Out of the Box Sampler is a huge win

At Meghan's suggestion, I got this month's Out of the Box Sampler. And I am VERY impressed. It was shipped super quickly, priority mail. I opened it up, and there is a nicely wrapped package inside, as well as a few loose things. Big score for the wrapping--definitely giftable.

The loose things were:
-An astonishingly intricate hand-drawn/collaged Christmas card from A Penny for Your Thoughts. Not exactly my style, but really well done--I'll definitely use it.

-A bag from SBS Teas that includes samples of Sweet Cranberry loose leaf tea and black tea formed into a heart. I imagine I'll be getting into that as soon as this afternoon. The cranberry tea contains black tea, blackberry, rose, and cranberry and smells wonderful.

-A sample sized bag of Winnie's Wheat Cakes pancake mix from LipSmackinCreations. This is a very interesting inclusion and one I've never seen before, so I'm pretty excited to try it out.

-A little package containing three chocolate covered and decorated pretzel bites, from RhodaRose. Again, I'm glad to see something not typical, and I'll gladly nom on these later.

-A cute yellow fabric catnip toy from Colorado Catnip Toys. This was in use before I even had it out of the bag. Any box with one of these in them goes over well here.

-An extremely handy list of all of this month's participating businesses, whether they were included in my specific box or not, with their coupon codes. GREAT idea.

And all that before I even got to the big package!

In the big package, I found:

-Two pipecleaner candy cane ornaments from Angie's Raggedy Patch. These are just silly. They look like a first grade craft project.

-Also from Angie's Raggedy Patch, a little "snowball" made, I think, from styrofoam. Really? The cats are playing with it, though.

-A small bag containing a gingerbread boy scent tart from Ugly Duckling Designs. In general, I am against wickless candles, however, this is so cute, smells so good, and was so well-packaged I can't complain at all.

-A pink organza bag containing a very good sized sample of very nice smell lavender & chamomile pedi fizzing sea soak, from Mrs. Sterling's Bath & Body Boutique. Very nice and very giftable.

-From Deaf Chick, a good sized sample jar of Tahitian Waterfall Foaming Bath Whip. I really don't care for the smell, but I'm intrigued by the product, which has little vitamin E beads in it and is recommended as a shave cream. I may try it in another scent at some point.

-Two decently sized soap samples, one in Candy Cane Lane and one in Cranberry Fig, from Rocky Corner Soapworks. Both smell fantastic. Definite score.

-A frankincense soy votive candle from Deborah's Candle Magick. This smells fantastic and I much prefer soy candles. I'll use it right away.

-A good sized, well packaged, and very nice smelling sample bar of Spiced Forest soap from Byrd Bath Soaps. This is a great scent mix--just manly enough, without being overpowering. Mark will love it.

-From J. Norahz Collections, something that looks very much like a twisted up paperclip. Honestly, I have no idea what it is. Some kind of wire pendant, maybe?

-From Stampin' and Scrappin', a very nice stamped Christmas card. I can definitely see putting a gift card in this and hanging it to my mail person in a couple of weeks. Excellent.

-From Not Your Everyday Cards, a small stamped birthday card. It's fine, but not something I'd probably use. It's too small for the mail, so it would need to be attached to a package, and I just don't see that in my future.

-A Christmas mulberry scent tart from Mylingy's Purr-fect Candles. This smells awesome--why can't these scent tarts have wicks? Is this just a battle I am going to lose? Should I give up and get a tart burner?

-A whole little bag of stuff from the fantastically named Farm Hussy! It includes a 1.4 oz lotion sample in "Sissy's Christmas Kettlecorn," a "Blitzen Shitzen" bath melt, a little package of "Snowballs" bath salts, and a little package of peppermint candies. All with really great labels. Full of win.

This is a great sample box. This may be my new favorite sample box. At least until the next one comes...

There are still a few left, too, so run, don't walk!