container

Citrus Lane Review: July 2013

It’s that time of the month again! Time to review another Citrus Lane box and see if it was worth it’s purchase price!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with how Citrus Lane works, it is a subscription service that sends you age appropriate items for your child aged 0-5 years every month. The cost of the subscription depends on how long you are willing to commit to. For month to month or three month subscriptions, your cost is $25.00 per month, while it goes down to $21.00 per month if you sign up for a six month or one year subscription. To personalize the box, you choose the child’s age and gender (or neutral) and receive items appropriate to those selections.

In my reviews, I can only review what my daughter receives in her box. I will always tell you what my age and gender selections were, give you a description of the items, what I think of them, pricing, etc.

This month my daughter received a twelve month old box with a neutral gender selection.

1. Sumo Snack Stacker from ZoLi
Price: $18.00
Status: Useful
Comments: A couple of months ago Citrus Lane sent me some stackable snack containers of a different type. They were smaller, and I’ve used them a lot. As Baby Girl gets bigger though, I was finding things that I didn’t want to pack in a ziploc bag (due to crushability), but wouldn’t fit in the containers I had. That problem is now solved. These are much bigger, but are still useful. Their stackability makes them great for putting in the diaper bag so that you don’t have to dig around for more than one container. Take one, two, or all three with you. My only problem with this now is that they are so big that I have to find a place in my kitchen to store them…

2. Peek-a-Boo Turtle from Melissa and Doug
Price: $9.99
Status: Useful
Comments: Baby Girl loves the Melissa and Doug toy that she previously received from Citrus Lane, the wooden caterpillar. This one is actually a bit old for her I think. I like it, it’s a nice toy, but it’s actually a bit of a let down after the awesome toys we’ve previously received. I don’t see this one being the giant hit some of the other things have been. She wants to love it, but she doesn’t quite have the motor skills to make it work yet, and she gets frustrated with it easily. Maybe when she gets a bit older. To be honest, I think they sent this one to us a bit early. It’s a high quality toy though, and a good addition to the ever-growing toy basket taking over my living room.

3. Cool It Buddy Instant Cold Pack from Me4Kidz
Price: $2.99
Status: Nothing Special
Comments: There’s almost always one dud in the Citrus Lane box, and I feel like this is it this month. It’s a 2 pack of instant cold packs like you would find in a first aid kit. Is it useful? Maybe. Do I need it? No. I have a freezer full of cold packs and frozen vegetables that will work just fine if I need them. The primary use I could see for these is to put in a portable first aid kit while you were traveling, camping, or attending a sporting event where there are no trainers present. The best thing this product did was remind me that I should probably put together a portable first aid kit, actually. Do they work? I’m sure they do, but I’m not going to bust one open just to find out.

4. Nibbly Fingers from Ella’s Kitchen
Price: $3.99
Status: Useful
Comments: Once again, I’m glad that they decided to send a whole box of these things rather than a single one, which they sometimes do. These appear to be like toddler granola bars. They’re very chewy, and full of wholesome stuff. I’m just glad they didn’t send us the flavor with strawberries in it, since Baby Girl is on a no strawberry diet. This is another item in the box that I feel they sent us a bit early. She has teeth, but the bar was a little big for her to take on at this stage, and while she seemed to like the taste of it, about half of it ended up being thrown to the dog…so the remaining four bars will have to wait for another time. We love Ella’s Kitchen products though, and are always happy to see them in the box.

5. Postagram from Sincerely Inc.
Price: $9.90
Status: Kinda Cool
Comments: This is kind of interesting. Sincerely is a custom card company that has a few different apps for your smart phone or iPad where you can send a custom greeting card or postcard to a friend or loved one for a pretty inexpensive rate. The Postagrams are especially cool. You choose a photo from your phone, type in a message for the person you’re sending it to, and fill in the recipient information. Sincerely prints out the card as a postcard and physically mails it to the person. The photo on the postagram is perforated, so it can be popped out of the postcard and put on the refrigerator or stuck in a wallet or something. As a fan of snail mail and postcards, I think it is pretty cool. Sending a postcard through the app costs 99 cents each, so this gift is essentially ten free postagrams to send to whomever you like. I have already thought of a use for them, and I think they’re definitely cool.

Final Thoughts:
This month was a good box, I’m happy with it. The value seemed good, it was fun to unbox, I think it worked. It’s always nice when the box comes and is super satisfying. I just wish it had been a bit more age appropriate. I know that twelve months is kind of an awkward, in-between age where they aren’t really a baby, but they aren’t really a toddler, and I know it must be a tough box to put together with that in mind, but I still feel like it was just a tad too old for her.

Optional Add-to-Box:
I should mention that the optional add-to-box products are getting more common. I received two or three of these offers this month (I think two…). I know that one of them was for baby toiletries, which I have no use for, since they send them to me almost every month and I still have a stash from my baby shower a year ago, and the other was for the Skip Hop Pronto! changing station for a small discount off of the retail price. The Pronto! was the only offer I considered, as I love Skip Hop products, and it seems like a cool item, but there were two reasons that I didn’t. First, Baby Girl is almost a year old and we’ve done well so far with just a regular diaper bag. Her changes are becoming less frequent as she gets older, and I’m hoping to start potty training in the not too distant future, diminishing the use time of this product. And second, we cloth diaper, so we still have to carry a wet bag to put the soiled diapers in, undercutting the compact nature of this item as a selling point. If this were several months ago or we were a disposable diaper family though, I’d have been all over that. That’s why these things are optional I suppose.

By the Numbers:
Total value of the box items: $44.87
Total value of items I will use: $41.88
Is the value greater than the cost? YES

Looking for my previous Citrus Lane reviews? CLICK HERE!

CLICK HERE TO SAVE $10 ON YOUR CITRUS LANE SUBSCRIPTION!

Citrus Lane Review: May 2013 Box, Six Month Wrapup

I owe my faithful followers an apology. I’m a little late reviewing this month’s box. I was on vacation all of last week, and so didn’t open the box until this morning. But hey, I’m getting it up ASAP, so I deserve a little credit, right? I began subscribing to Citrus Lane for my infant daughter back in November. In December we received our first box, and I began reviewing each box to determine whether or not Citrus Lane was worth the subscription price. This was the last box in my six month subscription, and I have renewed for another six months. I considered renewing for a full year, but the per box price for six months and one year are the same. I plan to continue with my reviews and six month wrapups going forward.

For those of you who don’t know, Citrus Lane is a subscription service for children aged 0-5 years. You can subscribe on a month to month, three month, six month, or one year basis beginning when you are pregnant (you will receive “newborn” aged boxes until your baby is born), or gift a subscription to a friend or family member. With your subscription each month you get a variety of well-curated items for you or your baby, often both, chosen by real parents that are chosen for you based on your child’s age and gender (there is a neutral option). The items are always a surprise, and you cannot specify that you would like a certain item.

I have reviewed all five of my previous boxes, you can see those reviews here:
December
January
February
March
April

May 2013 Box

I attempted this month to open the box with Baby Girl once again. She was much more interested this time and tried to pull everything out of the box. Way more fun that previous months, to be sure. She’s starting to get the hang of it. This month we received a box geared toward a ten month old, and I specified gender neutral.

What was in the box:

Item 1: Bear Takes a Trip from Barefoot Books
Retail Price: $6.99
Bought it Anyway?  Yes
Notes: Books are always a good thing to get in the Citrus Lane boxes, in my opinion. I don’t think you can ever have too many books, and Baby Girl just loves to be read to or play with her sturdy board books. We’ve received books from Barefoot Books before, and we like them. This isn’t the best board book we own by a long shot, but the illustrations are good, the text is short and rhymes, and it is fun. This book focuses on how to tell time, which isn’t exactly age appropriate, but since the story is fun, that is an activity that can be saved for later, and the book can grow with Baby Girl, which is nice.
Use coupon code DISCOVER for 20% off your order at barefootbooks.com

Item 2: Stacker from Green Toys
Retail Price: $14.99
Bought it Anyway? Yes
Notes: I love that we got this toy in our box this month. While we have never received anything from Green Toys in our Citrus Lane boxes before, we did receive a gift voucher back in December that I used to purchase the Green Toys Twist Teether, which is still a huge hit with Baby Girl and one of her favorite toys. I love that their toys are made from 100% recycled products, and that they are just great toys as well, so you are buying something because it’s really great, not just because it’s environmentally friendly. Baby Girl has been playing with the stacker a lot today, so it is definitely a hit so far!
Use coupon code CLSPRING13GT for 10% off your order from shop.greentoys.com through June 30, 2013.

Item 3: Yum Yummy Baby Cookies from Ella’s Kitchen
Retail Price: $3.99
Bought it Anyway? Yes
Notes: Hooray for this item! A lot of the time when we receive food in our Citrus Lane boxes, it is frustrating, in that they send us one of something. If something comes in a 5 pack or a 2 pack, they often break the pack a part and we get one. How frustrating when it is food! I can’t imagine having a toddler open their box, wanting to eat something immediately, and not having another to give them later. This time, we didn’t get just one of the individually wrapped Yum Yummy Baby Cookies, we got a full back of twelve, and I am grateful. I make Baby Girl’s baby food myself, and I find it frustrating that so many finger foods are full of stuff I don’t want to give her. These are a great substitute for graham crackers in your infant’s diet, and they smell deliciously like ginger snaps. I gave one to Baby Girl this morning, and while they were extremely messy, she really seemed to love them, and they are stiffer than graham crackers, making them better for teething.

Item 4:Dish Liquid from Dapple
Retail Price: $1.99
Bought it Anyway? No
Notes: Not my thing. I’m not a crunchy enough mama to think that I need special dish soap for my baby’s dishes. The dish soap I currently buy is soap. It does a fabulous job of cleaning all of our dishes. Yeah, I don’t need yet another product taking up space so that I can use it only on specific baby items. Sorry. That being said, maybe this is exactly what you’ve been looking for in your parenting life. The company makes lots of cleaning products specifically for baby. A niche? Yes. Necessary? No.

Item 5: Moisture Stick from Deep Steep
Retail Price: $5.95
Bought it Anyway? No
Notes: Every once in awhile you get a mommy item in your Citrus Lane box. For the most part, I’m not a fan. I pamper myself in non-conventional ways, and I don’t usually need organic lip balm or body wash to make me feel good. The baby items is why I signed up, end of story. This is a nice item, and I like that it’s cruelty free. It smells nice, and I may use it. But I probably won’t. I like my skincare routine. It works for me. This is a product I’ve never used before, and it’s a little pricy for me to say I would buy it for myself. Another item that just isn’t my thing. The company seems nice enough, and they have a lot of beauty care products along the same vein.
Use coupon code citruslane20 for 20% off your order at deepsteep.com through June 30, 2013.

In Summary: Is It Worth It?
Items I would definitely have bought before the box: $25.97
Items I love now that I have them: $0.00
Total value of stuff I’m glad I got: $25.97
Subscription price: $25 per box for month to month or 3 month subscription, $21 per box for six month or one year subscription
Answer: YES

Well, it took them to the last month of my first six month subscription, but they finally gave me a box where the yes items total value was more than the most expensive subscription price. I think that can be a wholehearted yes, don’t you? The truth is, I really do love this service, and the last six months have been very nice. They’ve had their ups and downs, but they’ve been very nice. To tell the truth, I haven’t actually purchased out of pocket any of Baby Girl’s favorite toys in the last six months. They have all either been gifts, or I have received them directly or indirectly from Citrus Lane. That right there is a pretty high compliment.

The Six Month Wrapup
So is it worth it as a whole? The six month subscription in Citrus Lane’s least expensive per box option. It costs $21 per box. Here’s the run down of what value I received in my previous boxes:
December
Comment: The big comment I should make about the December box, is that I have totally changed my mind about the Chewbeads bracelets in the last six months. When I remember to wear them, they are an absolute lifesaver if Baby Girl gets fussy, and she loves to teeth on them. Really brilliant. I should also say that I used the gift voucher from ecomom to purchase two of Baby Girl’s favorite teething toys.
Total Value of Box: $65.48 The most valuable box I have received!
Total Value to Me: $63.48
January
Comment: None
Total Value of Box: $34.18
Total Value to Me: $31.99
February
Comment: While I said No to the Kushies washcloths at the time, and I still don’t think they are worth their MSRP (they hold up about the same as my cheapo versions by Circo that someone bought me at Target), we do use them all the time.
Total Value of Box: $43.17
Total Value to Me: $31.17
March
Comment: None
Total Value of Box: $40.94
Total Value to Me: $30.45
April
Comment: I ended up finding a use for the Honest Company Shampoo/Body Wash in this box. Because it is a combo in one bottle, I packed it to go on vacation last week, rather than packing two bottles. It saved space and effort.
Total Value of Box: $35.92
Total Value to Me: $26.93
Six Month Summary
Total Value of Subscription: $219.69
Total Value to Me: $184.02
Total Cost of Subscription: $126.00
Average Value per Box: $36.62
Average Value to Me per Box: $30.67
Cost per Box: $21 or $25
So in summary, I do think it is worth it for Citrus Lane subscription. You’re receiving items you may never have heard of, that could end up being a huge hit with your kid, they are being delivered to your door, and you’re receiving a great value for your money. Pretty awesome.

CLICK HERE TO GET $10 OFF YOUR CITRUS LANE ORDER OR SUBSCRIPTION!

Citrus Lane Review: April 2013 Box

For the last couple of months I have been posting reviews of each box that I have received as part of my subscription to Citrus Lane. This is my fifth box. Next month I’ll be weighing in on whether or not my six month subscription was worth it as a whole. There are also reviews of my boxes I received in December, January, February, and March. If you are unfamiliar with the format of my reviews, I give detailed product information for each item included in the box along with pricing in order to determine if the box is worth the subscription price. A three month subscription costs $25 per month, while a six month or one year subscription costs $21 per month, and my subscription was $16.50 a month because I used a Black Friday/Cyber Monday discount. I should mention that everyone’s subscription is different based on your baby’s age and gender. Baby Girl received an nine month old box, and I designated that I wanted gender neutral products.

April 2013 Box

Baby Girl showed a lot more interest in opening the box with me this month, but since everything was in packages, she was pretty upset that she couldn’t immediately play with everything! It was cute.

What was in the box:

Item 1: Caterpillar Grasping Toy from Melissa & Doug
Retail Price: $7.99
Bought it Anyway?  Yes
Notes: This is so cute! I love the idea, and Baby Girl loves the little elastic antennae. This was the first item that Baby Girl latched on to out of the box and wanted to play with it immediately. It’s a good weight and seems super sturdy, which is always nice. I actually thought the MSRP was higher based on the quality. Very impressed. It says six months plus on the package, and I know she could have played with it starting then, but I feel like it is still an appropriate toy for her age and can still grow with her for a little longer.

Item 2: Packin’SMART Stack-N-Seal 2 Tier from Innobaby
Retail Price: $8.99
Bought it Anyway? Maybe
Notes: I’m actually not entirely sure how I feel about this product. It might be one of those things that I have to try out first. Who knows, maybe I’ll love it? Since Baby Girl is exclusively breastfed, and I make all of her baby food and store it in the awesome OXO Tot baby food containers I got at my shower, I haven’t had much need for little containers like this. I understand the appeal of having containers that fit together like this so that you don’t lose them in the diaper bag, I just haven’t needed them, and didn’t own any yet. Baby Girl hasn’t had finger foods yet, but we’re getting there. It’s interesting that these containers have the special spout top so that you can put liquids in them as well as solids. I could see this working well if your baby was one that needed a little apple juice or prune juice regularly but you didn’t want to carry a whole extra sippy cup around. I’m not actually sure that we’ll use them for liquids, but I find it intriguing that you can. I see this more as a traveling snack type thing. Well, I guess they saved me having to do the research and figure out which snack containers to purchase myself!

Item 3: Non-Slip Placemat from Oogaa
Retail Price: $8.99
Bought it Anyway? Maybe
Notes: As I’ve already said, Baby Girl hasn’t started finger foods yet, and even if she had, I still wouldn’t need a placemat, as she is still eating in her high chair, with the big washable tray attached to it. That said, I can see the usefulness here, especially as she gets older. I like that it’s totally washable and dishwasher safe (it also says microwave safe, but I’m not sure why someone would want to microwave a placemat…), and I like the suggestion on the package that you can give older children washable markers and let them color in the animals while they wait for their food, as they will just wash off. I think this could be super useful for traveling to other people’s homes, or even to a special event where you don’t want them to make a mess, like a wedding. Will I use it when she’s older and actually sitting at the table with us? Probably, but right now it’s staying in the package in case I never do, or something better comes along.

Item 4:Shampoo & Body Wash from The Honest Company
Retail Price: $9.95
Bought it Anyway? No
Notes: I know that this isn’t going to be a popular opinion, but I’m not a big Honest Company fan. I think that their stated mission is admirable and all that, it’s just not for me. Their primary product is a plant-based disposable diaper that cost twice as much as standard disposables. I know they’re very trendy right now, especially among celebrities who think they’re going green, but they’re still disposable diapers. Anyway, rant on the diaper thing over. We use cloth diapers in our household, so I guess I’m just glad they didn’t send me disposable diapers that I’d never use. I certainly didn’t need yet another bottle of shampoo or body wash though. We’re still on our first bottles that we opened when Baby Girl was born, and I have several more giant industrial sized bottles in the closet that we received as gifts. I’ll put it in the closet for now, but chances are good I’ll be giving it away at the next baby shower I attend. I joined this service to get innovative and interesting products and learn about cool new things I never would have found on my own. Ah well, there’s always one dud in the box. 

In Summary: Is It Worth It?
Items I would definitely have bought before the box: $7.99
Items I love now that I have them: $17.98
Total value of stuff I’m glad I got: $25.97
Answer: YES

While I’m much happier with the objects in this box than the last one (for the most part), it isn’t lost on me that the total quantity of products seems to be going down from month to month. I know that the value is still good, but it was strange only pulling out four items this month, and I’ve definitely had months where the value was higher. Is it still worth the price? Yes, I think so, and I plan to renew my subscription for another six months, but I’d really like to get a box that I can get super excited about again…

CLICK HERE TO GET $10 OFF YOUR CITRUS LANE ORDER OR SUBSCRIPTION!