Worrying about lead paint, the environment, and the extinction of small, local businesses and artisans is not the only reason to look for alternatives to big box stores and toys. How about the pure pleasure of giving and having absolutely melt-in-your-mouth beautiful, simple, hand-crafted, heirloom toys that will inspire kids to use their imaginations and instill a sense of magic and wonder?

Craftsbury Kids is a mother-owned company selling toys, art, clothing, and decor for parents who are looking for something different than the cookie cutter, mass-produced flashy electronic toys. Most everything is handcrafted by independent artisans and small cottage industries. You can even shop by categories of toys Made in The USA, Made in Europe and Fair Trade if you like.

Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. All I know is I get weak in the knees when I look at their Holiday Gift Guide.

My favorite page is the Warm Fuzzies. As far as I'm concerned, every child should have one of these froggie hats. I'm writing to Hillary right now to suggest we put it in law.

My son would love this toy wooden helicopter, but honestly I'm not sure I would care if he ever played with it or not. It would give me so much pleasure just to see such a beautiful toy sitting there on his, or my, shelf every day.

Playground season is winding to a close and it's time to figure out how to entertain your little New Yorkers during the cold winter days. Fortunately there are free movies for little kids all around New York City.

Just because the financial world has come crumbling all around us doesn't mean Christmas can't be as magical as ever. After all, Christmas shouldn't really be about the stuff. Not to sound like a pollyanna, but you really can have your best Christmas ever without spending a lot of money. So here are my tips for saving money during the Holidays:

I'm sure most of us have closets full of toys that our kids barely touch. Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of those toys to make room for the new Christmas and Hanukkah hauls that are about to descend on your poor, unprepared toy chests?

At the Mommy Poppins Toy Swap/Drive you can unload all the gently-used toys you want to get rid of and pick up some of the toys others are getting rid of. Maybe you'll even score something suitable for under the tree this year.

This event would be free except that to get in you have to bring a new, unwrapped present to donate to our charity toy drive. It's really a win-win-win situation. Purge, Splurge and Donate. All the swap items that aren't taken by someone will also be donated to charity.

The Holiday Toy Swap/Drive would be held in Tribeca on Sunday, December 2nd.

In order to do this I need to know how many people would be coming, so I've set up a poll to let people vote. It's right over there in yellow in the sidebar. If you are interested in this event please vote. If I don't get enough responses I won't do it.

Though the weather doesn't seem like it will ever approach the lows that will force you & your brood inside. It's going to happen! Whether you have a newborn, toddler or school-aged child you're going to be faced with long hours inside this winter. After you have watched every video, played every game & read every book in the house you're going to need to venture outside or risk what I'd like to call M.G.S.C. Disorder better known as "Mommy's Going Stir Crazy".

Here are some ideas on where to go for indoor activities in New York that will be fun for parents as well as children.

Big news! We have a winner of the Dish's Dish Giveaway. Congratulations to Sally! Sally, you better duck. There's a lot of envious eyes glaring your way. No, seriously. We're all really happy for you. Kind of. ;-)

If you didn't win anything, but are in love with some of the stuff, please do go and try it out for yourself anyway. The Dish’s Dish and Kaboost are both offering Mommy Poppins readers 10% off as added incentive.

As the end of the year and the holiday season approaches I start to think of photos. Whether it's realizing that another year has gone by that I haven't organized our photos into albums, or the thought that maybe I should put together some photos of the kids for holiday gifts.

Luckily my friend, Sara, has figured this all out for us already. She recommends a website called blurb.com which can help you turn your photos into albums lickity split. It's great whether you're just getting organized or perhaps making some holiday gift books. Here's what Sara says:

Don't forget. You have until midnight tonight to enter theГЇВїВЅ Giveaway-a-Thon Finale and win two weeks of dinners prepared for you in your home.ГЇВїВЅ

Many people know about Inside Schools as a terrific resource for parents looking to find information about NYC public schools. It's one of the only places you can find clear, relatively unbiased, anecdotal information about the best NYC public schools from elementary school through high school. The site was created by Clara Hemphill, who wrote the definitive books on NYC schools, New York City's Best Public Elementary Schools and New York City's Best Public Middle Schools.

One of the great things about the website is that they continue to update it and add various features. One new addition is a blog by education writer and fellow parent, Liz Willen. Liz is tracking her own experience as she searches, tours and applies for middle school with her son. She's a veteran. Besides being an education writer, she's been through this before and has an older son at Clinton School for Artists and Writers.