Showing posts with label Be Nice Box. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Be Nice Box. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Be Nice Box review, July 2014

Name: Be Nice Box
Details: Receive a monthly box full of projects that promote the concept of being nice to others. One dollar from every purchase goes to charity.
Price: $20


My July Be Nice Box showed up in the mail this week. Let's take a peek. (I'm a poet and I don't even know it.)


A personal note...


A road map for "being nice" in July. The theme this month is "in my neighborhood," so all the suggested tasks involve doing little things for one's neighbors and community.



A package full of goodies, plus a bag of seed coins that, when placed in the ground, grow into plants!





On to the goodies...


1. Plantable seed gift cards from bloomin.com. These are meant to be left behind for strangers, either in a book, on a bus, etc. Each card is made from a piece of paper embedded with seeds so, as with the seed coins, when planted, it'll grow into something pretty. These cards are super-cute, and will be fun to give away.




2. Confetti popper with Equal Exchange fair-trade chocolate. This is meant to be used during a "mini party," to shower your guests with confetti and a sweet treat. It took all my willpower not to pop it open when I saw it because I really wanted to know what was inside!




3. "You are beautiful" stickers. I had never seen these types of stickers before, but apparently they're a whole "thing"---just check out the hash tag #yabsticker on Twitter. Be Nice Box recommends that subscribers place them around their towns. I'm not sure where I'll put them, but I should probably save one for my bathroom mirror as a happy little reminder on those mornings when I just want to crawl back into bed.




4. Postcard from Nina Chakrabarti. This card is meant to be colored and sent to a friend. I love the artwork, and I especially love the artist's website...so many amazing illustrations!




5. Paper from Thistle Farms and pencil from Sparkle and Posy. These items are meant to be gifts for the do-gooder...in other words, for me! The paper was made by survivors of human trafficking and prostitution who now live at Thistle Farms, a community in Nashville that is receiving part of the proceeds from this month's Be Nice Box. The pencil is from the company Sparkle & Posy, and is so unique! I'm not sure how I'll sharpen it, but it's a fun little piece.

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I loved this month's Be Nice Box! Sometimes the craziness of everyday life makes me forget about performing those little gestures that, while small, can make someone's day just a tad better. The Be Nice Box offers so many unique ideas for...well...being nice, and I love that there's a subscription service like this out there!

If you're interested in subscribing to Be Nice Box, head here: Be Nice Box subscription link

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Be Nice Box review, June 2014

Be Nice Box is a service that, for $15, sends out a monthly box filled with projects that encourage subscribers to "be nice" to those around them. One dollar from every box goes to charity. The theme of this month's box was "full bellies," and the charities that received money were No Kid Hungry and Meals on Wheels. Let's take a peek inside the shipment.



The box contained a hand-written note, which was a nice touch. (It IS the Be Nice Box, after all.)


This "map" travels throughout the month of June, and provides guidelines on how to use the items that the box contains to help others.

1. KIND bars. These are meant to be a surprise treat for anyone to whom you'd like to give them.



2. Sugar books from Leafcutter Designs. I had never heard of sugar books before receiving them in my Be Nice Box.
 
Each book contains blank pages upon which you can write whatever little things your heart desires. Then, you leave the book in a container of sugar packets for someone else to read and contribute to. This is such a clever idea, and I'll be trying it out, though I'll have to select my locations strategically. I have a feeling that a sugar book left in a trendy coffeeshop will have a better chance of surviving the trashcan than one left in, say, Denny's.

BTW, the Leafcutter Designs website has all kinds of cute stuff on it, so be sure to check it out.



3. Kindly Coffee. This package of coffee is just large enough to brew a pot of caffeinated happiness for a friend or coworker.


 
4. Cupcake liners and toppers. Be Nice Box provided these so that subscribers can bake cupcakes for someone during the month of June. Realistically, I'm probably not going to do that, but I'll keep these in the cupboard for the next time I do break out the cake mix.



5. Summer garland. This is a gift for the Be Nice Box subscriber, which means that I get to keep it. I wasn't able to get a decent photo of this garland as it dangled in the air (which is how it's supposed to be displayed), but here's what it looks like on a table. I'm not sure where I'll put it, so I might extend the "be nice" theme with this product and give it to my nieces or nephews.

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This is the first Be Nice Box that I received, and I had no idea what to expect when I subscribed. I was pleasantly surprised by what showed up at my door. I loved getting a personal note from the box's makers, and thought that the projects included in the box were intriguing. As I've learned more about various subscription boxes through this blog, I find that I'm gravitating away from big-company boxes and becoming more interested in "mom-and-pop" boxes that are curated and packaged by the people who actually started them. I enjoyed the items that I received in the Be Nice Box this month, and can't wait to see what next month brings!

To try out the Be Nice Box for yourself, head here: Be Nice Box subscription link