After having such a good experience with the December Out of the Box Sampler, I ordered myself up a subscription to the OOTB service for 2010. I thought it would be really great to get the boxes at what would feel to me like random, having not ordered them each month. The first one came yesterday, and I was right!

As was previously the case, the sample box came wrapped very nicely, as shown, with a separate paper bag for the stuff that wouldn't fit inside the box, or would get smushed. Definitely giftable. The package also contained a very handy list of all the participants in this month's box (some of which I didn't receive samples from, obviously--not all boxes are the same), along with coupon codes. This cheat sheet is so handy, I wish all sample boxes would include one.

And on to the contents!

Paper Goods
Three companies included their paper goods in my box this month. From Rita's Creations, I got a cute mini-card and matching envelope, with a cut paper flower design on it. A Penny for Your Thoughts included a cellophane bag containing a shop advertisement magnet, a glitter and drawing gift tag, and a matching card and envelope. Finally, from Kreativ Xpressions, my box contained three greeting cards with envelopes, all tied with a ribbon--a colored floral blank card, a stamped thank you card, and a colored floral card stamped with "friend."

Verdict: I have to give props to Kreativ Xpressions for the generosity of their inclusion, even if the cards themselves aren't quite my style. The little Rita's Creations card is really cute, too. I'm not at all impressed with the quality of the card and tag from A Penny for Your Thoughts. None of these are companies I'll buy from.

Edibles
Four companies included edibles in this box--more than I think I've ever gotten in a sample box before. From A Thyme to Bee Comforted put in a small bag containing a largish cinnamon-scented, rose shaped hard candy. From RhodaRose, I received a pretzel with white and dark chocolate fillings. From The Bees Knees Bakery, I was pleased to find a dark chocolate peanut butter cup. Finally, Sweet Crescendos submitted a full-size mini chocolate chip brownie lollipop.

Verdict: I liked all four of these inclusions. Some people might be a little leery about receiving food in sample boxes, but I think it's great. I particularly liked the offerings from The Bees Knees Bakery and Sweet Crescendos, which are things I can buy more of at their Etsy stores if I like them (and they were both REALLY good). One criticism I have of the hand candy from A Thyme to Bee Comforted is that it is unlabeled, so I'm not 100% sure what it is, and there doesn't seem to be anything like it in the Etsy store.

Bath & Body
My box included four bath and body offerings. The first, which surprised me, was a full size bottle of ginger lime shampoo from Pepper Bay Natural Soap Company. Next, I got a regular sized soap sample of "Mountain Sunrise" glycerin soap from The Bubble Room. Rocky Corner Soap Works included a sample as well, of their Moisturizing Skin Care Soap. From daisy B's, there was a little bag with two trial-sized heart-shaped bars of lavender & oatmeal soap.

Verdict: The daisy B. soaps are both adorable and great smelling--giftable or usable for guest soaps. I'm also curious to try the Rocky Corner Soap works soap, as it's intended for very dry skin. The Bubble Room sample I am less interested in--you've kinda seen one glycerin soap, seen them all. FInally, the shampoo. It's a generous addition, to be sure, but I find it kind of odd that I don't see it on their website--makes me wonder if it's an old product? I'm also just really kinda picky about shampoo, so I won't likely use it, and it would be an odd gift.

Candles and Tarts
The largest number of offerings in this month's box were from this category. I received candles or tarts from five different companies. From Lee's Crossroads Candles, there were two flower-shaped Blueberry Muffin wax melts. From The Ugly Duckling Designs, I received a an apple butter scented wax melt in a shape I can't identify. Camp Candles sent two melts, a larger one in frostberry scent and a smaller velvet vanilla one. Anam Cara Candles sent a tiny (like, thumbnail sized) butterfly-shaped black linen and amber soy wax melt. Finally, from T&D Candles, there was a lavender votive candle.

Verdict: As I mention in every one of these reviews, I don't have a burner and I hate wax melts. That being said, the offering from Anam Cara is just embarrassingly skimpy, It's not really even enough to test. The melt from The Ugly Duckling Designs is oddly shaped and weird smelling. The Camp Candles and Lee's Crossroads Candles melts are nice enough--I wouldn't be embarrassed including them in a gift to someone who does use melts. The lavender votive from T&D Candles is definitely usable.

Misc
The one inclusion in the box not covered by another category was a "Primitive Snow Ball" from Angies Raggedy Patch. I got one of these in my last Out of the Box Sampler too. Maybe I just don't understand "primitive," but as far as I could tell, this thing is a spray-painted foam ball. So I looked it up on the website, and yeah, that's what it is. Apparently, I am supposed to put a whole bunch of them in a bowl for winter decoration. Not really my thing.

Overall, I didn't find this box nearly so impressive as the December offering. The food additions were definitely the strong point, as were the generous offerings from Kreativ Xpressions and Pepper Bay Natural Soap Company. Unfortunately, neither of the particularly generous additions quite work for me. I hope to be more excited about next month's box.

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!