Have you jumped in on the subscription box craze?  I admit that I have a fascination with all of the subscription box offerings out there in the past couple of years and have tried several of them.  I tried both  Ipsy and Birchbox for awhile and found some fun new make up products. I wrote about my last Ipsy box here.

Next up for me were snack subscription boxes.  I found that Nature Box has some great products but my pantry became overrun with Nature Box treats. The Graze subscription is a smaller amount and I found that I preferred those to the larger snacks. Graze tidbits are the perfect size to stick in my purse for on the go snacking when I am out and about.

I even got a Try the World subscription for Aaron and somehow I have ended up with several of the items out of his boxes because they are not something he will use.  Frankly I am not sure I will use some of them as the packaging is in foreign languages and I am not really sure what I am getting into if I open the product. Hey–it sounded like a fun gift for a guy who likes to cook and likes to experiment.

My latest subscription box came a week or so ago and I felt like it was going to be a good fit for me.  A Beautiful Mess offers two monthly boxes – Happy Mail and Messy Box.  Happy Mail subscriptions can cost from $15 to $20 a month depending on what subscription you choose.  I received the October box and this is what I received in that box.

The Messy Box  option comes in at anywhere from $19.99 to $24.99 per month and this is what I received in that box for the month of October.

So what did I think?  If I did not already have a closet full of crafting items I might be more enthralled with this subscription box but as it is I was not really impressed.  I spent quite a bit of money on just a few products that I really did not think lived up to the hype.  I know that I buy a lot of my paper crafting products when they are on sale but still these seemed to be over priced for what I got.  I ended up “embellishing” the cards provided with some of the items but I had a lot left over that I am still trying to figure out how I am going to use.

This is a quick shot of what I ended up making with some of the products provided. 

I basically used the Happy Mail box items and not too much of the Messy Box and the cards ended up okay but not terrific.  I like having my own closet full of papers, ribbons, brads, flowers and other embellishments instead of having them picked out for me.  That is just me.  It might be a great fit for someone else who doesn’t have quite the mess   collection of supplies on hand already.

Have you tried any of the subscription boxes that are out there?  I know there are some pretty fun ones and I would love to hear about your experiences.  Make sure you leave a comment because all comments go to support our Comments for a Cause for November – Lava Mae.