A Beautiful Mess Messy Box Review + Coupon – January 2017

Messy Box is a monthly scrapbooking subscription from A Beautiful Mess. Each month, you’ll receive cards, papers, and other supplies designed exclusively for subscribers. My favorite part is that each shipment features cohesive colors and patterns. The individual designs are unique, but they look like they’re all part of the same (adorable) family.

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: Messy Box

The Cost: $24.99 a month ($19.99 a box with an annual subscription)

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Now through 2/9, use coupon code FREEMB to get your first Messy Box for $5! You can apply this coupon to the month-to-month subscription.

The Products: Each box is filled with items to scrapbook with including paper and cards, stickers, embellishments, and special items. Each month is color-coordinated and comes with a different technique theme.

Ships to: U.S. and International ($3 shipping fee per box for International subscribers).

Check out all of our Messy Box reviews and the DIY + Crafting Subscription Box Directory!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

Set of 4 Scrapbooking Sheets (9″ x 12″)

These sheets are the largest and the lightest weight of the box. They’re card stock sheets with a matte finish, but they seemed just a tad less stiff than the other items in the box. I love how the navy in these papers keeps the colors from being too girly—it’s sort of the scrapbook equivalent of effortless, jeans-and-a-tee prettiness!

Set of 4 Large Journal Cards (4″ x 6″)

These journal cards are made of light card stock and have designs on either side. This January box nods to Valentine’s season with sweet sentiments like “Heartbreaker” and “Forever & Ever”. Again, I really like how the color palette and patterns aren’t the typical girly Valentine’s hearts and flowers, but they’re romantic nonetheless.

The back of the cards has a bit more whitespace, in case you want to use them for notes.

Set of 8 Small Journal Cards (3″ x 4″)

These cards are around the size of average index cards. Did you notice how the different patterns are being reflected through the box? The swans are back in this card set, as is the floral pattern. And in this set of items alone, there’s a cool cosmic theme that’s emerging—the lunar phases design, the “Starry Eyed” card, and the “To the Moon and Back” card. How clever is that?

The flip side of these cards don’t leave quite as much whitespace as on the larger cards, but I really like these delicate patterns. I’ve seen A Beautiful Mess use cards like these in transparent photo album sheets—one design shows on one side of the page, then you flip the page and see the other.

Set of 12 Square Journal Cards (3″ x 3″)

You can really see the themes of the box come together with these little cards. The swans, the moons, and most importantly, the romantic colors—they’re all captured in these two-sided designs.

I have so many ideas for these cards. You could use them as gift tags, or as decoration for journal pages or scrapbooks (you could use them to decorate the cover of a photo album for a favorite couple you know). Since they’re square, I’m also curious as to how I could match them with printed-out Instagram photos to make petite Valentines!

1 Sheet of 17 Chipboard Stickers

Think of these stickers as puffy stickers made out of cardboard. They capture some of the cute sentiments from the rest of the box items in a tinier form. They’d be great for scrapbook pages, or you could use them to adorn Valentine’s Day envelopes. The rounder ones, especially, remind me of old-timey wax seals… just, a chipboard version, haha!

1 Sheet of 18 Vellum Heart Stickers 

These gold heart stickers remind me of drop-pin icons from directions apps! Just think—if you made a Valentines Day or honeymoon scrapbook page with a map on it, you could use these hearts to mark all of the romantic places you visited!

Ombre Washi Tape

I LOVE this washi tape design! The way the colors fade into each other, it looks like a wintertime sunset. It’s equal parts beautiful and super cool.

1 Sheet Brushstroke Transparency (9″ x 12″)

The peachy brushstrokes on this transparent sheet have a watercolor effect about them. It’s one of those supplies that I love admiring on its own—it deserves to be in a really great craft, so I’m sure I’ll be picky about where I use it!

You can see how lovely it looks with paper behind it. You could use it to create an artistic, layered collage on a page, create a window in a greeting card, elegantly divide different sections in your scrapbook or planner… There are so many pretty possibilities!

Verdict: I loved this Messy Box! The patterns and colors were beautifully consistent, but at the same time, no two pieces were exactly alike. Every item was a surprise. If you consider each set of cards as its own item, then it breaks down that each product is about $3.00. That feels pretty fair to me, especially considering that these are all exclusive (and SUPER cute) designs that you won’t find anywhere else. I can’t wait to see what next month has to offer!

What do you think of the January 2017 Messy Box?