offer her something made with that very ingredient. Hello? Stop trying to kill my daughter, thankyouverymuch. ... [More]

Love at First Flush

Like most of you, I've got excellent environmental intentions. And yet, even as I toss my soda cans in the recycling bin, I'm still creating my own personal landfill of disposable diapers. I want another option, but let's be honest,... ... [More]

Why is This Woman Smiling? Because She Has the Day Off.

Recently, salary.com calculated that the 10.6 million stay-at-home moms in America are each worth an average of $134,000 a year. And yet--do they get overtime? No. Do they get year-end bonuses? No. Do they get to call in sick after... ... [More]

Summer Essentials for the Dad in Your Life

Since summer has quickly reared its hot and humid head here in the Northeast, I thought I’d start preparing for the season. Like most men, this entails digging out those flip flops from storage, loading up on some steaks, firing up the BBQ grill and enjoying some cool alcoholic beverages with friends. ... [More]

There's More to These Monsters Than Meets the Eye

The deliciously cute monster tees at Dishy Duds are better defined as wearable art--each is made by hand with incredible detailing, and no two are alike. It's a good enough reason to run out and buy a dozen right now. ... [More]

Keeping Daddy as Close to Home as Possible

As a military wife, I've been fortunate to have avoided deployments. And while some days I wouldn't mind if my husband took a short trip across the ocean, I imagine it really stinks for the kids. ... [More]

Empowering Teens, One Showtune at a Time

One of the coolest and most underrated nonprofits I know is City at Peace, which uses performing arts as a way of promoting positive development in urban teens. They bring together a diverse group of kids for a year, during... ... [More]

Give Your Pringles to Someone Who Really Needs Them

Do you really need to be eating that can of barbeque pringles? Or that bag of red hot cheetos? I'm thinking that perhaps there's no time like the present (cough-bathingsuitseason-cough) to put the junk food away and send it to... ... [More]

Fat Has Taken On a Whole New Meaning

I have a tough time with the word "fat," mainly because since having a child, it's how I feel on most days. And quite frankly, I prefer it be used to refer to babies, the singing lady, and these new handmade stuffed animals I found by Jen at The Sweetest Pea. ... [More]

Mother's Day Shopping For a Cause

Still haven't done your Mother's Day shopping? Or maybe you have but you're looking for some fun shopping just because. Well why not do it for a cause by shopping for great gifts benefiting St. Jude Children's Hospital. St.... ... [More]

Rise Up, Moms!

"Women shouldn't be discriminated against simply because they are mothers." Any organization with a manifesto like that has our full attention. Introducing Moms Rising, a new organization that's creating a grassroots movement of moms on the internet (hey, that's... ... [More]

Have a Tres Chic Earth Day

Hey, we kind of like the environment. You know, since it lets us breathe and eat and all that kind of stuff. But at the same time, we're moms, and we know that while we want the earth to be around for a very long time, we still need things to be reasonably simple and convenient.

Pack Up Your Trumpet in Your Old Kit Bag...

Do you honestly think you are ever going to pull out your old 6th grade band saxophone and play a little "Tequila" for your family and friends? And please don't tell me you plan on taking lessons again or are... ... [More]

The Mother's Day Gift That Keeps on Giving

While it's nice to see your spousal unit wiggle and squirm in an attempt to figure out what the heck to get you for mother's day, I imagine you probably don't need yet another "I Love Mom" necklace or beaded... ... [More]

Leggo of your Lego

I hit the jackpot today. My couch cushion diving expedition uncovered $2.32, a pen, some cheerios, and way too many LEGOs. It's general parenting knowledge that if you have a kid, you have LEGOs, and they are everywhere. So, instead... ... [More]

Make mine a bologna on white, hold the lead.

Now that the Center for Environmental Health is suing makers of vinyl lunch boxes for harmful levels of lead (yikes!) it’s time to invest in a new carrying case for the pb&j.

Purl with a Purpose

I'm a winter knitter. I have no problem creating toasty scarves and booties when the weather is chilly - but for some reason, when my butt is roasting on a lovely 85 degree March day here in Mississippi, I have... ... [More]

The Mod Hatter: Contest for a Cause

mod*mom, that mama with the hippest, most happening retro-modern design blog, is on the lookout for those of you with a good eye and a big heart. You see mod*mom, also known as Kristen (no relation to CMP's Kristen), was... ... [More]

This Organization Goes to 11

The brilliant mind that brought us This is Spinal Tap has made a massive--and welcome--leap to the world of non-profits. Parents Action for Children is Rob Reiner's very cool parent advocacy group. The website features the standard fare on... ... [More]