DMB’s Guide to Subscription Boxes

Life can be so chaotic and fast paced and sometimes we get running on the hamster wheel.  We try and search for convenience in all things.  Think about it – we now have grocery stores who will take your order online and have the bags ready for your when you pull up – we can order our coffee at Starbucks online and be in and out within seconds – fast food restaurants prepare our food and serve it through a drive thru window so we don’t have to slave over a hot stove cooking a dinner that our kids turn their noses up at.  Thinking of these things can sometimes have us thinking “I wish I had more time to enjoy life.”  Enter: Subscription Boxes.

They may seem like the latest fad, but my god, are they ever convenient – and FUN!  As an adult, seeing the UPS or FedEx truck (or the boxes they leave on your porch) is the the equivalent of hearing the ice cream truck down the street – admit it.  There are hundreds of types and they’re geared toward almost every group of people – there are even a few for your pets!?!  Here at DMB we want to make things easier for you by breaking it down into a few different categories.  We hope you can find one for you (or Dad, or Kids, or family). Don’t see one on here that you love??  Let us know in the comments!

The Self-Care Box: As moms, we find time to ourselves as a luxury.  What we need to understand is that self care is a MUST in order to be able to give the best version of ourselves to our kids. The founder of The Self Care Box, Tara Pringle Jefferson says “Each box should feel like a deep exhale, a fresh reminder that while you are many things—an entrepreneur, a stay-at-home mom, a student—you are still you underneath it all. I want you to enjoy everything we have to offer and come away from every interaction with the knowledge that you are worthy and you are loved.” Each box is themed and features products like rejuvenating rose hibiscus bath tea, peppermint mocha hand cream, Best Day Ever 12 oz. coffee mugs, a 44-card word of affirmation deck, and a ‘do not disturb, Me time in progress’ door hanger just to name a small few. You deserve this, mamas!!

Fitfabfun Box: The fitfabfun website boasts an inclusion of products from fashion, fitness, wellness and home products, a $200 value for only $49.99.  Every three months, VIP members will receive full size products, not sample sizes – which is HUGE.  Products vary with each box and some name brands you can look forward to are: Zumba Fitness, The Honest Co., Chi, Orly, Dermalogica and Organic Valley just to name a few.  Two types of membership are available – Seasonal at $49.99 a quarter or Annual at $179.99 for the year.  This one sounds pretty fancy!

Yogi Surprise Box: This subscription offers two types of boxes: A lifestyle box and a jewelry (ooh, jewelry!) box.  The lifestyle box offers a variety of vegetarian and GMO free items.  The June 2016 box included vanilla almond milk, pain relief and healing cream, spinach and kale chips, yoga series sequence cards, palo santo mist, and more!  The lifestyle box has an average value of $70 of full size products for $44.95 a month!  The jewelry box includes 2 pieces of yoga-inspired and handcrafted jewelry and a piece of chocolate.  Jewelry AND chocolate!  Be still my heart!  With a minimum retail value of $65 per box, you can get yours for $24.99 a month!

Magnolia Crate: When you visit the website for this subscription box, their motto and what the provide is right there under their name: Monthly Curated Paper and Gifts. The monthly themed boxes are full of cards and stationary (4-6 paper goods per box) and while reading through the FAQs on their site, we saw they primarily include greeting cards and a few surprises like stickers, magnets and gift tags just to name a few. You also have an opportunity to shop the contents of some of the boxes directly from their website.  Approximately a $30 value in each box, you can get yours monthly for $19.99 a month.  Options for 3-month prepay or 6-month prepay are offered at a discounted rate! 

Julep Maven Beauty Box: Julep offers products like nail care, make up and application accessories, skin and body care and this fabulous subscription box full of their products! It is customizable and you’re even given the option to skip a month if what they’re offering doesn’t suit your fancy.  To start, you take a quiz, which will help their team select products that you’ll enjoy more.  There are two tiers: My Maven and Maven Luxe.  My Maven has a value of $40 in products for $24.99 or $19.99 with a three month prepaid subscription.  Maven Luxe has a value of $60 in “prestige” products for $39.99 or $34.99 with a three month prepaid subscription. Each have the option to gift a month to a friend!

Barbella Box: Are you a fitness mama?  Do you love staying up to date the latest and greatest in nutrition and exercise?  This might be the box for you.  Three plans are available: Monthly for $49.99, Quarterly for $141.00 (a $9 savings!) and Yearly for $540.00 (a $60 savings) and all these plans include free shipping!  Products from past boxes include hoodies, sports bras, pain reliever patches, protein bars, greens supplements, hair ties, massage rollers and SO much more.  Fitness buffs – search no more.

Gentleman’s Box: This subscription box comes with a one-year subscription to GQ magazine!  Each month’s box comes with 4-6 hand selected products that are all things men – ranging from socks, ties, whiskey stones, lip balm, cuff links and MORE!  You’re always promised triple the value of your monthly fee. Men can get this subscription box sent to their doorstep for $25.00 monthly or $275.00 yearly. You can even gift one to the special man in your life!

JackedPack: If you’re into fitness/weightlifting you know how expensive supplements and protein can be.  JackedPack boasts 5-10 samples in each box customized just for you to help you meet your fitness goals.  This one even gives you the opportunity to review what you tried and give your feedback! The price for this one is $15 per pack.  Do you believe it??  Here’s some info from the website: If you sign up for six months, every sixth box is free. This works out to $12.50 per pack. The $75 for six months is billed at once. The best offer is to sign up for a year. Three boxes are free. This works out to $11.25 per pack. The $135 for the year is billed at once.

Bespoke: This one is great because you only pay for the boxes that actually ship.  They will send you an e-mail each month with the types of boxes that are available and you select the one you want – OR you choose to skip a month or gift it to someone else. Boxes are $45 a piece and the theme and contents vary from month to month. Themes include: Carry (pocket-ready reliables) Layers (Cold weather clothes) Aged (for cocktails) The Barber (old school/new school shaving needs) and several more!  Something for every man. Free shipping AND free exchanges!  Amazing!

Mystery Tackle Box: Do you have a fisherman in your life?  This subscription box has featured over 100 different brands of fishing lures through their service, also offers free shipping and has two levels of membership.  The regular membership is $15.00 per month with a $25 value and you can upgrade anytime.  The Pro membership is $25.00 with a $40 value!  This would make the perfect Father’s Day gift! 

Fresh Neck: Their website motto appears to be Netflix for ties: Choose. Wear. Exchange. They don’t just do ties either. Pocket squares, bow ties, neckties, cuff links, watches, suspenders are only some of the things available to you with NO late fees – ever! If you want to keep any of your items you have the option to buy for %20-%40 percent off retail price!  Three levels of membership: Silver: $20 a month, Gold: $35 a month and Platinum: $55 a month.  Perfect for the businessman!

Rockets of Awesome: Tired of dragging the kids out to shop for clothes?  Worried they won’t cooperate?  Problem solved!  Rockets of Awesome is a quarterly subscription box for children who wear clothing sizes 2-14.  Sure – you might have meltdowns – but at least it’s in the privacy of your own home and not in a dressing room at a department store! No membership fees and no shipping fees apply and you ONLY pay for the clothes you keep.  Send back what you don’t want – easy peasy. Each box includes 8-12 “outfit ready” items at $12 – $36 per item.  The outfits promise to be on-trend and may we please repeat – you ONLY pay for what you keep!

Reading Bug Box: We have all heard about and understand the importance of reading to our children from an early age.  This box makes it easy AND fun to read and learn!  Each box include awesome books to read based on your child’s interests, an extra gift, game or craft, which has a theme accompanied to the books included in the box, and a note from Reading Bug Box with discount codes, and follow-up reading suggestions for your child!  Have more than one child?  One of the plans you can choose is the Reading Bug Box for TWO.  This box starts at $46.50 per month and includes 4-6 books and 2 gifts, games or crafts to enjoy. Just one little one?  The original Reading Bug Box monthly starts at $27.99 and includes 2-4 books and a gift, craft or game!

The Boodle Box: The website for this subscription box says its the monthly box for “Fashionistas-In-Training”.  The Boodle “One” box is for girls ages 6-11 and the Boodle “Two” box is for girls ages 12 and up.  A one month subscription is $35.99 per month, but your savings increase the longer you subscribe.  For a three-month subscription you pay $30.99 per month.  A six-month subscription will be $25.99 per month and finally, a 12-month subscription is $21.99 per month and all of these options include shipping!  Each box has a theme and items vary from watches, headbands, craft supplies, makeup, purses, nail polishes, stationary, inspirational postcards and MORE! 

Little Passports: The age range for this subscription box is great!  They have four types of boxes, each with a different way for your kids to look at the world: Science Expeditions (for ages 9+), which includes hands-on science experiments, achievement badges upon completion of workbook activities, a comic book chronicling the experiments of “Sam and Sofia”.  World Edition (for ages 6-10) includes their signature blue suitcase, a little passport for tracking progress, stickers and photos and a wall-sized world map. Little Explorers (for ages 3-5. Topics include: dinosaurs, oceans and music) includes flashlight adventures, stickers and photos, trading cards and more, and the USA Edition (for ages 7-12) includes state maps, pop-out models and access to more online activities. The price for these subscription boxes ranges from $11.95 to $20.95 per month. 

Bluum Box: What a cute little box for babies and mommies! Products included in this subscription box include (depending on the age of your little one) organic baby oil, memory game cards, children’s books, heat sensitive baby silverware, baby food storage, puzzles, cold packs and so much more!  Not only do they offer products for baby/child but they offer products for mommy too!  There’s nursing covers, rejuvenating creams, picture frames and mommy books, just to name a few.  You can customize your box or select from the boxes they’ve already put together!  Check out the website here for pricing information and all other things Bluum!

Loot Crate: We put this one under family because there’s something for everyone in this one!  There are several custom-curated boxes for geeks and gamers and so many different categories to choose from: LootCrate has over $45 worth of products in it($13.25/month) and LootCrateDX with over $100 worth of products in it ($44.99/month). There are a few others and their prices vary: LootAnime, LootGaming, LootPets and LootWear.  See!!  Something for every member of the family. Some past boxes included items from Star Trek, Megaman, Spiderman, RoboCop, Hulk, Harry Potter, Deadpool and The Walking Dead! 

BarkBox: Do you have fur babies at home? This box is just for doggies! Each month is uniquely-themed and contains 2 toys, 2 bags of treats and a chew based on that theme. To subscribe to this box you’ll select your dogs size and then select the plan that works best for you.  The 12-month plan is $21.00 a month.  Their most popular plan is their 6-month plan, which will be $25.00 a month.  You could also get just one month for $29.00.  All plans offer free shipping and promise if you are not fully satisfied they will send you a new box of items at no cost!  Subscriptions automatically renew!  You can also order wholesale sets of 10 boxes if you want all your doggy friends to try BarkBox!

Our Little Roots:  Once the snow clears and the temperature starts to get tolerable again – this would be an amazing subscription box to get the family outside and working together on a project! Every month you’ll get a little something to start your very own organic garden! Each box will include pots, soil and stakes, seed history and growing guides, non-GMO heirloom seeds and even recipes to use once your garden starts producing food!! Choose from flowers, herbs or vegetables and containers of peet or plastic – monthly cost of $12.95!!  Not only is it fun – but it’s a great way to show your kids where their food comes from! 

Groovy Lab in a Box:  Is your child into science? This box emphasizes STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and includes a notebook to document scientific findings, and an engineering challenge/experiment that will help them create their very own creations! This would be a great one for the whole family so parents can revisit some of the things they learned in school while at the same time watching their kids expand their minds in amazing ways!  Your family will also have access to the Beyond network, which works directly with Groovy Lab in a Box in order to continue your child’s STEM learning online!  A monthly subscription to this box is $29.95!  You also have the option to do a 3-month subscription at $28.95 per month or a 6-month subscription for $27.95 per month.

Awesome Pack: This one is for every member of your family – even your pets! After filling out your family profile, you tell them which games you already have and then let them do the work!  Categories include: Hands-on fun, which includes an activity you can do as a family – Unique board games! The website tells us that a good board game is a gem to a family household!  Big fun from little things, which basically means a smaller size activity for individual kids, like activity books, mini puzzles, etc. Lastly, awesome activity books and goodies!  This category offers up amazing DIY how-to’s , recipes for family cooking nights, a journal for your family to record all the amazing memories you’ll be making with your Awesome Pack and of course stickers, magnets and so much more! Based on a 2 child, 2 adult sized family, the price for the family pack is $39.99 monthly and renews automatically.

Mitten Crate: Michiganders will LOVE this box.  It contains unique artisan products and specialty goods made right here in the mitten state. DMB loves to support local businesses so this one is a favorite! Each box will include 5-6 Michigan made snacks and goodies for you to try.  Amazing local goods AND a commitment from the company to donate THREE meals to a food bank for every crate ordered??  This is perfection.  Past products include 313 foodie sauce, McClure’s potato chips, Dave’s Sweet Tooth Coffee, Good Life Granola, Slow Jams Jellies and Jams, Good Stuff Cacao and so many more delicious things! A monthly membership goes for $35 per month, which renews monthly.  Your best value is a 3-month membership, which goes for $99 for a 3-month subscription!  Be proud to be from the Mitten and get started with this box! 

Love with Food: As mothers, we naturally want what is best for our children.  Sometimes with the hectic stuggles of life we just can’t find time to put together a decent snack for our kids.  If you’re constantly on the go and looking for healthier, yet convenient alternatives for your family, this would be a good box to try. Three levels of healthy snacking goodness are available through this service.  The “snack box” is as low as $7.99 per month and offers 8+ surprise snacks each month, and snacks included are all organic or all natural and free of artificial “junk”. The “deluxe” box offers 16-20 snacks each month, also of the same kind (organic or all natural). You can get the deluxe box for as low as $16.50 per month.  Gluten allergies?  There is also a gluten free box!  This box is as low as $19.99 per month and includes 10-12 celiac safe and mostly dairy free snacks in addition to being gluten free and organic or all natural!  Amazing side note: for every box ordered 1-2 meals will be provided to hungry children through a food bank!  Eat healthy AND help a worthy cause?  Sign me up.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Hello,

    My name is Brittany I’m reaching out to see if your business would be interested in being a part of our Incentive Trade Program.

    This is a dollar-for-dollar, 100% negotiable trade. We will give you complimentary tickets for employees, VIP customers, and/or yourself in equal-to-approximate trade for gift certificates to your business.

    Our tickets are valued at $23.95/adult. For example, for ten (10) $20 gift certificates to your establishment, you would receive eight (8) complimentary tickets to our Festival. We will be using these items as prizes for patrons who participate in games, shows and competition’s.

    If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the Michigan Renaissance Festival Office, at (248)634-5552; our office hours are M-F, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

    Have a wonderful rest of your day,

    Brittany Vankerschaever
    Michigan Renaissance Festival

    12600 Dixie Highway, Holly, MI 48442
    (1)248-634-5552

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