Who doesn't like nice surprises? Especially ones that reflect your personal interests? When you sign up for Blind Surprise, you can choose from among eight different areas of interest (Cooking, Technology, Fashion, Traveling, Humor, Working Out, Alcohol and Surprise Me!) There are also a few general questions such as gender, age range and phone type to help them customize your box. You'll get a unique gift or gifts reflecting those choices.
Blind Surprise arrives via USPS Priority mail in a big cardboard box sealed with their logo sticker.
"Cooking" was one of the interests that I indicated in my profile. So far, everything I've received from Blind Surprise has been kitchen related. That's cool but I do hope some of my other chosen categories will be reflected in future boxes. February's box contained three kitchen gadget type items.
As with my first box, there was the standard "Surprise!" card.
The first item is an egg separator aptly named "Cluck" from Genuine Fred. This is a cute little white hen made of silicone with an inch wide hole in the bottom. I'm really not sure how this works as there are no instructions. There are pictures on the side of the box. It looks like you break an egg into a bowl, then set the hen down over the yolk. I guess squeezing the hen extracts the yolk which can then be put in another dish. I'm a bit skeptical about this since I've never had good luck with egg separators. If it works, it will be a very useful item.
Next is another kitchen item from Genuine Fred, a "Rest Up" spoon rest. This is a small white pillow made of silicone. Not sure I like this as well as a solid spoon rest but it's cute and there's no doubt it will be easy to clean. It's pretty small so may not be adequate for a large utensil.
The third item is a package of 18 resealable bag tapes from FreshTape. These have colorful kitchen oriented prints on them. The tape can be used to seal various types of bags and each one is resealable dozens of times. They will stick whether used in the pantry, refrigerator or freezer. Since I am constantly losing or breaking bag clips, I think these might be pretty useful. They are certainly attractive!
I must admit that I'm pretty lukewarm about this box. My immediate reaction was that the egg separator and spoon rest had a "Made in China" feel to them. When I checked, sure enough, they WERE made in China. They may be useful but they definitely don't have a special feel, as did the spice set in my last Blind Surprise box. The bag tape is a much more useful and creative item as well as one that is completely new to me.
The egg separator and the spoon rest have a retail value of $8 apiece and the bag tape is $9.99, so the total retail value of this box is $25.99. I paid $24.67 per month on a three month subscription. The value is more or less there but I really wish the items were not so obviously mass produced.
Blind Surprise's site says that they work with 5-10 new Etsy artists each month with the clear implication being that their boxes are likely to contain hand-crafted items. That has not been my experience so far. The items in this box are interesting and useful but lack the charm I was hoping for.
In addition to the various subscription terms, Blind Surprise does have the option to buy just one box if you're interested in trying them out. If you do opt for one of the subscription plans, they have a great discount code. Use TRYITOUT to get 50% off your first month. You can also use THANKFUL for 25% off or GREEN for $3.00 off.
Here's hoping for less silicone in next month's box!
Cheryl
Disclosure: Views and opinions expressed in this blog are
strictly my own. Product discussed in this post was purchased by Lone
Star Shopper. Post may contain referral or affiliate links.
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