Outside the Box

Subscription Boxes, Geekdom, Crafting and DIY, Vegan and Vegetarian Living, and More!

[littlemissboxy]

Crafty has opened an Etsy shop!!!!! Check out KuteKrafts on Etsy. #crafts #shop #etsy via Instagram http://ift.tt/1EFb4Dy

[littlemissboxy]

We love this board game from our @awesomepack #games #kids #fun via Instagram http://ift.tt/1H1nzLa

[littlemissboxy]

Word on the Street Junior Review by Crafty

When I received my March Awesome Pack, I mentioned that I wanted to review each of the games as we played them. We played Word on the Street Junior shortly after the box arrived; in fact we have played it several times, but I am just getting around to the review now.

I could give a million reasons why it took me so long to get this review written, but I want to be honest. I have a habit of saying yes to people or planning to do something, which results in me being overwhelmed, stressed, and forgetful. When this happens, I also have a habit of throwing my hands in the air and saying, "FORGET IT!" Then I choose not to do anything instead of having to pick what I can handle and what I can't. This review got caught up in the "Forget it" pile of things, but not because we didn't enjoy it or didn't like it. It was simply because my coping skills when it comes to stress are terrible. 

With that out of the way, on to the review! The first time we played the game, we set it up so that my daughter, who is nine, was on one team and my son, who is eight, and I were on the other team. This game is nice because it doesn't require more than one player on a team allowing the kids to play by themselves. However, having more than one person on a team does seem like the best way to play this game, because the game requires brainstorming and two brains are better than one, right?

The level of strategy in this game is enough to keep an adult interested, but not too much that the kids get frustrated. It requires the teams to come up with a list of words that fit a category and then choose a word they want to play in an attempt to "steal" the tiles off the board. I watched both of my kids think very hard about words with double letters, unusual letters, and more letters just so they could win the game. One of the things I really liked about this game was that it doesn't rush the kids into spelling words quickly. There is a timer that is used for brainstorming words that fit into the category, and once that time is up, the team must choose a word to play. The team can then take their time spelling that word out using the letters on the board. This has been extremely helpful in getting my eight-year-old to practice spelling.

This game is easily one of our favorites in this house. I regret not taking the time to get this review up sooner.

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[littlemissboxy]

Another cutie! @monieloom #rainbowloom #looming #loombands #crafts via Instagram http://ift.tt/1dUOrFG

[littlemissboxy]

Sooooo obsessed with theses little hedghogs! @monieloom #rainbowloom #looming #loombands #kitchen #crafts via Instagram http://ift.tt/1cApwa0

[littlemissboxy]

Update from Boxy

Hi all! Things are really busy here and with the move, I just don't have time to deal with much else. I also paused most of my subscriptions so I don't have a great deal to review anyway. Crafty will be keeping up the blog, I'm sure, but there may be a bit of lull until I get myself settled! Hope to see you this summer once I'm out from under boxes! via Blogger http://ift.tt/1crGEP6

[littlemissboxy]

My Geek Box Review: April 2015

I think this was the April My Geek Box, but it may be March since getting from the UK to US takes forever sometimes. I have to admit that I was so disappointed with this, but mostly because I had high expectations. My Geek Box only recently started shipping to the US again and I've seen some of their boxes and wanted to sign up so badly. I noticed they often included candy and British candy is hard to get here, especially now that we're not allowed to have Cadbury, and they also tended to heavily gear themselves toward British stuff like Doctor Who and Sherlock. I feel like this stuff is sorely lacking in all the geek boxes I get, so I was really excited when this arrived. Sadly it wasn't great British fandoms, but mostly more of the same. I will say that the shirt is pretty nice and the design is great. Although I'm inundated with Avengers, I understand that every box is kind of capitalizing on the movie release right now, which makes sense. Hopefully they'll all do the same when Doctor Who returns in the fall.

We also received an Adventure Time mug. I have to admit I don't watch this although I would probably like it. Still a mug is useful and it's cute.

The other items, though, were pretty much meh. I don't really understand why we get send MegaBloks, since I thought these were for kids. I guess people like making their own collectibles, though? Either way, I don't, but to each his own. I'm giving My Geek Box another go because this could just be a bad month. (Also why do these pictures insist on being upside down?)

Finally there was an Optimus Prime bottle opener keychain, which could be useful, I suppose, and an Avengers wallet. I did really like the Grapeheads, though. Hopefully next month will be more enjoyable and maybe with my expectations more realistic, it won't feel so disappointing.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1F6IDox

[littlemissboxy]

Companion Tees Review: April 2015

I may have said this before, but Companion Tees is the best subscription ever! They always send perfect shirts, whether in their monthly grab bag or in the monthly subscription like this one. Since their monthly grab bag, for me, includes three shirts, I get that one in a box, but the regular subscription comes in the TARDIS. :)

I loved this shirt, because I pretty much always love what Companion Tees sends. I love that it's grey, I love the design, and I actually like the entire concept of the Cybermen tee. It fits with my introvert shirt! ;) Now I just need to see if they have a similar design for Daleks and I would be ecstatic. I am so, so happy with this subscription because I love all the shirts and the surprise is a lot of fun as well.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1E9HmXZ

[littlemissboxy]

Hatchery Review: March? April? 2015

The reason I'm not sure which month this box is for is because I signed up for one of those online deals for three months with Hatchery, but it auto-renewed. After two months, I canceled so it wouldn't auto-renew because I didn't want to be worrying about while moving. However, in doing so to avoid being charged, the system also canceled my last box. I recently realized I hadn't received that third box and contacted Hatchery. They not only replied in an hour, but also had a box in the mail that day. Talk about awesome customer service! I'm actually a fan of this box and think it would make an awesome gift, but the last thing I need right now is to worry about another address change. Each month, with the Tasting Box, you are sent five small samples of cooking items or food ingredients from artisans around the US. There's always a great variety and Hatchery provides suggested recipes as well. My first item was a bottle of Michigan Apple Pie shrubs. I've never really used these, but it sounds interesting and I don't mind trying it out. Now that summer's on the way, maybe I can make something yummy and sit out on the porch!

I have to check the ingredients for the egg seasoning pack, although usually these are free of meat. However, you never know so before I use it, I will check. Also knowing what's in it will help me decide how best to use it.

I'm not sure why the apricot jam insists on being upside down, but either way, I will use this for sure. I love jams and jellies and it's one of the things that most interested me about the Tasting Box. This is the kind of item I'm always looking for - an artisan jam or spread. I'm lucky that we live close enough to Maine that Stonewall Kitchen is literally everywhere, but new brands are always welcome, too!

I'm very excited about the sweet and tangy mustard and the first thing I'm doing when we settle and unpack this will be to buy pretzels for dipping. Yum!

Finally there was a jar of salted caramel and recently, thanks mainly to Treatsie, I have discovered I am quite the fan. I cannot wait to use this - maybe for a sundae!

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1KhveYE

[littlemissboxy]

GeekMeBox Review: April 2015

I was already planning to cancel GeekMeBox, mostly because I have too many of these and I haven't found anything to really hook me with this one, but then they announced that April's box would include Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, so I stayed on. I'm not sure it was really worth it, but it wasn't terrible, either. I can't really say anything negative about GeekMeBox, but I just don't feel like there's anything really unique about them, either, and they're more expensive than others that offer basically the same thing. The first two items were a Hulk POP and some Legend of Zelda socks. I really like these items, but I think we have this POP. He's a bobblehead, though, so we may not. I do love that there are figures in the GeekMeBox subscription, because I get really tired of the kid-friendly stuff that isn't transferable to adults in some of these boxes. At least figures can be collected by someone at any age.

The shirt is actually adorable, with Link and Harry both going for the Golden Snitch. The other Harry Potter item was one of those projector lights with the Hogwarts crest, so I probably won't use that.

Finally, the Game of Thrones item was a mystery mini, which would have been really disappointing since I stuck around for this. However, we were fortunate enough to get Viserion, who is super cool even in mini form, so kudos. Again, this is actually a great box, but as I whittle down to nothing in order to worry less during the move, one area to cut is in the redundancy. I find that with all the geek boxes, it seems to make less sense to get them all and just focus on the ones that are consistently stronger and that make me the happiest.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1OYGaRy

[littlemissboxy]

Fandom of the Month Club Review: April 2015

Fandom of the Month Club, for those who've missed it, is a jewelry/accessory subscription box that caters to nerdy fandoms. It's all for less than $15 a month, which is pretty amazing. This month's fandom was Harry Potter. Recently, Fandom of the Month Club had new boxes made rather than their old padded envelopes and the owl image comes at the perfect time!

Each month comes with a collectible bag and postcard, which are, for me, two additional items to look forward to. The card this month is a silhouette of Hogwarts and there's a quote and wand on the bag.

I have to be honest and admit I didn't love all of the items in the box, but I'm still a big fan of the subscription. I have picky jewelry taste and I'm just as happy to get the bag and pass along the jewelry if I don't love it. The earrings were golden snitches, and I did like these. I also loved the deathly hallows keychain, complete with piece from the book. The feather necklace is nice, and I may wear it, but it may also be a bit too delicate for my taste. The ring is an owl and adorable but it's SUPER tiny. I wish these were adjustable for normal size fingers.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1GNcm0I

[littlemissboxy]

SH&SH Pizza Cutter Review

So I like to make homemade pizzas, because 1. I love pizza and 2. I like easy meal prep. Of course when you make homemade pizza, sometimes the crust can be tough to cut through and although we have some knives to do the job, the end result isn't always pretty. Therefore, I was excited to review the pizza cutter from SH&SH.

Sadly, I am a bit of an idiot. I should have sent this to Crafty for review because as I was packing up my kitchen, leaving only the necessities until we move, I discovered we already had a pizza cutter. I didn't even know we had one! Anyway, the biggest difference between a knife and pizza cutter is simply that this is designed to roll through the pizza, while a knife can make a mess. Pizza cutters, and this one especially, also are balanced for just that and this has a nice sturdy handle to make getting through even the toughest crust possible. Right now, we are not really making pizza at home, since we aren't doing a ton of cooking beyond things in the fridge or in cans so we don't have to move them or throw them away. However, once we move and settle in, I will definitely be using this - and it's partner I forgot I had! ;) via Blogger http://ift.tt/1ENOewI

[littlemissboxy]

Our Paws & Play box for a medium dog. #dogs #subscriptionbox #review #pets via Instagram http://ift.tt/1EbSUcj

[littlemissboxy]

Geek Fuel Review: April 2015

Sadly this wasn't my favorite Geek Fuel box, because it's all about superheroes. For me, superheroes and superhero movies are a perfect example of too much of a good thing. I enjoyed the first Avengers movie and even kind of liked the early X-Men movies. I didn't even mind the first Iron Man and actually loved the original Spiderman. My husband is definitely the comic book geek here, but I never minded seeing the movies with him because even when they weren't great, they were generally entertaining. But now I am just so, so sick of them. There seems to be a new one every month - and they rarely offer anything different. We will be seeing Age of Ultron, but even my husband - who has followed the Avengers since he was a small child - didn't care about seeing it later. We went to the midnight release for all the Harry Potter movies and Spiderman and Lord of the Rings and, of course, Star Wars, but he just figured he had to work Friday morning. However, we have both gone to work on no sleep from a movie before, but it's too much. You can't stress about every movie and Marvel, like Disney, just doesn't know how to give people a second to breathe. The dilution of excitement comes from the fact that they have movies every month or two. Part of what made the others exciting was that they didn't. ANYWAY, long story short, the emphasis on superheroes in this month's Geek Fuel subscription box felt the same way. I'm getting so many Avengers items and I just don't care enough about them. My husband doesn't care enough, either, because again, too much of a good thing.

Fortunately, Geek Fuel remains the only geeky subscription box that sends game codes each month so even if I don't play them, I feel like that's always worth the cost. We will use the mug and I actually did like this. It's a mashup of Avengers and Breakfast Club. We have way too many mugs (as Crafty can attest to) but I don't feel like geeky mugs are ever a bad item because I will use them.

The shirt was a total fail for us, though. It's a mashup of Avengers and TMNT. As I said, I'm so bored with superheroes and my husband, although an obsessive comic book fan, HATES TMNT with a passion, so we will pass this along to someone else.

The filler items were also somewhat disappointing, with the exception of the Star Wars jelly beans (mainly because they were Star Wars, yummy, and did not include dead animals). We couldn't eat the Avengers candy because of gelatin and I don't really know what to do with a Scribblenauts figure.

My final bonus item was a plastic orange ghost thing, but I really like the tin it came in.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1zIQAhM

[littlemissboxy]

Treatsie Review: April 2015

This is going to be a terrible review, because I have to admit something. I have a ridiculous Treatsie addiction. The reason the review will be terrible is because I didn't get pictures of the box, since I was so quick to tear the box open and start enjoying it! 

So every month, before your subscription box ships, Treatsie also invites you to add on treats. I gave in this month and added a few as well, and the shipment notice came in about a week before it arrived. On scheduled delivery day, I waited quite impatiently. The FedEx driver didn't come until after 7 PM!!! I asked my husband every ten minutes if the box had come, but thankfully it finally did. At which point, I opened and split the box between us and started enjoying my portion. Only to realize I didn't have my camera. 

One of this month's featured items were marshmallows between butter cookies and held together with caramel. Although this sounds yummy, these had gelatin and so they were taken to my husband's work with him to be given away. 

Another of the featured item's was the PB&J chocolate bar, which is made with peanut praline and raspberry pate. I haven't tried this yet but it sounds fantastic and knowing Treatsie, it will be. 

Also featured was a variety of mini chocolate bars in great sounding flavors that we haven't tried, either, as well as chocolate covered corn nuts and pretzels. I don't have pictures because these were split up and are now in various locations, but everything sounds wonderful. 

For add on items, we added some caramels that were gone quickly, chocolate bars, and these caramel treats below. The only thing we've finished was the caramel pack, which came in a cute Treatsie bag. I've recently discovered that salted caramel is one of my favorite things ever and there were salted caramels, too, so it was delightful. These little caramel confections are also amazing and the chocolate bars sound fantastic. 

I'm always excited for Treatsie to arrive and it's always so yummy! I just get disappointed when there's gelatin in the snacks because then I can't eat them. If that starts to happen a lot, I may just have to cancel and order items directly, but hopefully it will not!

via Blogger http://ift.tt/1GL1hNL

[littlemissboxy]

MagiKitchen Mesh Strainer Review

I was provided with the MagiKitchen Mesh Strainer for review a while ago and I've had it to review. As you can see in this picture, I was in the process of using it. You may also recognize the bags/labels from Plated, but this meal ended up being a disaster. I haven't reviewed Plated in a while because things kind of imploded with this particular meal. A bit of artichoke got stuck in the garbage disposal and rather than enjoy dinner, we spent the night fixing our sink. 

Anyway, I have had this strainer for a while but hadn't ended up using it since I hadn't made pasta recently. 

One thing I noticed and liked right away was the handle. It's solid and sturdy, which allows you to hold the strainer when using it. All my current strainers are the kind you flip the pot over, so this is new and I like it. It's more likely to get all the water out because I can pour the pasta directly into the strainer. It also means less pasta down the drain! Another thing I like about the strainer is that it's bigger than it looks. At first I was a little concerned it wouldn't hold enough pasta, but it's fairly deep and once the water is drained, it forms a perfect bowl to hold your pasta. This is also helpful when you're tossing the pasta into something else and need to keep it to the side for a bit, because the strainer can hold it for you. via Blogger http://ift.tt/1ELaUhd

[littlemissboxy]

Fulmar Expandable Bamboo Cutlery Organizer Review

Crafty had just come to help us pack our house up for the move and when we received the message about the Fulmar expandable cutlery organizer, she knew it would be perfect. We currently have a smaller one in the drawer, but with the move, it's time to think about what we could use and this was something I commented that we needed. So it came at a perfect time!

This is actually a really versatile product and wouldn't have to be used only for cutlery. It could store arts or crafting supplies, could serve in a junk drawer, or could even organize school supplies. Since it's advertised for cutlery, though, let's focus on that. Because it's expandable, you really have two options - use the utility drawers or don't. There's also a built-in knife block, which is nice since I know we have one really sharp knife without a home at the moment and we have cut ourselves on it more than once! The tray is also made of bamboo so it's very sturdy and is a good product for holding items that go near food (not chemically-treated plastic, for example). I was surprised at how big this was, too, and I know it is going to be a great product as soon as we unpack and settle this summer! via Blogger http://ift.tt/1caPL6J