A Box Just for Me

Ever since I was a kid, I loved receiving things in the mail. I would cut out coupons from the newspaper and send them off to have travel catalogues and any other free item on offer sent out to me. As a teenager I subscribed to monthly book and CD clubs. I subscribed to several magazines and eventually had to cut back because I didn't have time to read them all.

When monthly beauty box subscriptions launched in Australia a few years ago, I signed up to them all! I even started a second blog (now defunct) to review them. I recently unsubscribed to most of them when I realised that I had literally a whole cupboard full of little face washes and body lotions.

I also unsubscribed to the Fashion Box after about 6 months -- what's in fashion at the moment often isn't to my taste, and I ended up giving away a lot of jewellery. I'm still a founding member of the Fresh Stitches kit club though, which sends out a kit for a crochet plushie every two months.

Still, I want more! It seems there are subscription boxes for just about anything you can think of now, from food to underpants. I was particularly eyeing off the Kawaii Box and some of the Japanese confectionery boxes on offer. But I couldn't quite convince myself ... I only like some types of kawaii items, and I can get Japanese food from the Daiso near my work. It's the surprise factor of the boxes that intrigues me, but at the same time I've received too many items in the past that I didn't like or never used.

I got excited recently when I heard there was a subscription box for Mori Girls starting up. I was too late to get the first one, and unfortunately it was run by a single person who wasn't able to continue with it. Still, it got me thinking -- what if I made my own box? I'll get a pretty box, and put nice items in it from time to time. Then at the start of each season, I'll open it up and enjoy the things in it.

I think this will be good for several reasons -- I tend to order things online impulsively, but by the time they arrive, the thrill of the purchase is gone. I put them aside for a long time before using them. I feel bad about this. If I put them in the box though, hopefully I won't feel bad, and I might even get excited again when it's time to open up the box.
Plus, it'll save on packaging materials, carbon footprint and that sort of thing.
Also plus, I'm guaranteed to receive items I like instead of wasting money on things that I won't use.

This is the box I've bought and a few items to get me started. I'm going to put it in a location on a high shelf so that I can't accidentally see what's in it before opening day. More updates then!