It's the perfect spirit of the holidays come to life: Give a little, get a little, and well, a collectible holiday keepsake doesn't hurt either. I just discovered the Heart 2011 Designer Ornament Collection from HSN, a partnership with a…
We are honored to once again be working with our sponsor, the American Cancer Society, on their More Birthdays campaign since if we could make one really big wish, it'd that cancer never steals someone from us again. But wishes alone wil…
I am probably the last mother in all the land (or at least in Brooklyn) to discover just how comfy and awesome Toms Shoes are. But I don't think I'm the last to assume that is the time of year that we put them in the back of the closet i…
Consider this your annual reminder from us about Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF. If it's never something you've done before, the premise is that your kids can ask for more on Halloween than just another sugary treat, on behalf of kids who …
I'm often of the "do it quickly" school when it comes to holiday presents --I sometimes forgo the little touches (like tags!) in favor of just getting the gifts wrapped. (And yes, we're thinking holidays already. Forgive us!) These beaut…
I'm only one person with one meager budget and very limited time. How can I do something important and meaningful this October to show my support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when I can't donate a gazillion dollars and don'…
Now that the kids are fully back in school, that means unfortunately, there are a lot of teachers out there thinking about all the out-of-pocket money they're going to have to start spending on their classrooms. Which, if you ask me, is …
Designer Elizabeth Bohannan has an inspired mission: to help young women in Uganda achieve their higher learning goals. And she's doing it through beautiful sandals. Yes, sandals. Sseko Designs ( sey-ko) was created to provide women with…
I always love those artist and free thinking types who commit to something like wearing a different dress every day for a year, or cooking a different vegetable every day. And now there's one more--UK mom and artist Lisa Stevens who's cr…
I don't know about you, but these days, my inbox is totally overwhelmed with messages from good-deal sites . Don't get me wrong, they're all awesome deals--I'm glad I signed up for all of them, and wish I could nab every bargain. But for…
This post is sponsored by Yahoo! Every time someone clicks here to make Yahoo! your homepage, you're showing your support for our charity. Last week we told you how thrilled we were that our sponsor Yahoo! is donating $10,000 to our trul…
I feel fortunate to have three kids who absolutely love sushi and will attack a plate of it as if it is a pile of french fries. But beyond that, I haven't cooked much Japanese food at home--I am pretty sure they'd love the noodles, the c…
We're already big TOMS fans; their offbeat espadrille-inspired shoes are the perfect combination of looking good and doing good , since a child in need is given a pair of shoes for every one you buy. But it gets better: TOMS is now getti…
Lip color makes a big difference -- that slight hue of berry or pink can compensate for years of sleep deprivation. Right now, I'm digging a line from PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics (get it?); natural, philanthropic lipsticks and glosses that …
I'm a sucker for beautiful vintage-y paper dolls; they're the perfect antidote to the plugged-in life my kids are living. And beautiful vintage-style paper dolls that help kids with disabilities? Sold. TinyUs is a creative charity set up…
My daughter is 4, and we would love to get her a piggy bank that has the spend, share, save theory, but we can't find any that fit that bill. We'd also be willing to just get a regular piggy bank, but then we would like one that is a lit…
"Thinking of you" is most definitely what our hearts and minds are saying about our friends in Japan, so why not our shirts? Or our kids' shirts, for that matter. The Japan Appeal T-shirt by Caramel Baby + Child of London is just brillia…
At this point, it's not news that Target is spot-on in the designer collaboration department. They seem to keep churning out awesome new collection after awesome new collection with the hottest kid brands around. And now it's Appaman's t…
I just got wind of an adorable new shop featuring anything and everything animal-themed for kids. Well, not everything animal. This is just the cute stuff. In other words, no magenta and gold metallic toddler cheetah leggings As Seen on …
Retail therapy is literally retail therapy when a portion of your purchase goes towards Japan's Earthquake Relief. Today only, one of our favorite brands, Tea Collection, is donating 20% of all proceeds to Give2Asia for Japan Earthquake …
Every year at about this time, I start digging out my kids' closets, then the other closets, and before I know it, I'm on a veritable sort-and-chuck rampage. When the dust settles, I usually have an entire carload of garbage bags ready t…
It's been just over a week since the earth shook just off the coast of Japan, and the devastation and loss has rocked us all. However I've been heartened to see how families and companies are so quickly finding ways to help raise money f…
It's clear we love bombarding you with ideas for adorable gifts that give back--but because we're picky, we look for the kind of stuff that's not just cool because it helps someone, but it's cool in itself. Well we love the idea that sho…
As we come to the end of an amazing year at Cool Mom Picks, we all have so much to be thankful for--our families, our friends, the fact that we get to do what we love. And of course, the support of the coolest readers on the planet witho…