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Date Night Subscription Boxes

With all this staying in, we decided to arrange date night at home. Usually, we get the kids settled with a movie and some popcorn and then start on our activities. It’s often hard to come up with something to get us talking about something other than work and kids, so we tried out a couple date night boxes.

Hunt A Killer

So far, this is my favorite date night box. It’s super high quality, like letters are each on their own letterhead, a playbill is on that shiny paper that playbills usually come on, the missing cufflink is actually a cufflink. Pretty awesome! Their mysteries run in sets. Most of them have about 6 boxes per mystery. So, if you’re getting a monthly subscription, it can take you six months to actually solve the full mystery. You solve little things along the way, but you don’t identify the killer until the last box.

You can speed up your boxes if you’re getting impatient but I actually like waiting and having something fun like this once a month. It takes us more than one evening to solve it, so sometimes we get in a couple weeks of date night on just one box. Pretty awesome!

At $30 a month, this box is worth every penny.

Use my code to get 30% off your first box!

Happily

Our first box arrived right as school started, so I’ve opened the box and looked at it, but with adjusting to our school schedule we haven’t carved out date night time yet. I think we’re about settled in, so this should happen this week.

This month was Japan inspired and it’s a sushi making kit. I keep saying that I’m going to try making sushi, so here’s my chance! It has the rice, seaweed, mat, etc. so I don’t have to go find any of the special sushi ingredients or tools. You do have to provide your own protein and veggies so that slowed us down a bit on getting to this. However, my husband went shrimping with a friend this weekend so I’m thinking that we’re going to use some of that fresh shrimp for our sushi, yum!

The box also includes a link to a playlist and a couple of little games (like a suduku puzzle). At $40 a month this box was interesting enough for me to go ahead and get next month’s box. And I’ll probably decide after that one if we’re going to keep getting these or not. They’re supposed to mix it up with different activities every month. So, we’ll see what we get this time!

They also have a digital option for $8 a month, but, I really like getting something special in the mail.

Use my code to get $10 off your first box!

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Favorite Beverage Subscription Boxes

The beginning of this year, I had a couple of subscription boxes that I used. I really didn’t see the need for more. Then, with ordering everything from home, I find the convenience and predictability of subscription boxes for food items to be very handy. As I was preparing this list, I realized that I’ve added a LOT of subscription boxes this year. So, rather than list them all in one long list, I’m going to do a couple of posts and list out my favorite by category.

1. Sipsby

This was my very first subscription box. I used to go into Teavana whenever I visited the mall and try out a new tea every time I was there. So, when they closed I started looking around for an inexpensive way to try some new teas. I came across Sipsby and I’ve been super pleased.

It’s $15 for a monthly box of tea. They send 4 flavors every month. When you sign up, you fill out a flavor profile so you don’t get things that you don’t like. I kept my profile pretty broad so I can share with everyone in the family. The kids love herbal teas, especially if the have chamomile in them. We’ve discovered some new bedtime favorites this way. My husband loves chai. After Teavana closed – taking our favorite chai with them – I was struggling to figure out how to find a chai that we like without spending a fortune. We’ve found several through Sipsby. And I of course, love a good black or oolang, and this subscription has sent me some really tasty varieties of these.

After you try your teas, make sure you review them online. I make sure to tell them what I think so my teas get better every month. Every now and then they send one that’s truly awful (like cinnamon & licorice) but I’m usually very happy with all 4 of my teas. Best of all, if you really like something – remember, I’ve found some favorites this way – they have info on their website telling you where you can buy it and a coupon code to get a discount when you purchase. For a family who loves tea like mine, this box is awesome!

Want to check it out for yourself? Use my link to get $5 off your first box.

2. Atlas Coffee Club

Coffee is another love of mine. I started drinking it in college and then when kids came along, coffee is just a necessity. Seriously, when people were going crazy over TP in May, I checked my coffee stash, because if there was a run on coffee, I was in trouble!

Thankfully, I had already signed up for Atlas Coffee Club, so I wasn’t too worried. I actually tried out several coffee subscriptions and this is the only one I liked – so take it from me, this one is the best. You can choose ground or whole, between 1 and 6 bags of coffee per shipment, and a shipment frequency between 1 and 10 weeks. I set mine at 2 bags every 4 weeks and that seems about right for me. I’ve been known to pause, slow down, or speed up my subscription depending on the time of year and how much coffee I’m drinking or not drinking.

You fill out a flavor profile and they use that as a guideline when selecting coffees to send you. I’ve enjoyed the full flavors of all the coffees they’ve sent me so far, so I feel like they got my profile right. You can also review your coffees each month to help them send you more of what you like.

The price per bag goes down a bit depending on how many you’re getting per shipment. 2 bags is $28 + s/h but 3 bags is only $39 + s/h.

Use my link for $10 off your first box.

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Pley Subscription Box Review

I received the Pley Disney Princess box free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

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First off, my 6yr old was so excited to receive her own pink box in the mail! She couldn’t wait to open it.

One box is $29.99 – including shipping or you can get a subscription for $27.99 a box. Boxes ship every other month so you can send your princess 6 boxes a year.

So, what comes in a princess box? I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was actually surprised by the quality of the items.

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  1. The box transforms into a castle – my kids thought this was so cool!
  2. When you sign up, you give your child’s t-shirt size. This t-shirt is so cute!
  3. The book has a story about the princess and some little activities
  4. The figurines were by far my daughter’s favorite – she combined those with her new castle and has had so much fun!
  5. The crown is beautiful and even has a little rose in the center.

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This box contained some really great items that were lots of fun for my daughter to play with. Would my child enjoy a box like this every other month? Yes, she would. Just guessing what princess will come next would be fun and the box items are well selected and so much fun!

You can find out more information on the Pley Disney Princess Website.

And check out my daughter unboxing her new Pley Disney Princess Box.

 

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Chick Fil A Upcycle Challenge

I’m part of a ChickFilA mom’s panel and for February they are having a upcycle challenge with the Chick Fil A soup bowls.

IMG_20170215_131146104Which, if you haven’t tried their soup. You need to. My kids love the chicken noodle and the southwestern chicken is my favorite, even though I don’t usually enjoy spicy foods.

Then we took our soup containers and the girls made little jewelry boxes. This was a fun and easy craft and we made something useful – just maybe their jewelry will end up in these boxes and not all over the floor!

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Supplies:

  1. ChickFilA soup container – washed and dried
  2. Paint – we used acrylic paint and some puffy paint
  3. Newspaper – for covering your surface, you don’t want to be cleaning acrylic paint off your table
  4. Paintbrushes – we used foam brushes and regular brushes, it’s all about how you prefer to paint
  5. Cup of water – for rinsing brushes
  6. Paper towels – for drying brushes, wiping hands, etc.
  7. If your kids are doing the painting I also recommend an old shirt or paint smock for them.

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Instructions:

  1. Wash and dry your containers
  2. Spread newspaper over your work surface
  3. Paint containers with the acrylic paint. You might want a couple of coats if you want more coverage, I tried to convince my kids to use more paint but they really liked the textured look they were getting with just one coat. Rinse and lay out your brushes to dry. Let your containers dry completely
  4. Add designs with the puffy paint. My girls attempted to draw jewelry with their paint. They even traced the Chick Fil A logo on the lid of their containers because they love Chick Fil A and thought it was so cool to have Chick Fil A jewelry boxes. The puffy paint is also great for keeping the containers from sliding around on hard surfaces. Let this dry overnight or however long your puffy paint says.
  5. Fill with jewelry 🙂

This project was so much fun and let the kids get super creative.

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3 Summertime Zoo Essentials

My kids just love the zoo! In fact, where we live, the zoo is like the summer hangout place for moms with kids. There’s animals, food, a splash pad, and an indoor play area for if the weather is bad. What more could you want?

Of course, when we head out to the zoo there’s 3 things I just can’t be without!

1. Little Red Wagon – This is definitely the best Summer purchase I’ve ever made. It’s also absolutely necessary for all the walking we do at the zoo. My kids are old enough to climb in and out as they want and the canopy gives them a little extra shade on sunny days – it also serves as a backup umbrella for surprise rain showers.

My only complaint with this wagon, it doesn’t have any sort of lock for the wheels. I just remember to turn the front wheels sideways when I’m parking it somewhere, so it doesn’t roll away on me.

I got this a couple of years ago and we’re still loving it. There’s room for 2 kids, our lunchbox, a small diaper bag, and a few towels. Talk about convenient!

2. Bento Boxes – I ordered these last year for school lunches and we’ve used them for that, trips to the zoo, and any other event that requires a picnic. They’re so convenient! Everyone knows which color is theirs so there’s no fighting over who gets what. And since I know who gets which color it’s easy for me to customize lunches. Best of all, I can easily fit all of them in my little portable cooler!

I don’t know about your zoo, but my zoo has really terrible concessions that are way overpriced. So everyone brings their own lunch. These little bento boxes have been a lifesaver!

3. Bobble Water Bottle – You just can’t go to the zoo all day without water. And Bobble has so many different lid colors so no one fights over which one is theirs. Have you noticed a theme? Yes, we color code practically EVERYTHING in my house. Then we always know who owns what. Plus, with the filter in, even if we’re just grabbing water from the water fountain, I know our water is well filtered.

 

So, tell me, do your kids love the zoo? What’s something you can’t go to the zoo without?

This post does contain affiliate links.

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My Disney Side Party

Thanks to Disney Side @Home Celebrations for my awesome box of party supplies for my #Disneyside party! With all these snow days we’ve just been off of our schedule for weeks, so I decided to keep it simple and do a playdate. Actually, I did a playdate and a pre-playdate the night before plus a few other random things throughout the week.

The first evening we had some friends over and the kids played the disney bingo and won prizes from our Disney prize bag – I used the stickers, balloons, bracelets, tatoos, and bumper stickers. A couple of the kids that were going to come ended up not being able to come as planned but we still had a great time! We had spaghetti for dinner and monster cupcakes in our Mickey Mouse cupcake wrappers.

The next morning we had our playdate. There were 6 kids total, we decorated T-shirts, played Disney bingo, colored our race posters, ate more cupcakes, and let the kids play.

I had traced mickey and minnie pictures onto the shirts before the party so all the kids (or moms) had to do was color them in. We all had a blast! I think the moms had more fun than the kids did coloring!

I don’t have a color printer or a photo printer so I gave away all the photo card paper at the party, and it’ll definitely get used. People were pretty excited to get to print their own pictures!

Only a few of the kids wanted posters so I had a few posters left over after the party that I sent to my sisters for Valentines day.

The next day me and the kids made our Mickey Mouse cookies and shared them with some friends we had over. The cookies turned out great and the kids had a great time decorating them! I finally figured out a good sugar cookie icing recipe (water, powdered sugar, and food coloring – when it dries you can stack the cookies without the icing sticking) so now I just need to nail down a good sugar cookie recipe. My recipe was ok but I’ve had better.

We’ve had so much fun showing our #DisneySide with our Disney @Home Celebration box!