Subscription Boxes

UMBA BOX-Limited Edition July Box ($45 + Shipping)

My first Umba Box arrived today! 

My boyfriend, J, had secretly ordered it for me as I was frantically searching for an Etsy-esque subscription box that would ship to APO. Unfortunately for him (and me ;) ) I saw it on his screen. So "we" joined Umba on 30 June and he got the notification that it had shipped on 3 July! Talk about fast turn around. It arrived here in Germany in 7 days. 

Now for what you really care about, the contents! 

I'll have to admit at first I was slightly disappointed with this first item. I tend to be drawn to neutral colors, but the longer we photographed it, the more it grew on me. Now I can definitely picture this vase with some beautiful flowers in it sitting on my kitchen table. 

The vase from  Ceramica Botanica is valued at $35. Would I personally pay that much if I saw this vase in a store? Probably not. Then again I have a black thumb and kill any flowers I come in contact with so perhaps I'm just not a vase person. Nevertheless it is pretty cute and part of me loves that it is a vibrant blue color!

The other item in the box was a bracelet from Lovely B Jewelry and is valued at $20. This bracelet is cute, but I'm terrified of breaking it. It is not made of very sturdy material. I'd also like to point out the size. Now, I have really tiny or as I like to call them Carnie hands. I easily slid my carnie hand through the bracelet without an issue, but if you aren't blessed with the hands and wrists of a five year old like I am, you might have some issues with this bracelet. 

You can see next to the card how tiny it is.

Both items are very cute and of course HANDMADE! If you're like me and a sucker for handmade, I would probably recommend Umba Box. Honestly, I am holding out for my next box to really give them the full thumbs up. I was happy with these items, but I expected a little more from the coveted "limited edition" box.

My Umba card with a cute handwritten note.

BESPOKE POST- June "Seared" Box ($45)

I knew the moment I saw this in the mailroom that it was ours

This is one of J's subscription boxes and he loves it! For any of you ladies searching for a subscription box that your man would enjoy, look no further than Bespoke Post. You can select your theme each month on the website, but what spoils the fun (in this blogger's humble opinion) is that you know exactly what you're getting! That doesn't stop Bespoke Post from offering AWESOME products though. It arrived to our APO in Germany in about 5 days and was packaged quite well.

Recipes for the Himalayan Salt Block are what greeted us when we opened the box.

June's "Seared" Box included a Himalayan Salt Block from Salt Works ($34.95), a Profi Plus Butterfly turner from WMF ($24.00), and two seasonings (Habanero and Sweet Onion) from Essential Cane (in sample size.) We haven't had a chance to try the Salt Block which never melts and seasons meat as it cooks, but it sounds pretty nifty. Alternatively, you can freeze it and place smoked salmon or another cold meat on it and it will season them. The seasonings are DELICIOUS and we haven't had a chance to try the flipper. 

The Salt Block, Seasonings, and Fur Babies

All in all I'd say this manly subscription box gets an A+! We are definitely looking forward to our July box. We both highly recommend Bespoke Post. I have included a bonus outtake photo of Craven being a clown while Mommy is trying to take serious photos.

(In full disclosure the Bespoke Post link I posted gives J a referral. Use it if you'd like, if not just go to www.bespokepost.com!)