Having a football party necessitates having some big bowls. It doesn’t matter what charming crudités and finger food you’ve got on the table, everybody on the couch wants stuff from a big bowl, on the coffee table, between them and the HDTV. Thus, they can keep their eyes glued to the tube and still stuff their mouths.

Now that you see the error of your bowl-less ways, here are some ideas to prepare you for next weekend’s game day. Crate & Barrel’s bark bowl is rustic and sturdy, and $35. Another of their wooden bowls that looks like it could stand up to heavy use is the Borneo low bowl of sustainable mango wood, on sale for $70. If you stay with a wood theme, Crate & Barrel has a whole page of possibilities. William Sonoma has a nice wooden bowl with inset ceramic dip holder, and Pottery Barn’s Springwood chip and dip bowl is pretty (also made of mango wood) for $50.

Sure it’s a little risky to trot out a glass bowl, but Lenox has a striking crystal angled chip and dip bowl for $40, and another pretty bowl in polished metal alloy from Horchow ($115) would be practical and slick. If you want to get artsy, the Museum of Modern Art’s online store has a beautiful river stones bowl ($175, pictured right) that is one of the museum’s best-selling items.

Going with a Latin theme next weekend? La Tienda has multiple options, such as the Roman terra cotta bowl for $23. Cookware.com also has all kinds of sizes and types of serving bowls online. Is all of this just a little too pricey for your crew? Ikea has several less expensive options, including the $8 Sekin bowl. Sur la Table is usually on the high end, but their white terra cotta bowl is only $17. And TheFind has lots and lots of bowls to browse through. Or just forget all this fancy stuff. Target has bowls emblazoned with your pro team’s name, or go for the generic “touchdown” bowl for $20 (pictured above). FansEdge has something for every team’s fans, such as the “snack helmet” for $62.

Is there anything more fun than trying to wake up a teenager at the beginning of the school year? A teenager who has spent the last three months sleeping until noon? The only thing that is likely more fun is watching what happens when Clocky the alarm clock goes off. Clocky is cute and has big wheels (pictured), and after your teen hits the snooze button once, Clocky rolls off the bedside table and rolls around the room, continuing to buzz loudly: under the bed, against the door, in the bathroom, until said teen has to get out of bed to find him. Beautiful! He’s $50 at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Another fun one is the flying alarm clock. It has a cute little propeller on its top, and when it goes off, the propeller spins and flies away, carrying the key that makes the alarm clock stop its incredibly loud screeching. Fabulous, and $11.48 at Amazon. It would probably be entertaining to watch (more…)

It starts simply enough. The kids are going back to school, and you know they’re going to lose their pencils and lunchbags and backpacks, so you put labels on the stuff. Personalized labels look slick, and Web sites like Identikid and Identity Direct offer all kinds: vinyl, iron-on, labels for shoes, pencils, backpacks, markers. You can buy a Colour My World Pack with more than 100 personalized labels, or branch out into the house with a lap desk or bathroom mirror with your child’s name. Land’s End has lots of backpacks and lunch bags that can be personalized, and TeamLogo can make a bicycle plate with your child’s name for $4. Now that you’ve got the kids organized, you are probably feeling the urge to label more things. Get the LetraTag home labelmaker (the video on the site gives you lots of ideas about things to label) for $30 (pictured) or the nice-looking one on Amazon. Now you’re really starting to see clutter everywhere: the kitchen, the closets, the garage. This is where the Chronos personal organizer 4.5 software on Amazon for $95.15 could really help. But is that enough? Do you feel the need to be with others of your own kind? Read organizer blogs, like Virtually Organized (which shows you places to label you never thought of) or Unclutterer, which offers lots of wisdom, like clearing out all those pesky perfume bottles, a picture of the perfect workspace and guidance on uncluttering your brain! Has this search for organization nirvana made you nervous? Call in professionals. The folks from In Pefect Order will fly to your home, stay for a week and make everything in your life totally perfect for $5,500 (not including airfare, lodging and food).

We can’t take credit for finding this one, but we just have to share. Daily Candy, an entertaining e-newsletter, recently discovered a product that promises to be an amazing, and amazingly bizarre, way to clean hard-to-clean areas, such as your computer keyboard. You know, the thing you’re looking at now with where all the little bits of food and gunk have fallen. Now comes Cyber Clean, a yellow gooey Silly Putty kind of blob that you can squeeze into those tiny areas where germs have accumulated and wipe them clean. You can use it to clean and sanitize your telephone, your cell phone, your calculator, your remote control, your car and more. The realization that filth and germs are crawling over everything you touch is motivation enough to give it a shot. You can get a cupful for about $6.50 or a dozen for $80, or the one for your car which is blue and costs $8. You probably have a lot of questions, so here are some answers. We can’t vouch for its effectiveness, but by the looks of it, cleaning will become a bit more entertaining.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave … with all of our tech gear and corresponding chargers. Get a handle on all those cords and manage your family’s cell phones, MP3 players and digital cameras with a handy charging station. Pottery Barn’s lacquer Smart Photo caddy and recharger has a back cubby for portable electronics and a six-socket power strip concealed behind. Cubbies in the front stow desk accessories and three photo openings create a desktop gallery ($99). Plug and play your iPod while charging other electronics all in one spot. The lacquer Smart all-in-one (pictured) includes built-in speakers and a six-socket power strip ($169). Kids these days often have more gadgets than their parents, which means they could probably fill their own charging station. The kids docking station comes in a rainbow of colors and features cutouts like hearts and stars ($79). Bed Bath and Beyond sells a more basic model. The black 600 Denier charging station provides a home for up to four devices ($15; power strip sold separately). Brookstone’s mini charging valet is the perfect addition to your workspace, whether it’s at the office or at home ($30).

It started with the latest e-mail from CB2 with this photo of a bedroom with the words “so boho” to describe it. I liked the room, so I decided to investigate other boho furnishings and home décor to see what the term actually means from a visual standpoint. The original Bohemians were travelers or refugees from central Europe; the French word bohémien means “gypsy.” DMI India describes boho as “a fashion look with fringing, patchwork, homespun and raw-edged fabrics, paisley and floral prints, embroidery, tassels, studding, tooled leather.” The lovely Women of Hope sandstone statue ($78) and tropical bamboo lounge chair ($74), both from Ten Thousand Villages, qualify as boho décor. So does the Tommy Hilfiger Bohemian Luxe bedding collection at Boscovs, which features a symphony of ruffles, paisley and stripes in fanciful designs. To see enough boho items to fill a room, visit Polyvore. I couldn’t find the featured ruby metallic vases at the U.K. Store The Pier, but I’m pretty sure this autumn gold vase ($138) and small bowl ($50) and this amber Sundance mosaic vase ($40) are equally boho in character. Both would look perfect with the Sofagarden’s Moroccan sunburst pillow in maroon and gold brocade ($100). I’m not so sure about this boho iron bed ($1,800 to $2,100) at Sundance, but what do I know? Described as a “bohemian rhapsody that evokes a fortuitous attic find,” the bed might pass with the right items piled up around it.

Whether McCain’s your man or Obama’s the one, cast your vote for fun this election season with a variety of playful politically themed goodies. Beauty buffs will love Stila cosmetics’ bold new lip color called Rock the Vote Red ($17); 25 percent of the proceeds will be donated to Rock the Vote. Your dog can’t vote, but that doesn’t mean Fido can’t be politically active. If Spot more closely identifies with elephants, you might pick up the Republican dog leash at H. Doodle ($14). If donkeys are more his/her thing, try the Democrat dog collar ($12). Or if your pooch’s political leanings are middle of the road, select from a variety of canine Rock the Vote T-shirts ($14; pictured). Who says there’s no place for politics in the bedroom or bathroom? Pick up a pair of thong panties emblazoned with “Vote” ($8). Guys can join the fun with “Wake Up and Vote” boxer shorts ($21). Your newborn can even get into the swing of things with a W.W.O.D. (What Would Obama Do?) onesie ($30) or the more straightforward McCain blocks onesie at the official McCain store ($15). Democrats will love watching red states turn blue when the fill up the “I Have a Dream 2008” mug ($13). For Republicans, the “Make My Day 2008” mug turns blue states red ($12) . Sure to be a collectible is the Obama “Yes, We Can” opener ($5). Designer Helen Ficalora’s sterling-silver “Vote” charm at Shopbop.com is only half an inch wide, but we think it speaks volumes ($55). Need help sparking a “lively” political discussion at your next dinner party? The Political Topics To-Go card set includes 40 cards with topical questions like “Whose opinion do you value when deciding how to vote?” ($10).

The cool thing about the digital revolution is that we haven’t completely lost sight of what not to change. We still want to hold our favorite photos, stick them on the fridge, arrange and share them in an album. Yep, photo albums are still being made and there’s an appealing selection for sale online. At Safe Collecting Supplies, your photos never come in contact with anything other than archival quality materials that are free of plasticizers (chemical softening agents) and stearates. We love the spiral-bound albums with wood covers and acid-free pages, although the cardboard cover versions (pictured) will do the trick . You do have to use corner mounts to affix the photos to the black photo-cardboard pages but that lets you arrange them any way you like. The company also makes screw-type post-binder photo albums and offers a good selection of leather, vinyl and plastic cover photo albums. Uncommon Goods has albums with handmade copper covers and the designs suggest what goes inside — two hearts, baby carriage, graduation, decade, pet ($55). The downside: Each album holds only 24 four-by six-inch photos. Monogrammed items appear to be back in vogue along with plaid, and Neiman Marcus has paired the two with this plaid photo album ($65) available in kiwi or cherry. As always, Target offers a budget beauty with the acid-free red cloth photo album ($15.50), which holds 200 photos and has a window on the cover for an extra. For more spiral-bound albums with decorative covers, check out Mudlark’s selection at Wrapables. And finally, for that basic, sturdy album that holds 300 photos, you can’t go wrong with Pioneer’s bi-directional photo album ($14).