NOTICE: All craft posts, product reviews, and any other posts that are not food-related have been moved to my other blog: The Proverbs31 Mama.
OK folks! I am SO excited about this review!!! In fact, this is the entire reason that I started the "Moms Need To Know" review section of this blog! I signed up for Citrus Lane's monthly subscription service last month, so I've been anxiously waiting for a little less than a month for my first box to arrive so I could share this with you guys! So, lets get started, shall we? To begin with, I'm going to tell you just a bit about Citrus Lane. Then I'll tell you (and show you) what we received in this month's box. Lastly, I'll try to anticipate and answer some of the questions you may have about Citrus Lane.
A Little About Citrus Lane:
Citrus Lane was started by Mauria Finley, a mother of two. She writes on their website about how, as a first-time mom, she was always looking for the best products for her child. Research took lots of time, trial and error. And thus, Citrus Lane was born! In an effort to help other moms find the best products for their kids, she started her company.
Citrus Lane is a monthly subscription service for moms - and kids! But don't let that turn you off! You can sign up for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or 12 months. (My husband signed me up for a 3 month subsciption to try it out, but I may ask him to extend that as a Mother's Day present. - Hint. Hint.) ;) Boxes cost $25 a month (which includes shipping!), but the box's total retail price ranges from about $30 to $50!
Basically, every month (sometime after the 15th) you receive a box with 4-5 products for your child that have been recommended and reviewed by real moms. The best part - these products are FULL SIZED products!!! That's right! (If you'd like to see some examples of past boxes, you can click HERE) Also, Citrus Lane does not take paid placements. That means companies cannot pay CL to place their products in its boxes. - All the products really are hand-picked by moms.
Each month has a theme. For example, this month's theme was "Dining Out," so everything in the box is meant to help you as you go out to eat with your little one. Also, the boxes are geared toward your child's age. Citrus Lane has boxes appropriate for children from newbon to 3 years of age. My child is a toddler, so her box was different from a baby's box. Citrus Lane works hard to send you products that are age appropriate and that your child can use immediately.
Now, on to this month's box! :)
Every month, when you open your box, you will be greeted by this cheery lemon-yellow paper. What a lovely added touch!
Someone can't wait to get into this box! ;)
The next thing in your box every month is this little flyer. It explains what the month's theme is all about, has a break-down of each item in the box (including retail prices), and hints and tips that have to do with that month's theme.
(Here's an example of one of this month's hints: "Packing your reastaurant toolkit is a serious matter... Include fun, new toys that you only bring out at restaurants. Visit dollar-store bins for little trinkets to keep on hand.")
The first item in our box this month was this ZoLi Sumo Snack Stacker (www.zolibaby.com). It retails for $18.00 (although, I did find it on amazon for $13). This thing is pretty substantial - or "Sumo." (Haha!) It can hold 3 different snacks. It will be great for picnics, shopping trips, car trips, days out, etc! There's plenty of room in this baby!
(The Snack Stacker is BPA and Phylate free, has a convenient loop to secure it to your bag or stroller, and each of the three containers holds approximately 1 full cup of snacks.)
And, as you can see, my little one figured this thing out right away! ;)
The next item was the Itzy Ritzy Snack Happened reusable snack bag (itzyritzy.com). As you can see, ours came in girl colors for my little angel. What a lovely personal touch! This snack bag retails for $9.99 (same price on amazon).
(The Itzy Ritzy bag is reusable, washable, has a lead-free zipper, and a PVC-free waterproof liner. It also comes with a zipper instead of velcro for "silent snacking.")
Next, we got these 2 pouches of organic food from Ella's Kitchen (www.ellaskitchen.com). These pouches retail for $2.49 each.
(I wasn't too thrilled about these to begin with. My little one eats what we eat & hasn't really eaten "baby food" in quite some time. But I did a little research, and apparently toddlers eat these as well. In fact, they have many fruit-flavored pouches and toddlers just suck them right out of the pouch! - Kind of like a juice box! I've gottan say, that sounds like a pretty awesome and healthy "snack on the go!" I may just have to get some fruit pouches for my little one to snack on!)
The last kid's product we received was 2 pouches of all natural baby food from NurturMe (nurturme.com). These retail for $10.00 for an 8-pack.
(Again, I wasn't too thrilled about getting "baby food" at first, but then I read the info flyer which says: "NurturMe grows with your child. Its ideal for hiding extra fruits and vegetables in soups, smoothies and pasta sauces!" While I don't "hide" fruits and veggies (Yes. I'm blessed because my baby loves fruits AND veggies!) I thought the apple would be great mixed with oatmeal & the squash would be great mixed with pastina!)
If you have a younger child, these things are AWESOME! No more carrying jars of baby food around - just throw a couple of these little packets in the diaper bag and then mix water, formula, or breast milk!
Citrus Lane threw in something just for moms this month! (They love to do that!) This months little treat was a sample size of both the Weleda Almond Soothing Facial Lotion and Almond Soothing Cleansing Lotion (usa.weleda.com). The facial lotion retails for $24 for 1 fluid oz, and the cleansing lotion retails for $19.00 for 2.5 fluid oz. I can't wait to try this stuff!!!
Now, as if all that isn't enough, Citrus Lane also loves to include coupons and coupon codes in their boxes! This month's were:
Code for 20% off an online itzyritzy.com purchase, code for $5 off $25 purchase at ellaskitchen.com, 20% off of full-size Almond Facial Lotion or Almond Cleansing Lotion at weleda.com, code for $10 off any $30 purchase at abesmarket.com, coupon for $3 off any Ella's Kitchen product, coupon for $1.50 off any 8-count box of NurturMe pouches
That's a whole lot of savings!
So, now on to some questions you may have:
1.) Citrus Lane ships (via USPS) the week of the 15th of every month, so your box should arrive some time by the end of each month.
2.) Citrus Lane is very flexible! If you have a baby and a toddler, you can either buy 2 separate boxes, or you can get one subscription (for your baby, for example) and then switch to the toddler box whenever you want. Just email customer care and they will help you out!
3.) Speaking of Customer Care, they are AWESOME! I was anxious to receive my box and so I emailed them yesterday. I had a response in less that 2 hours telling me where my box was and when they thought it would arrive.
4.)If you have anymore questions, you can check out their website HERE.
In short, I'm THRILLED with this product - and so is my sweet little angel!!! She really enjoyed ripping into her box and discovering all of her special gifts! I can't wait for next month's box to arrive!!!! Oh, and next month's theme is "Bath and Bedtime!" YEAH!!! If you'd like to join Citrus Lane, you can follow my referrel link HERE. (Right now they have a 20% off code on their site.)
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