Reviewing Citrus Lane: The October 2013 Box

I haven’t reviewed a Citrus Lane box for 6 months now… because frankly it’s kind of boring to just keep saying how awesome they are. However, just because I haven’t been blogging about the service doesn’t mean I haven’t been enjoying the boxes. We’ve been receiving them every single month since March 2012 and I’d say that 95% of the time I’ve been really happy with our monthly surprises.

Occasionally I’ll get something that we wouldn’t use, but that’s really the luck of the draw. Most of the time if we won’t use something I add to my ‘future baby shower’ pile to give away next time a friend gets preggo.

Only once have I been furious with an item in the box, which was when Citrus Lane included a ‘free outfit’ from FabKids, an outfit subscription service for children. After repetitively trying to contact them to make an order (with every single item in Jack’s size being sold out for the entire time the promotional card would work), I finally gave up and was left with a horrid feeling about FabKids. BOO FABKIDS! Luckily, that was the only time I was disappointed in what Citrus Lane had to offer.

For the October box, I tried something new. Citrus Lane sent out an email offering some special items that you could add to your box:

One of the items, was a set of Green Eats snack bowls that we had gotten in a previous box. Jack has decided that he likes his food to be on plates and in bowls (rather than just scattered around his highchair tray), so we get a ton of use out of these. In fact, I’m pretty sure we use them every single day, so I thought it would be great to have a few more on hand!

Adding the item to my box was simple and the $6.95 was charged to my account (if you have any referral credits, the money can come out of that stash instead of charging it on your credit card). A few weeks later and our box with the extra goodies arrived!

Here’s what we got in addition to the Green Eats bowls:

Water Bugs from Boon: I LOVE this bath toy! It gives Jack something fun to play with during bath time (or pool time in the summer) and I don’t have to worry about any gross mold ending up inside the ‘bugs’.  The best part is that this is something I didn’t even realize I wanted, so it was the perfect sort of surprise gift!

Bops from Good Boy Organics: I appreciate that they threw in a healthy snack that could work for mom or kid, but um… yuck. I’m not a huge chip eater, but when I do eat a chip I want it to be a YUMMY chip. Not necessarily a healthy chip.

BabyBug from Cricket Magazine + 3 month digital subscription: We love books in our house and I always welcome some new kiddo reading material. This magazine is quite nice (and well made), but if I had the choice between the magazine and an actual book… well, I’ll choose the book every time.

Boat Whistle from Green Tones:  This is a super cute toy/whistle that is really well made. In fact, it is made from smooth, sustainable rubber wood and has a not-too-irritating toot when you blow into it. Jack enjoyed pretend-play with the boat, as well as slobbering all over the place to blow the whistle.

So that brings us to the question that I ask myself each time I receive a Citrus Lane box: is it worth it?

My answer is a definite “yes”. I love the convenience of receiving age appropriate items for Jack each month. I really like that it introduces me to new products and companies each month too. Having the ‘add an item’ option is GREAT and I’m so glad I was able to add on the Green Eats snack bowls to our box order without having to go out and find them on my own. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for future ‘add an item’ specials so I can get even more benefit out of our Citrus Lane subscription.

My typical disclaimer: I was not rewarded by Citrus Lane for reviewing their box on my blog. I review the boxes, because I feel like other mom’s would be interested in seeing what they’ll get if they sign up for the monthly service.

However, if you decide that you would like to sign up for your own subscription and use my link, I will receive credits on my account. Click here to access the Citrus Lane website with my special link and you will receive $10 off your order!

If you are interested in reading any of my other Citrus Lane reviews, go ahead and give a little clickity click to this link to check them all out.

Do you use any children’s subscription box services – whether it be Citrus Lane, Bluum, Kiwi Crate, or something else? What are your thoughts on the value for the items received?