Citrus Lane July 2014 Box Review

I'm back! I've been slacking, I know. Been busy with my business none stop, plus a toddler, life just gets in the way. But, I decided to just lay back and write a blog post, so here we go.

I received my July Citrus Lane box today!

This will be the second to last one I get a for a while, my 6 month sub is running out and all our extra money is going toward our vacation/wedding fund which, as much as I've loved citrus lane for the past 17 months, our wedding is a lot more important. I may snag it on holidays and birthdays but after next month, I am, with much regret, done for a while.

Anyway-
Citrus Lane is a monthly surprise subscription box

for moms and kids age 0-5. You will get 4-5 eco friendly new products for you and your little one.

This is my 16 Month Old Boy July 2014 Citrus Lane Box-







Packed to the top as always. This box was pretty heavy in comparison to other boxes I've gotten.
On top as always are the descriptions of the toys (I dont look at that until last) and coupons.






The First Item I looked at was the one I got to pick this month. Sometimes Citrus Lane will let you customize a certain brand of one product you are going to recieve in your box.
This month is was a Plan Toys toy. You could pick between a wooden camera (of course that's what I picked) and a wooden cell phone (DADDY SAID, NO WAY). I was SO happy with this. It's really heavy wood, the button presses done and the lens is actually a piece of glass that you can turn, and when you look through the view finder it's a kaleidoscope!
How cool is that. Really impressed with this toy.
This camera is valued at $15.00

This is what the camera looks like if you look through the lens. That's my carpet and a cat toy.

The Next item was Pur-Lisse 30 SPF lotion. I have a lot of sun screen, but I guess I can never get enough! Plus, I love the Pur-Lisse brand (albeit EXPENSIVE). This is for sensitive skin and is anti-aging.  (this was the mommy gift this month)

This sample size is valued at around $15.00. The full size is $55.00

Followed by Plum Organics 4 meals squeeze pouch yogurt. Zavier is going to be SO excited. He loves yogurt and squeeze pouches. I buy plum organics pretty often, so these are pretty welcome in my home :)
Valued at $2.00

The Forth item is why the box was so heavy. a huge book! We LOVE getting books, Zavier loves to read to himself, and enjoy us reading to him. this is a really beautifully illustrated counting book, excited to show it to him when he wake up. "Counting In The Garden"
This item is valued at $17.00 on their website.

The final item is the only item I was slightly disappointed it, and I mean very slightly. We enjoy oogaa eatery, but I've gotten some in the past from Citrus Lane, thankfully not this bowl! Although, I feel he's getting a bit old for new fun plates/utensils, plus he already has plenty of them. Regardless, it's cute and I do love them, so it will be used happily.
Valued at- $9.00

I really enjoyed this month's box, Citrus Lane costs $29.00 a month (much cheaper with 3-12 month subs and coupon codes) and the value of this box was $59.00!!!! Absolutely worth it!

Citrus Lane 14 Month Old (Boy) Box Review + Code for $20 off a box!

Citrus Lane is a box geared toward newborn-5 years old, and moms too! They include fun, exciting new surprises each month. They send you 4-5 Eco friendly toys/products/books (and sometimes a gift for mom) each month for $29. Each time is a surprise, they generally give 1 hint a month on their Facebook page to cue you in on one thing you may get in your box. Each box is gender and age ranged so it's appropriate for said age.
Citrus Lane is one of, if not my favorite subscription box. I've gotten it for 15 months now (My first was my last month of pregnancy) at really great prices using coupon codes and 6 month long subscriptions (I got my first box free, and have used codes every time after that for reduced price boxes. I also did a 6 month sub this time which, after digging around for a 50% coupon code, I ended up getting it for 60$ off.).

I know some people have issue with Citrus Lane, but every time I see someone complain, It's simply because they are not happy with the item they got, but that's all in the surprise which I love! You have to expect and realize you're not going to love every item because they are sending out thousands of boxes every month and cannot please everyone. Whenever I get a box with an item I don't find age appropriate, is a duplicate of something we have, or something we don't want/need right now, I put it in a box in my closet (back off, friends) to use as a gift for someone else or for Zavier later on, so not only am I using everything but I'm saving money in the long run.

Anyway, enough rambling-- here is my review AND A COUPON CODE FOR $20 OFF AT THE END!

Here is how Citrus Lane comes in the mail, A plain brown box with a yellow strip stating their logo (sunny).

Here is Zavier waiting patiently for me to open up the box for him.

When you open it, the items are wrapped in yellow tissue paper, with a Citrus Lane logo sticker holding it closed.

Opening up revealed coupons (usually they are at the bottom) and the information card, which I wait to read until after.

The Treasures in all their glory!

First off we have Back To Nature honey graham sticks. Ever since Z turned 6 months I've always been really excited when I receive new foods in his boxes. He loves little hand sized snacks to grab and teeth on so this is perfect, yummy too. (Price Approx. - $1.00)

Next were these Fresh Feet Wipes...interesting! I wasn't really sure, they are meant to wipe off dirty/smelly hands and feet, made from all natural ingredients. I opened them and they are a strong peppermint scent, which I enjoyed. (Price- $6.99)

This was Zavier's favorite toy which he grabbed and ran off with the second he saw it. It's a cute Crocodile Creek monster covered yellow outdoor ball, he has since carried it around everywhere and thrown it at the cats (yikes). (Price- $9.99)

I'm always excited about Green Toys anything, we have a lot of Green Toy's products already and love them. We don't have this yet so I was happy to see it. They are stacking cups and if you don't know already Green Toy's are made out of recycled milk jugs. (Price- $9.99)

Last but not least of course are these GoodByn snack cups! Which is great! We always bring cut up fruit.veggies or little snacks with us. Right now we use reusable snack pouches and jars, but these will be a great convenient way to bring his treats with us! ( $11.05)

Citrus Lane is (monthly) $29.00, the value of this 14 month old box was $40!!! (Amazon Prices). This is a GREAT value AND we will be happily using everything (Which is rare, I usually always set aside one thing from the box but not this time I want to use it all straight off!) Great value, and great new additions!

GET YOUR FIRST CITRUS LANE BOX FOR $9 BY USING THIS $20 OFF CODE--

Just click HERE and enter code "TAKE20OFF" at the check out!

NatureBox Review + $10$ Off Link!

Naturebox is a fun, unique, healthy food box. You get 5-20 (depending on your subscription) full size bags of heart healthy snacks every month. The prices range from $20-$50 for subscriptions.
You can either pick the snacks you'd like every month out of their assortment, or keep it a surprise (I ALWAYS keep it a surprise)
Naturebox works with Feeding America and has donated over 150,000 thus far.
This is my 2nd ever nature box. Unfortunately, Naturebox is not something we can really afford, so we only ever get it when they have a discount code, or if we get the extra cash for snacks.

Here is my review of MY May Naturebox, I purchased the 5 bag box-

Naturebox comes in a big brown box with their logo at the bottom (seriously this box is pretty huge).

This is the delightful view that great me--see big, full sized samples, these snacks will last us all month. We got this box for $10 with the discount code I'm including at the bottom of this blog post, so $10 for a months worth of snacks for us!

The first snack I saw was Cherry Vanilla Granola, we are granola house here and it is welcomed with open arms! Not to mention I looooooove Cherry & Vanilla anything. I'm assuming it has a vanilla flavored granola with dried cherry bits, I'm sure it'l be scrumptious. 

Next is a tart & tangy fruit medley with dried cranberries and apple bits. Sounds good, I'm not so much a cranberry fan, but my fiance and son are, so It'll probably be a nice snack for them. Although I will try it!

This is the most exciting thing in the box, fiance agrees-- Coffee Kettle Popcorn, can you say YUM?! Kettle popcorn which I love as a guilty treat WITH caramelized coffee? Sounds like heaven and I'm absolutely having it as a pick me up snack tomorrow.

The next we have already broken into! Masa Crisps, which are corn chips with flax seeds, think of a healthy Frito. My son and I tried these this morning as a mid morning snack--I am a huge fan of flax seed and it's health benefits, I love providing my son with anything that contains flax seed. So I was very happy when he enjoyed this, so much so that he would shove one in his mouth then proceed to 'share' them with me. His sharing is more of force feeding me, but I'll take what I can get.

Last but not least, these tasty sounding things. Bruschetta (I LOVE BRUSCHETTA) pretzel pops. Tomato & Rosemary flavored, these sound like something I will enjoy, although maybe not so much the partner, he's not a tomato fan (I'm working on him).

I loved this box! Everything will happily be eaten over the next few weeks, and saves us from having to buy more snacks. 

We got this box for $10, if you'd like to get your first NatureBox for only $1-, use the link below--

http://fbuy.me/TLcH

Graze Nibblr Box Review + CODE FOR A FREE BOX!

Graze Box Review

Graze is a fun, cheap way to try new healthy fun snacks.
Every 1-4 weeks (you choose) you get charged 5$ for a little nibblr box (ALTHOUGH--I HAVE A COUPON CODE AT THE END OF THIS BLOG SO YOU CAN GET YOURSELF A FREE BOX!)
Each box contains 4 unique snacks, these snacks are based off of your profile. You can like, dislike and approve to try the different snack combinations they have on their website. Although, I personally like trying anything they give me, so I just let them send me whatever they please.
Here is my May box (everyone's is different):

 This is how Graze graces you in your mail box, very sleek subtle brown packages with their logo on the corner--your address comes on the back and it advises you to turn the package over or your snacks will fall out!

This is the friendly delicious view I'm greeted with upon opening the box. Limes, delicious delicious limes. It comes with a little slip with nutritional value on it, and coupon codes to hand out for your friends to get a free box! Here was what was in it-

The first I saw was a fruit & seed flap jack. It's a 'rustic rolled oat flapjack with mixed seeds and dried fruit'. Looks basically like a dry granola bar. Not sure how to feel about it, until I try it that is!

The next was the triple berry smoothie! Sounds great! It contains mini strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, & banana. This is something all 3 of us will enjoy trying!

I saw this one next and was super excited--something about dipping things, I dunno, just.....excites me. This one is called My Thai, and contains a sweet chili sauce with baked soy bites, I think I'm most excited about this one!

Last but absolutely not least is The Big Cheese! You had me at cheese! Cheese Cashews, Cheese Croutons, & Salsa Sticks--I'm in heaven!

All of those yummy looking snacks were 5$. Totally happy once again!

TO TRY YOUR FIRST BOX FREE GO TO THIS LINK--

https://www.graze.com/us/p/VZRCXWNGU

A Little Rant About Subscription Boxes

Here's a point I'd like to make about subscription boxes. You may look at them and cringe in fear due to prices and addiction. But let me tell you, I may get quite a few boxes, but I really don't pay much monthly for them. I use huge coupon codes when they come out (25-50% a subscription or 1 free box etc.) and generally get 6-12 month subscriptions (paying ahead for months to get much MUCH better deals) at a time.  Not to mention you can dig around the internet and find codes for free or heavily discounted boxes ALL the time. I can also even justify the expense that I do have.
The main boxes I get every month are Citrus Lane, Dollar Shave Club (For my Fiance), Love With Food, Graze (& now Ipsy). When I get extra spending cash, I'll buy a splurge box (something I don't usually get), I always find a coupon for a splurge box so I'm paying little to nothing for a fun, much needed little material escape. I can justify these buys as I was saying.
For example, when I bought my Citrus Lane subscription this year, I waited for a 50% off coupon code. I bought a 6 month subscription, used the code, and when you buy a 6 month subscription, you virtually get 1 free box. I ended up only having to pay for 3.5 boxes. Plus, this is all stuff I would buy anyway-- Citrus Lane is an eco friendly 'mom box' meant for babies toddlers and young kids. You get eco friendly toy,s snacks etc. All of the stuff I get, we would have bought anyway, a toy as a treat, some new snacks, some dish soap, It's GREAT. Same with LWF & Graze, I counted those boxes toward my food bill for the month since they provide me with the snacks I would have bought anyway!
It's a great way too discover new things, where you would have spent the money anyway--and for CHEAPER (most of the time). Anyway--there's my little justification for sub boxes, I highly recommend them. There has not been a change in our monthly budget, just some moving around. Also, who doesn't love a good surprise?

1st Ipsy Glam Bag Subscription!

I just got into Ipsy, as some of you may know, I am a subscription box addict, on a budget.
I have gotten so many different subscription boxes, and have yet to blog about them until now so fresh start should start with a new (to me) box, right?!
Okay so in case you aren't familiar with subscription box services (albeit this one is more of a subscription bag service) you pay a certain amount of money to get (generally) a mystery box/bag full of stuff based on whatever service you signed up for monthly (sometimes weekly/bimonthly etc).
Ipsy is a subscription service just for ladies. They give you trail and full samples of beauty products based off your glam profile online (your preferences determined by taking a short quiz when you sign up). What I think is awesome about this, is not only do you get 4-6 beauty products, but you also get a 'glam' bag each month which is a little make up bag. This is all only 10$
I've heard people raving about Ipsy, so I figured I'd give it a shot for 10$ this is what I got-

My Ipsy package arrived

 in the mail box in a fabulous shiny pink bubble wrap. My 1 year old walked with me to the mailbox, and is generally kind of ticked off when we walk away because he is OBSESSED with the mail box. The first thing I thought when I saw this package was 'SCORE AWESOME DISTRACTION!' to which it was. We didn't even have to creepily stand at all the mailboxes, I just picked him up and he was absolutely content playing with the shinny bubble wrap (aren't we all?).

 When I opened it, this is the glam bag I got! It it PERFECT. Totally my style and really cute. I'll absolutely be using it from now on.
Anything with plant/floral patterns I fall in love with, it's like they were trying to lure me into more subscriptions with green plant print (spoiler alter- it worked).

Inside was all this beauty 'swag' (heh). Plus a 'fresh picks' note. At first glance I was super happy, these looked like trail sized mostly but I was happy regardless 5 (6 with the bag) products for only 10$.

The first thing was Hang Ten SPF 50 Sunscreen. Now I have A LOT of sunscreen, so this was probably my least favorite item, but I WAS happy that it was a nice travel size. this is SPF 50, works for 80 minutes under the water. This trial size is 1 oz, the full sizes are usually 6, so I'll price this at $2.50

The next item I was excited about. It's call 'Hey Honey take it off" peeling mask. I love facial masks! This is a exfoliating honey mask. Meant to moisturize and pull of dirt and grime. I'm super excited to try it. The full size is 1.7 oz, while the trial size was 10 ml. The full size is $35 (ouch, at least I get to try it out) so I'll price the trial as $5.

This is the next product, which I had no idea WHAT it was. 'Therapy Session Hair Mask' Hair mask? Sounds kinda weird. When I looked it up I found it's a cream that Deeply conditions, repairs, and strengthens dry and damaged hair. Absolutely something I will be trying. The trial size I got is 2.3 oz while the full size is approx. 17 oz. priced at full at  $15, I priced this trial size at about $2.

 This. This I was confused about. 'Eau Thermale Thermal Spring Water' Do I drink it and gain full perfect breasts and flawless skin? Do I get powers? No? Okay, well I had to look it up. I found it's a facial spray (I'm not sure how I feel about spraying something on my face) that soothing and softens your skin. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but hey it's worth a shot. This trial size was approx. 2 ounces. The full size is about 5 ounces, priced at $12, making this worth about $4.

The last was make up! I was really excited about this. I love eye shadow and it happened to come in my fvaorite color (violet purple) and a color I where pretty often (white). They are both a bit shimmery which I like. I couldn't find a price so I'll guess it to be about $3.

The total of my bag was 16.50, with the bag which I would price at $5 a little over 20$. Absolutely worth the $10 value.

Overall I'm really pleased with this even if there were no full sized products. This is to promote products and the site provides coupons if you do chose to buy full sized products. Ipsy is fun and I will absolutely be using it again.

http://www.ipsy.com/

Homemade Paints--A Lesson In Moderate Failure

Hello again, I guess....I'm....blogging now? I've been fairly consistent so far and It's highly enjoyable semi-productive things to do on my down time when I don't feel like melting in the couch (although don't get me wrong that's wonderful, too).
Well, here we go. I'm trying hard to incorporate DIY activities into Zavier's daily life to start getting him to focus better on the task at hand (He's umm not very good at that, he loves to go go go go go go go go).
Today, I decided to try my hand at homemade paint. It was easy, making it at least, was. I may be an artist, and am pretty happy or proud with a lot of the outcomes of work that I end up finishing, but let me tell you, I do not succeed at everything It try. I treat it as a lesson, as I should.
This was one of those lessons-take a look---
First, I gathered up my supplies which were simple-
*Flour
*Liquid Food Coloring
*Water
*Bowls
*Canvas (optional)
*Tape (optional)
*Paper (optional)

Here is the stuff I used. Take a spoon full of flour, and 3 spoonfuls of water (May have to adjust that) and mix it together, squirt a few drops of your liquid food coloring into the stirred flour/water mixture and stir until blended evenly, the stronger you want the paint the more food coloring you should use, I wanted a pale color. Next set up a spot to easily clean up the mess that's most likely going to be made. We went with the high chair.

I put a piece of paper down and let him go at it, and just put the bowls in front so he could dip his fingers in, which he did. He ALSO splashed the paint everywhere, but hey, it's paint and a toddler.

I was surprised he did what he did. Hes not a big painter or drawer right now. He mostly eats anything I give him and will do an occasional way of the crayon on paper followed by a giggle then proceeding to put it right back into his mouth. But, he actually painted with his fingers a bit! Didn't even try to eat the 'paint'.

As for the color, well it was much paler than I wanted, but hey it was my first try. It was also a bit watery, so I suggest tweaking your recipe.

Next we went on to the main reason I did this. I was making a little gift from my son, to my father for his 70th birthday coming up next week. I took a tiny canvas with an easel, cut out a heart shape out of duct tape stuck in the middle and let him paint it....well.....it didn't go so well....

 It kind of just turned out watery and pale. It also WASN'T drying. I waited and waited, and the paper was drying, but the canvas wasn't. So I forgot about it, when I remembered again, and looked, IT STILL WASN'T DRY. So my wonderful tired mind though- It's flour how about the OVEN. I popped it in at 300 for a few minutes, popped her out and--it was all cracked dry and weird. But still kind of had a tie dye pretty color.
It dawned on me then that I BAKED TAPE. Cursing myself, I carefully tore the little tape heart out of the middle, tearing the edges of the baked paint a bit. There was residue it didn't look like a heart and you could barely make out in impression with the pale colors. So I have to improvise. I had this cute imagine of a little white heart perfectly in the middle of a piece of canvas Zavier had finger painted on and it would be a cute piece. Frankly, it looked like crap.
I brought my creative mine together to *try* and salvage it...
I coated it in glitter glaze, painted the heart white, and did my best high school notepad doodle on it.
It does look much better than it did, but nothing like I had hoped. It's the thought that counts, right? ;)

Sensory Soap Bag

Hello! My lord are you surprised? I'm actually blogging- 3 times and 2 weeks that's a record.
As you may know I have an energetic little 1 year old at home who is hard to catch the focus and attention of.
I figured I'd make him something that he couldn't take his eyes off of.
I'd seen sensory bags before so I decided to make one--
So here are the steps and how it turned out, enjoy!-

First off this is the list of stuff we used, feel free to use whatever your heart desires.

*Ziplock Bag
*Paint
*Assorted Beads
*Glitter
*Gel Soap
*Pom Poms
*Foam Pieces
*Duct Tape

First, I gathered everything, Zavier (my son) played with every little thing I let him touch. I'm pretty sure shaking the bead jars was his favorite part.

After everything was gathered and shaking of fun noises had stop, I added a few droplets of paint in random areas of the Zip Lock bag.

(This was really tempting to squish around but I resisted and saved it for Zavier afterwards)

I then proceeded to let Zavier 'pick' out the bead and glitter he wanted to use, I added those, some foam pieces, some pom poms, and big beads

(He had finally noticed I was doing something interesting)

The next step was to add soap, I had some cheap Walmart brand soap I got when I was pregnant, that is too harsh on Zavier and I's skin, and my partner won't use it. It was kind of just sitting there and had a nice thick consistency so I used it. I poured about half the bottle into the bag and smooshed it around a bit so it covered the whole bag. LOOK AT THE BABY TOES.

I then made sure to rid of the air out of the bag and zip it tight. I covered all the angles in (owl because.) duct tape. The only part that is important is the part that covers the zip.

That's you finished product! Although I wasn't done yet. I let Zavier mix the colors together on the ground. I proceeded to tape the bag to a window so he could see through it.

(The duct tape leaves little residue on the windows and comes off easily with eucalyptus oil)

Zavier ended up really liking this, although he did get frustrated eventually when he couldn't take the pom pom out. It had his attention for a good bit of time and he keeps running back into his room and playing with it. I say it was successful.

Next time, I think I'll stick to bright colored paint, as it kind of turned purple brown, but that's not really an issue. If it stays on the window, most of it will sink to the bottom but then you can smoosh it back to the top.

He had fun moving the foam pieces and beads around, and I had fun playing with the soap gel with him

I recommend this for really any age!