Great designs hook you instantly. Especially cute ones about babies (aww!), kids and motherhood. That’s why we love this CafePress shop so much.

Flaunt It Baby is a fun CafePress shop specializing in adorable designs for the young ones in your life (as well as designs for the expectant mother). The “brainchild” of designer Brindi Atkins, Flaunt It Baby was born when she was searching for special T-shirts for her daughters. It suddenly dawned on Brindi that she could make her own designs and find something that fit her wee one’s personalities perfectly. Plus, she could make some extra money, which never hurts with a young family.

While Brindi loves snowboarding, camping, hitting the beach, scrapbooking and other activities, with young children she realistically spends most of her day in their playful world. And that’s where fun ideas come to the surface on a regular basis. Brindi gets a lot of the inspiration for her ideas from just hanging around with the girls. In her own words, “I’ve always had a knack for design, but my daughters and their outgoing personalities help too!”

It’s also fun for Brinidi’s daughters to wear clothes with the designs they’ve created together. What keeps her motivated? “My daughters,” Brindi says. “They’ll always need clothes, and they can’t go walking around in lame designs – ha ha.”

Moms make the world go ‘round, it’s true. And although us kids don’t come with a set of instructions, moms make their job look darn easy. And all moms out there know we don’t like to make things easy on you.

Every mom is completely unique. She is different than every other mom in every way, and for me, Mother’s Day is about celebrating that uniqueness. And with this Sunday being Mother’s Day, it’s a day to show her your gratitude to your maker.

Although gifts aren’t necessary, showing Mom you appreciate her is a nice gesture. Flowers or balloons could translate in mother language to, “My daughter started thinking about this yesterday.” Alas, it may be too late to order for this year, BUT if you didn’t, here are some ideas to ponder for next year about mom gifts:

Use photos to your benefit. Mom loves her kids and her family, and if you create something for her that has photos of her family in it, she’ll love it. Take a photo (old or new), enlarge and put on a canvas for all of those visitors to the house to see. Mom will have no problem showing off her gorgeous family.

Personalize for that person. Even the most average gift can be made into something spectacular if you add her name, a heartfelt message or something important to her. A mug she’d drink coffee out of every morning is great, but a mug with her family and a message on it skyrockets the mug’s awesomeness factor.

Think about her other loves. If your mom is crazy in love with a hobby, interest or passion, start there. My mom has a crazy obsession with Snoopy, so much so that I know even if I got her a Snoopy toilet brush for Mother’s Day she’d probably flip in joy. (I wonder if they make those…)

Enjoy Sunday and Happy Mother’s Day to all you mommas out there!

Leading a happy, healthy life can be different for everyone. Is it an equal balance across your mind, body and spirit? Having a wonderful family and great friends? Eating well, exercising, and challenging yourself? It could be all of those things!

For working out, whether you like running, swimming, cycling, mountain climbing and more, having a fun but planned schedule, plus doing something that keeps you inspired and challenged is very important! Here’s Bethenny’s take:

“I’ve been doing yoga for twenty years so I preach the importance of making your practice your own in order to get the most out of it. From beginner to advanced and Vinyasa to Ashtanga, there are endless ways to reap the rewards of this fitness regimen. Now that CafePress has launched customizable, premium-quality yoga mats, yogis can personalize their practice even further. You can upload text, graphics or even photos to create your one-of-a-kind mat; I used my Skinnygirl logo to make the gift a meaningful token for my friends.”

It’s a great idea to keep a gym bag full of work out clothes in your car so you can be ready, like on your lunch break or for an impromptu pick-up game of basketball. Always stay hydrated with a cute custom water bottle for before and after workouts, and you can even be thinking about a reward for yourself after sweating off those calories in this cute tank top. All in all, getting your body moving and active is fun and you’ll feel great doing it. Enjoy yourself!

Holidays are so much about getting together with family and friends and celebrating. And what is the best way to celebrate during the holidays? Have a fun holiday party and eat!

It’s time to eat, drink and be merry, and when you have a gathering, putting on that host or hostess hat is sometimes like becoming a professional juggler. Coordinating invitations and RSVPs, planning a meal and food courses, table settings, and even cute hostess gifts to hand out at the end of the night are all important parts of a fun and successful holiday party.

Cute tile coasters with double hearts show the love you have for the people at your special fete –guests can use right at their seat to ensure your table isn’t covered in rings at the end of the night, and its a cute take-away item too. Win-win! Decorate with pretty snowflake ornaments, put whimsical monogrammed magnets on plates to act as seating arrangements, and don’t forget those warm drinks!

“I enjoy spending time in the kitchen creating new recipes and the process is all the more fun when I can get to sport a cute apron. I made my own on CafePress by uploading this image. These personalized aprons make for great hostess gifts too. We’re going over to my mother-in-law’s for the holidays, so I’m definitely going to order an extra one for her.”

It’s less than two weeks until Christmas. Boy, is it me or did that pop out of nowhere?

If you celebrate Christmas, what is a better way to do so around the house than decorating your Christmas tree? And that Christmas tree isn’t complete without some fabulous Christmas ornaments to add some extra cheer, color and character to your holiday.

Even better than the normal red, gold or green spherical ornaments, you can customize ornaments, putting your favorite family photo or a beloved pet on, and voila! You’ve got something very special indeed.

“Red is my favorite color, so festive holiday decorations resonate well with me. Tree trimming is a perfect opportunity to insert some creative flair, and CafePress has more than a dozen design templates for easily customizable ornaments. I picked one with a red sparkle border — of course — and inserted my signature Skinnygirl for a personal touch. The high-quality, glossy ceramic finish makes it look like a professional creation! I’ll give these to friends and family and wish everyone a “skinny” holiday season. ”

Find your favorite CafePress template, upload your photo and add custom text, and order easily in time to place on the tree for this year!

Whether you’re on the “good” or “bad” list this year, you can make sure Santa sees a cute custom stocking to put goodies in (or coal, but that is strictly up to him). Make sure to leave him some cookies and hot cocoa, and you should be in good shape, or get him a custom iPad case for his next fishing trip to Montauk.

There are a lot of t-shirts out there. In every shape, form, color and style, it can be hard to find not only a great fitting and comfortable t-shirt, but also one that shows off your personality, who you are, and what you enjoy in life.

“I created these cute Skinnygirl Staff tees to give to all the girls on my team. The fit is soft and snug, so they’ll feel chic whether they’re wearing the shirts to a Skinnygirl work event or just to the gym. To design your own tees on CafePress, simply upload a logo (like I did), a photo or choose another graphic design, and add in whatever text you want. Then sport your creation!”

A penguin tote bag like this one is cute, easy to design and super helpful when going out to the grocery store, or when you need to carry a few extra things with you during the day. And it’s made of 100% canvas, so you can stop using pesky plastic bags that are also bad for the environment.

Cute animal designs, such as the turtle peace sign tank top and matching organic baby bodysuit are perfect for mommy and baby to match on a sunny day at the park, or when your little one is feeling a little fussy, this long-sleeve crab baby bodysuit lets them be themselves!

And with the holidays so close, a t-shirt, sweatshirt or other apparel is a great gift for even the most difficult people to shop for. Get started, and let us know what you think!

A hockey glove-covered high-five to CafePress resident Giftologist Bethenny Frankel (and partner Ethan Burgess) for advancing in the most recent episode of ABC TV’s Skating With The Stars competition. The duo scored an impressive 33 points, and didn’t fall once or cut themselves with sharp skates or anything. Yea. Stay on your feet. During voting hours, you can vote for Bethenny by phoning 1-855-SKATE06 (subject to change, so double check before calling) and if you’re a skater yourself, peruse some of the ice skating gear on CafePress.

As you probably know, Bethenny has been busy lately. As well as competitive skating and being a celebrity (which is full-time job in itself), the former Real Housewives of New York City star has come onboard at CafePress as our holiday gifting consultant. You can find Bethenny Frankel’s gifting picks & tips here at CafePress — with loads of ideas on what to find and make for the holidays. This week, Bethenny features home accents (and cute animals too):

“I can’t wait to surprise my husband with this beautiful photo canvas of our beloved pooch, Cookie. I uploaded this glamour shot and CafePress transformed it into a high-quality, ready-to-hang piece of art. This is such an easy, special gift and a priceless way to commemorate family trips, special occasions and important milestones for my friends and family.”

Another gift idea is Skating With The Stars gear at the ABC store (hosted by CafePress). You can’t go wrong with cool (literally) gifts like these.

This week, Bethenny talks about great custom drinkware!

Everyone knows that hydrating yourself is very important to leading a healthy life on a daily basis. Drinking 64 fl. oz. of water per day, minimum! That’s about eight glasses of water.

“My friend, Maggie, is always looking for stylish, eco-friendly items, so I thought these customizable SIGG water bottles would be a perfect gift for her. They’re BPA-free, reusable and lightweight enough to carry along to the office or yoga class. I simply picked out my favorite design templates and personalized the text. I can’t wait to make one for myself next!”

Whether you’re outside in the heat of the summer for a picnic or need a good cup of hot chocolate to warm you up on a long ski weekend,  CafePress has a lot of great water bottles, custom mugs and all new Thermoses and food containers. Make you own custom mug to use at work for that morning coffee must-have, or even a cute travel mug while on the way to work. You can make each your own by adding a little flair that shows your hobbies, like ice skating.

These custom thermoses are great too because you can use them hot or cold, depending on your needs, and customize them however you want. There are a few different options – a large carafe, FUNtainers, even can cozies. These make cheerful holiday gifts!

Check out all of Bethenny’s great designs on CafePress!

Hear what CafePress celeb stylist Bethenny Frankel has to say with this week’s baby-centered style picks!

Starting a family is one of the most exciting milestones in yours and your significant other’s lives, and is a symbol of your shared love. And when your baby comes, there is so much excitement in the air, but being exhausted and busy is also an understatement! But what better way to celebrate your new baby than by showing him or her off to the world! Send your family and friends custom birth announcements with your baby’s photo on it; dress them up head-to-toe in cute baby hats, onesies to make a cute statement, and of course, keep them warm and cuddly with a custom baby blanket.

“Little girl clothes are so much fun, so this week I created a baby onesie for my daughter on CafePress. Skinnygirl is the name of my line of nutritious products and recipes, and I hope to raise Bryn to value a healthy lifestyle as I do. I have so much fun dressing her, and this outfit is extra special since it was designed with love by mommy.”

Here are a few stylish and adorable items Bethenny picked out on CafePress – check them out and start customizing your own!

Holiday Gift Guides from the Real Housewife, new mom and entrepreneur

You may already know me from “Bethenny Getting Married” on Bravo, but I’m writing to you today as the official gifting guru for CafePress this holiday season.

I’ve always loved customizing gifts and CafePress is my go-to destination when I want to give something that really expresses my personality, passions and sentiments. Every week from now through December, I’ll be designing a different product for somebody special on my holiday shopping list. You’ll get a sneak peek at the gifts I’m giving my husband, daughter, in-laws, co-workers and other friends in my life. I’ll also be sharing my favorite gift picks from the existing 250 million items on CafePress – so check back each week to shop my fab finds!

My first project was creating my family holiday card and the invitation to my second-annual tree trimming party. I’m a huge supporter of PETA, so I love that CafePress has a specific card design that gives back to such a great cause. I used a photo of my first child, Cookie aka dabooboo, and I’m sending it to friends, family and business contacts to spread holiday cheer. For my invitation, I simply chose the design template I liked best and added in the party details. It only took two minutes!

Next up, I’ll be customizing one-of-a-kind baby outfits, SIGG water bottles, ornaments, yoga mats and other fun gift ideas. I’m so excited to help you fulfill your entire holiday shopping list affordably and with character on CafePress. So, follow my lead and start creating!

Xoxo,

Bethenny