Citrus Lane December 2014 Review

My December Citrus Lane box arrived sometime in the last two days. I always get excited for Citrus Lane and with christmas a few days away I knew there'd be some items I could potentially wrap and put under the tree, even though the girls have more than enough already!

For those of you that don't know, Citrus Lane  is a monthly subscription service where you get a box of goodies for your child that are geared towards their current age (and sometimes Mommy) each month delivered to your door. You never know what you are going to get, but overall I have not been disappointed. Plans start at $29/month but if you buy longer subscriptions you can get them as low as $19/month or even cheaper when they run specials).Citrus Lane always includes a very nice information card with their boxes that lists the items and descriptions and some coupon codes! 

This is what I got in my 25 Month Old, Toddler Girl, December 2014 Box and the approximate retail value I found for each item from their specific website (or Amazon, since if you know me, I'm an Amazon Junkie and would most likely buy from there). Sometimes I have to do some math because the sizes aren’t quite the same, hence why they are approximate values.

Melissa & Doug Deluxe 10-Piece Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks ($11.99) - We actually already bought these for EM for Christmas and they are wrapped under our tree. These will go in my gift closet for a future birthday present for one of the MANY babies in our lives. 

Green Toys Stock Pot & Utensils (~$10.00) - I couldn't find this exact item online, because it is an exclusive set for Citrus Lane but the set I linked to is the same items with just one extra piece so I estimated the cost. This will be a great addition to EM's kitchen! Green Toys are such a great quality!

Little Oink Board Book by Chronicle Books  ($7.99) - Kind of an expensive book to buy online (ranges from around $11-$15 depending where you look, yet it's marked $7.99 so that's what I went with. Anywho, it's adorable and will make a great addition to our collection!

 
Juice Beauty Green Apple Age Defy Moisturizer (~$11.25 for .5 oz sample) - I love a good moisturizer and love the Citrus Lane sometimes throws in an item for Mom too! This one will be perfect to add to my travel makeup bag so I don't have to bring my larger size when I travel!

Total Estimated Value of Box: ~$41.23 (not including shipping)

Total Cost of Box: $29.00 (free shipping) -- I only paid $10 though because of an awesome deal I found on Plum District --> definitely keep an eye out for those on Plum District, Groupon and Living Social!

Overall Impression:  Awesome box!! Loved it!

If you are interested in signing up for Citrus Lane, CLICK HERE, and by using my link, you will get 50% off your first box (new customers only). Remember, you can cancel at any time, so your first box would only be $14.50, not too shabby!

Did you get Citrus Lane this month? What'd you get and for how old of a child?

Disclosure: This post contains referral/affiliate links!

Citrus Lane November 2014 Review

I feel like it took FOREVER for my Citrus Lane box to get here this month. Didn’t help my Mystery Box and other items I purchased came like 2 weeks ago, in two separate shipments, so I felt like was being taunted. When it finally came, it was super heavy, so I was curious to see what was in it. And lately I’ve been wrapping most of the items for Christmas presents for the girls too!

 

For those of you that don't know, Citrus Lane  is a monthly subscription service where you get a box of goodies for your child that are geared towards their current age (and sometimes Mommy) each month delivered to your door. You never know what you are going to get, but overall I have not been disappointed. Plans start at $29/month but if you buy longer subscriptions you can get them as low as $19/month or even cheaper when they run specials).

Citrus Lane always includes a very nice information card with their boxes that lists the items and descriptions and some coupon codes! 

 

 

This is what I got in my 24 Month Old, Toddler Girl, November 2014 Box and the approximate retail value I found for each item from their specific website (or Amazon, since if you know me, I'm an Amazon Junkie and would most likely buy from there). Sometimes I have to do some math because the sizes aren’t quite the same, hence why they are approximate values.

 

Melissa & Doug Mermaid Dress-Up Chunky Puzzle ($9.99): Lately, Citrus Lane has been letting us choose a specific “option” of one selected item for our box. Or you can choose for them to pick for you. This month’s selection was this puzzle and we had a few variations to choose from and this is the one we liked the best. EM really likes puzzles so I was excited this was included.

 

 Plan Toy Vegetable Play Set (~$10.80) he link isn’t to the EXACT set we got, looks like this set was exclusive to Citrus Lane   but this one was very similar. Plan Toys does sell the items individually as well, so that is how I came up with the estimated value. EM loves her kitchen and the food accessories she has, so this will be a nice addition.

 

 Bear Takes a Trip Board Book ($6.56) We already have this book but from a previous Citrus Lane  box, so I’ll be saving it for a baby shower gift. Lately a lot of baby showers have been requeting cards inlieu of books and I love it. My shower was the same way and EM got so many awesome books before she was even born.

 

 

  Fast and Slow Board Book ($6.51) Citrus Lane had included a little note card stating they threw in an extra book since we may have received a duplicate item from a previous box,, which we obviously did, so I’m glad they wanted to make up for it and gave us this book, which we don’t have. This is a good board book showing opposites. 

 

 

 

Annie's Homegrown Cheddar Organic Snack Mix(~$0.44 for 1 oz package) I’ve heard good things about Annie’s products but I’m not a huge “must be organic” person so I’ve never bought them. These sure are yummy though!

 

Total Estimated Value of Box: ~$34.30 (not including shipping)

Total Cost of Box: $29.00 (free shipping) -- I only paid $10 though because of an awesome deal I found on Plum District --> definitely keep an eye out for those on Plum District, Groupon and Living Social!

 

Overall Impression:  If I didn’t count the “extra” item that they threw in because of the duplicate, the value wasn’t that great, but overall love all the items. Especially the Veggie set! I’ve been eyeing it for a while and have seen it included in boxes before so was SUPER excited to get it in ours!

 

If you are interested in signing up for Citrus Lane, CLICK HERE, and by using my link, you will get 50% off your first box (new customers only). Remember, you can cancel at any time, so your first box would only be $14.50, not too shabby!

 

Did you get Citrus Lane this month? What'd you get and for how old of a child?

 

Disclosure: This post contains referral links!

Citrus Lane Mystery Box Review "Melissa & Doug Clock Sorter"

From time to time, Citrus Lane offers mystery boxes. I've never bought one before but have always been tempted so finally I decided to jump on the deal since I had some Citrus Lane shop credits and am glad I finally decided to do so! I got my box today and was excited to see what actually came in it!

For those of you that don't know, Citrus Lane  is a monthly subscription service where you get a box of goodies for your child that are geared towards their current age (and sometimes Mommy) each month delivered to your door. You never know what you are going to get, but overall I have not been disappointed. Plans start at $29/month but if you buy longer subscriptions you can get them as low as $19/month or even cheaper when they run specials). 

The Mystery Boxes are a separate purchase, not a subscription and they usually cost $29 and estimated to have a $60+ value.  There were several options to choose from based on the age and gender of your child. I chose the Melissa & Doug Clock Sorter Mystery Box which was described as "Items are appropriate for a variety of ages, recommended for preschool girls (ages 3 years+) and features a Melissa and Doug clock sorter." The only downfall to Mystery Boxes is you have a chance of getting some duplicate items if you are a current or past subscriber. Since I selected a box recommended for ages 3+, I was hoping I wouldn't get too many duplicates.

They don't send information cards with the mystery boxes but this is what I received:

Melissa and Doug Clock Sorter ($11.99) - EM LOVES working with shapes so I figured this would be awesome for her and will eventually help her learn her time as well. Until then, it'll be helpful with continuing to learn her numbers and continue with the reinforcement for the shapes and colors. Figured it was a good change from her normal shape sorter toys. We're giving this to her for her birthday this weekend. This item was what made me decide to try a Mystery Box to begin with (obviously, since it was the only item that was disclosed).

Bumkins Wet Bag in Disney Minnie Icon Print ($10.95) -  This was a duplicate item, just a different print. We received a different Minnie one in our June 2014 Citrus Lane box. We don't use our wet bag that often, but it did come in handy after swim lessons. I know these are super popular for people who cloth diaper though!

Wild Horse Winter Book ($6.95) - We aren't quite ready for "real" (non-board) books yet as EM is a little rough with them, but we'll save this for when she's a little older. Although we did wrap it her as a Christmas gift We can never have enough books!

Emily Press Parade Love Shoe Labels ($9.99) - This is kind of a duplicate item. We received very similiar labels in our September 2014 Citrus Lane box, except they weren't specifically "shoe" labels. I love these labels because they are waterproof and durable and these particular ones will be great once Emily starts trying to put on her own shoes. They have half matching animals to differentiate between right and left. 

Fun Things to Color form A to Z Artivity Book ($7.99) - EM is getting really into coloring lately (like we color EVERY NIGHT!) and is getting an Art Easel for her birthday from her Aunt which comes with markers. That will be our first at home experience with markers, and if that goes well, then she can have this as a Christmas present too (the markers are washable and she'll be supervised but still a little nervous about markers in the house). 

Pearhead Handprint Wall Art (~$12.95) - This is another duplicate item, although one I love, so am happy to receive it. We received it in our December 2013 Citrus Lane Box. We actually didn't make handprints on our previous one, I had taped off "I LOVE YOU" with painter's tape and then let EM paint it, let it dry and then peeled of the tape and it made a cute gift for my mom for mother's day. We had tried to do the handprints but EM wanted no part of doing that nicely and that's one thing I love about this item, if you make a mistake, you can rinse the paint off, blot dry and start again which is what we did after we realized the handprints weren't working out. 

Total Estimated Value of Box: ~$46.92(not including shipping)

Total Cost of Box: $29.00 (free shipping) -- I didn't pay anything though since I had Citrus Lane shop credit.

Overall Impression: Well it wasn't quite the $60+ value they stated, but they do often times over-estimate some items and/or sell them for more than I can find them for on Amazon but overall I'm very happy with my first mystery box (even with the duplicate items) and wouldn't hesitate to order one again.

If you are interested in signing up, CLICK HERE: Citrus Lane, and by using my link, you will get 50% off your first box (new customers only). Remember, you can cancel at any time, so your first box would only be $14.50, not too shabby!

Did you get a Citrus Lane Mystery Box this month? What'd you get in it?

Disclosure: This post contains referral links!

Citrus Lane October 2014 Review

Another box waiting for me after my week away was my October Citrus Lane! 

For those of you that don't know, Citrus Lane  is a monthly subscription service where you get a box of goodies for your child that are geared towards their current age (and sometimes Mommy) each month delivered to your door. You never know what you are going to get, but overall I have not been disappointed. Plans start at $29/month but if you buy longer subscriptions you can get them as low as $19/month or even cheaper when they run specials). 

Citrus Lane always includes a very nice information card with their boxes that lists the items and descriptions and some coupon codes! 

This is what I got in my 23 Month Old, Toddler Girl, October 2014 Box and the approximate retail value I found for each item from their specific website (or Amazon, since if you know me, I'm an Amazon Junkie and would most likely buy from there). Sometimes I have to do some math because the sizes aren’t quite the same, hence why they are approximate values.

Pink Car Story City Set and Taxi Story City Set ($5.95/each = $11.90 for the two)I had intended to keep these little cars for stocking stuffers for EM but she knocked the box off the counter and everything spilled out and then she wanted to play with them, so I gave in. They are cute little wooden cars that are perfect for toddler sized hands. I can see the little "people" that came with them getting lost easier though since they don't have wheels and won't be as interesting. I like that these will go on standard wooden train track sets (We don't have any yet but I could see EM getting into trains in the near future)

Leg Warmers from Ooh La Leggies in Pretty in Pink ($10.00)These little leg warmers will be perfect for once Florida decides it really is fall! EM hasn't worn any since she was a baby (I only had one outfit with them) so I'm hoping she'll wear these :) Citrus Lane let us choose which style of these we wanted with our box this month. I like that they are now letting you choose one item if you want to!

Maracitos from Honer Kids (~$5.30 for a set of two) - I could see these getting VERY annoying but my parents have some maracas that they picked up when I was a kid traveling that they kept and EM loves them, so I'm sure she and AB will get a kick out of making "music" with these. I'll be saving these for Christmas for her since she didn't notice them when she knocked over the box!

Total Estimated Value of Box: ~$27.20 (not including shipping)

Total Cost of Box: $29.00 (free shipping) -- I only paid $10 though because of an awesome deal I found on Plum District --> definitely keep an eye out for those on Plum District, Groupon and Living Social!

Overall Impression: This is probably the first time I ever received a box that was valued less than a normal box costs. Had I paid full price, I would have been disappointed but it was definitely worth the $10 I did pay as I do love all the items this month!

If you are interested in signing up for CLICK HERE: Citrus Lane, and by using my link, you will get 50% off your first box (new customers only). Remember, you can cancel at any time, so your first box would only be $14.50, not too shabby!

Did you get Citrus Lane this month? What'd you get and for how old of a child?

Disclosure: This post contains referral links!

Citrus Lane September 2014

We received our September Citrus Lane box today. The box was on the smaller side, which normally means I don't like it as much, not sure why, but it always seems to work out that way. 

For those of you that don't know, Citrus Lane  is a monthly subscription service where you get a box of goodies for your child that are geared towards their current age (and sometimes Mommy) each month delivered to your door. You never know what you are going to get, but overall I have not been disappointed. Plans start at $29/month but if you buy longer subscriptions you can get them as low as $19/month or even cheaper when they run specials). 

Citrus Lane   always includes a very nice information card with their boxes that lists the items and descriptions and some coupon codes! 

This is what I got in my 22 Month Old, Toddler Girl, September 2014 Box and the approximate retail value I found for each item from their specific website (or Amazon, since if you know me, I'm an Amazon Junkie and would most likely buy from there). Sometimes I have to do some math because the sizes aren’t quite the same, hence why they are approximate values.

Long-sleeved Graphic Tea from Tea Collection - I've never received an article of clothing in any of my baby boxes before so I was pleasantly surprised to see one included. It's a cute and colorful top which hopefully EM will get a chance to wear once it cools down. It's a size 2, but EM is on the smaller side, so it may be too big before it warms up in spring, we shall see. I would never actually buy EM a shirt at this price (I barely spend this much on my own tops lol) but we'll certainly take it as part of our box. Also included was a $25 off $50 purchase coupon. ($26.50 at www.teacollection.com)

Links 3D Foam Bath Pieces from Boon - We seriously have more bath toys than we know what to do with. These will be saved for a baby shower gift or whenever some of our bath toys get yucky, whichever comes first. We've receive other Boon bath toys before and they are definitely good quality and I like how the foam pieces actually sticks to the tub walls. ($9.99 on Amazon)

Write Your Own Labels from Emily Press - I've actually  been seeing labels like this talked about on some other blogs I read and I think they are wonderful! We have a label maker which does withstand the dishwasher as well but these are way cuter than the generic looking labels from our maker. We'll be needing to label AB's bottles soon when she heads to day care so these will definitely come in handy. ($9.99 at www.emilypress.com)

Reusable Snack Bags 2 Pack from Bumkins (in Pink Love Birds and Bloom) - We currently use reusable containers for snacks, but something about reusable snack bags seems weird since I'm so used to just using ziplock bags. (At least when I was a kid that's all there was). These are machine washable though so maybe they'll come in handy after all and will definitely save money on ziplock bags when I have to start packing a lunch every day for EM (although that is quite a few years away right now) ($6.95 on Amazon)

Total Estimated Value of Box: ~$53.43 not including shipping)

Total Cost of Box: $29.00 (free shipping) -- I only paid $10 though because of an awesome deal I found on Plum District --> definitely keep an eye out for those on Plum District, Groupon and Living Social - Citrus Lane is currently running specials on both Living Social and Groupon.

Overall Impression: Great box and a great value! My dislike for "smaller" boxes has ended here :) 

If you are interested in signing up for CLICK HERE: Citrus Lane, and by using my link, you will get 50% off your first box (new customers only). Remember, you can cancel at any time, so your first box would only be $14.50, not too shabby!

Did you get Citrus Lane this month? What'd you get and for how old of a child?

Disclosure: This post contains referral links!