Stork Stack Review: March 2014

Okay, so I know subscription boxes are all the rage. I already receive and regularly review both Citrus Lane and Bluum boxes. But I have to admit that I am a big enough fan of those that I was willing to try another one: Stork Stack. Stork Stack is a little different from the other two. From what I can tell from their previous stacks, there seems to be very little brand overlap between Stork Stack and the other, more well known child subscription boxes. This is what I experienced in my first box as well, receiving brands I had never received from either Citrus Lane or Bluum, while those two often overlap in brands and products. The other difference is that they are slightly more expensive than the other, two, at $27.99 per month versus $24.95 per month for Bluum, and as low as $21 per month (with a six month subscription) for Citrus Lane (NOTE: Citrus Lane has recently increased their per month pricing to $29 per month!). They also do not offer a discount when you order 3, 6, or 12 month subscriptions like the other companies do, and instead send gratis boxes to children in need, which is a nice touch. They are still my least favorite of the three boxes, and I keep telling myself I’m going to discontinue my subscription. Maybe next month I will.

I intend to review my Stork Stacks based on value and usefulness and be as helpful as I can to you consumers out there! This month my daughter received a gender neutral box for a nineteen month old.

1. Hop a Little, Jump a Little! from Child’s Play
Price: $4.99
Status: Good
Comments: I will never turn down a board book in these boxes! Baby Girl loves to read, and it’s always good to add a little variety. That said, this book is very short, and a little dull, so not the best addition to our collection.

2. Racecar from Green Toys
Price:
$8.99
Status: Great
Comments: So much for a lack of brand overlap! I don’t mind though, because we are big fans of Green Toys products around here. We have several, and all of them have been a hit. This one is a great little first car toy, but Baby Girl isn’t really interested in cars, so it hasn’t gotten much play time yet. I really love it though, and it’s something she won’t grow out of any time soon, which is a plus.

3. Legwarmers from BabyLegs
Price: $12.00
Status: Meh
Comments: Okay, I will admit two things here. The first is that I originally made fun of baby legwarmers when I was pregnant. The second is that I became a huge baby legwarmer fan when Baby Girl was tiny with leaky breastfed poop diapers and I didn’t want to change her pants every five seconds. That said, she’s a bit old for them now, and I feel like this is something too young for a nineteen month old’s box. Also, this is the second pair I’ve gotten recently. I regifted the first pair, and that’s what I intend to do with these as well.

4. Tooth Tissues from My Dentist’s Choice
Price: $12.00
Status: Meh
Comments: Yet another item that is a bit too young for Baby Girl at this point, but a great idea. I found it interesting that instead of one 30 wipe pouch, they actually sent three mini wipe pouches, which add up to the same number of wipes. That’s fine though, I know lots of people having babies, and I can spread the regifting out a bit more! I actually do really like this product. When babies are little they tell you to wipe their gums with a damp washcloth or gauze pads to clean them and prepare them for healthy baby teeth (which we did). These are essentially gauze pads treated with xylitol, which is the same ingredient you find in baby toothpaste, so a more effective version. I love the idea, and wish I had gotten them a year ago! Instead, Baby Girl has already graduated to a toddler toothbrush and xylitol gel, so I’ll be spreading this love around.

5.Larabar Samples from Larabar
Price: $1.79
Status: Meh
Comments: I don’t think anyone is listening when I tell them that I’m not a fan of mom items. I got two little larabar samples, an apple pie and a blueberry muffin, both of which I’ve received full size bars of in other boxes, so I didn’t really need to try them. They’re fine, not the most delicious things ever, and I’ll throw them in the pantry for when I need a quick snack.

Summary: So was it worth it? I wasn’t blown away by this box, but there were some really good items, and I know I’ll be able to add to a few baby gift bags with some good things. As far as value goes, the total value of the box was about $39.77, up against a purchase price of $27, so not bad at all, actually. I’m not over the purchase price if I subtract things I’ll regift, but I feel like they are still good quality items, so I’m not sure I mind. I still feel like this subscription is on probation though. We’ll see how next month goes, but it may be canceled if it doesn’t go well.

Use Code 4A49E165 to Get $10 Off Your Stork Stack!

Citrus Lane Review: November 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! See my reviews for previous months here.

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 sixteen month old box with a neutral gender selection.

1. Tugboat from Green Toys
Price: $14.99
Status: Awesome
Comments: Yay! I was so excited to see a Green Toys item in the box this month. Their products are always a huge hit with Baby Girl, and the company is awesome too. I would have preferred a toy that wasn’t primarily for the bathtub, but this was awesome.

2. Zootensils from Skip Hop
Price: $6.00
Status: Awesome!
Comments: Another product that basically hit the nail on the head! We’ve just started working with Baby Girl on using utensils, and were looking at what to purchase. What a timely arrival! Not only that, but we are big fans of the Skip Hop brand in our house, and own many of their products, so we know these will hold up to Baby Girl’s abuse.

3. Reusable Snack Bags from Bumkins
Price: $6.95
Status: Useful
Comments: To be honest, I’m a Bumkins fan, and I was super-duper hopeful when I saw the Bumkins logo that it would be a pack of their absolutely awesome toddler bibs. It wasn’t, it was reusable snack bags, but I’m sure we’ll get some use out of these. Although, we have received a lot of different snack containers in our Citrus Lane boxes, and I’m not really sure how many of these we really need.

4. Lip Comfort from Pur~lisse
Price: $16.00
Status: Meh
Comments: Uh, how much chap stick/lip balm type items do they think I need? And why are these things all so freaking expensive? Crazy! I’ll probably use it, or give it away, but not the best item in the box.

5. Second Blends Pouch from Plum Organics
Price: $1.99
Status: Disappointing
Comments: I love Plum Organics products, and I was so happy to see Citrus Lane finally include a food item that my daughter could actually eat. Then I found out about the voluntary recall issued on this product and that I have to throw it out! Such a bummer. CL says that they will be sending us all vouchers, but I have yet to see it.

6. TinyPrints Coupon
Price: N/A
Status: Not even worth including.
Comments: I hate this item. Especially because if it hadn’t been included in the box it probably would have been a super satisfying month. This coupon is for four sets of address labels and free shipping…on an order of $99+. This is not a gift, or an item. It is a glorified coupon. Not cool Citrus Lane, not cool.

Final Thoughts:
I’m very excited to be amped up about a box again! This box was pretty awesome, and made me glad to be a Citrus Lane subscriber!

Optional Add-to-Box:
Citrus Lane has just opened their new Holiday shop, where you can buy things like a normal store, or use your Citrus Lane credits, and they will ship the items in your next box. I did purchase an item I was pretty excited about and had it added to my December box.

By the Numbers:
Total value of the box items: $45.93
Total value of items I will use: $27.94
Is the value greater than the cost? YES
The value in this box would have been even greater if they hadn’t used the super expensive lip treatment to bump up the value! I was/am in love with this box, and while the recall (which CL had no control over) was a dampener, if the Bumkins product had been bibs instead of snack bags, I would be doing a completely embarrassing happy dance.

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!