The past week and a half have been a bit of a doozy, but not in a good way. In case you missed my post on Instagram, just over a week ago we suddenly lost my sidekick and furry best friend of 12 years Ollie.
We are heartbroken, and I spent 3 days doing nothing but crying. I’m starting to get back into my routine and am able to keep the crying down to one or two outbursts/day, but that coupled with some other bad news/situations we’ve had over the last week has really sent me into quite a sad place. So it was really wonderful timing when I received the very first subscription box from Caring Crate last Tuesday.
Caring Crate is a new subscription box created for those dealing with mental health issues, chronic illnesses – or anyone who needs a little extra self care. Because I’ve been feeling pretty low, just seeing this box arrive at my door made me feel a little bit better. Once I opened it I definitely perked up even more!
The first item I pulled out was this Potting Shed Creations Garden-in-a-Bag for growing lavender. I’ve been wanting to grow my own lavender for quite some time so I was really excited to see this! I’ve since had a chance to plant my lavender seeds so I’ll let you how that goes once it starts sprouting – fingers crossed I don’t kill it!
The next item was this lemon and lavender body balm from Fable Naturals. The lemon lavender scent is AMAZING and I’m very much looking forward to using this! I love body balms like this so I was pretty happy about receiving this item too!
The third item was this Scratch and Grain Muffin Mix which is really neat. The ingredients are all individually packaged making it different from your average mix, and I am very much looking forward to making these one day soon!
Next up was this Spa Day tea (not pictured is the After Dinner Mint tea I later found when I was emptying the box) from Pluck Teas. Pluck Teas only uses ingredients from organic and sustainably-managed gardens to make their custom-blended small batch teas. As a tea fiend you know I’m going to be drinking these!
And finally, I received the Mindful Mandala Cards. These and the lavender are tied for my favourite items in the box.
Inside the bag were a stack of original mandala cards, complete with a proverb printed on the back of each card. These cards are printed on heavy card stock so they won’t bend and tear with use. And the kit also comes with a small tube of coloured pencils with a built in pencil sharpener allowing you to take the whole kit to colour on the go.
In the summer we like to go to the Drive-In, but when we go, we have to go an hour or so before the movies start in order to get a decent parking spot. That leaves a fair amount of time to kill and these small cards make for the perfect project to work on while waiting for the movies to start. And their simple designs make them more fun than some of my more intricate colouring books. Sometimes simple is better, and in times of high stress I think that is especially true.
Also included with the box is a card listing all of the boxes contents telling you a bit more about each of the products, something I always appreciate, especially if there is an item you aren’t entirely familiar with an item.
As I mentioned above this was the very first Caring Crate box, and as someone who has been a subscriber of many different subscription boxes in the past I can honestly say this have been on of my favourite. I will use everything I received (which is not something I can say about many boxes I’ve received in the past…) and it really did make my day – and week – a bit cheerier.
Unfortunately, we are moving into the summer months which are a slow time for fitness instructors so I’m not going to be able to keep up with this subscription for the next couple months, but I really hope that once I get back to a full schedule in the fall that I will be able to because not only did I love getting it, but it’s a new Canadian company and I love to support Canadian companies I love when I can.
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If you are interested in learning more about Caring Crate and how you can get a subscription for yourself or someone you love at Caring-Crate.com. You can also follow them on social media on Instagram @caringcrate, Twitter @caring_crate, Facebook.com/caringcate, and on Pinterest @caringcrate.
Disclosure: I received my Caring Crate free of charge but what you have read above is my honest review of the product.