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GlobeIn Artisan “DIY” Box Review + Coupon – February 2018

Lacey Volk
ByLacey VolkFeb 7, 2018 | 10 comments

GlobeIn Artisan Box comes in a deep kelly green package.

GlobeIn Artisan Box
4.3 overall rating
250 Ratings | 60 Reviews

The GlobeIn Artisan Box is a monthly subscription that sends you original crafts by global artisans. Each box contains handcrafted items from around the world and the stories of the artists who made the pieces.

There are two levels of subscription: Essential and Premium. The Essential subscription comes with one handpicked artisan item each month, and the Premium comes with a full curated collection. Each month (with the Premium subscription) you have a choice of two new themes, as well as any theme from the previous month that may not have sold out. They also have a shopping club they call the Starter in which you can choose one of three levels of monthly membership, which is applied as a credit to shop in their online store at a discounted rate. 

All items are packaged and wrapped neatly with the box info card on top.

This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

This is a review of the Premium, $40 per month, box.

Here are all the items in the February DIY box!

About This Fair Trade Subscription Box

The Subscription Box: The GlobeIn Artisan Box

The Cost: The Premium box is $40 per month + free shipping for the first month ($10 shipping for future months). 

The Products: Handcrafted items from around the world curated around a monthly theme.

Ships to: U.S. (free shipping for the first month, $10 shipping for future months)

Good to know: Other subscriptions are available: The Essential box includes one item for $10 per month+ free shipping for the first month ($3 shipping for future months). There is also a Starter level where your monthly membership fee gets put towards credit to use in their online shop. 

GlobeIn Artisan Box "DIY" Review

DIY Pamphlet

Pamphlet detail 1

Each box from GlobeIn contains a pamphlet that talks more about the theme for the box and the items inside, including their origin stories and some ideas for putting them to practical use. As the resident knitter of team MSA, I was pretty excited to see this DIY themed box and get a chance to do a new GlobeIn review!

Handmade Tassels

Set of 10 Fair Trade Tassels from India – Suggested Retail $12.00

The first item to catch my eye was this set of rainbow-colored handmade tassels!

Tassels in rainbow order

My toddler was also entranced by these; he spent a sold 30 minutes stringing them onto a piece of ribbon and hanging them off of anything he could find around the house.

A color wheel of tassels!

How to put these beauties to use? 🤔

Pamphlet detail 5

As mentioned earlier, the info booklet always covers more about the stories behind the items in each box. This was a nice reminder for me that items like this, although they might appear machine made, are often handmade. There are a few ideas for using them here too; stringing them together on a garland was the first thought that came to my mind too!

Globein Cotton Paper pack card

The next item is a set of beautiful cotton handmade papers that would be perfect for making handmade Valentine's or Galentine's day cards, or for general scrapbooking:

Front of cotton papers

Scrapbook Paper from India – Suggested Retail $12.00

These are all so lovely in person! The cotton paper is very soft and thick, unlike most scrapbooking papers I've seen at chain craft stores. The backsides are mostly plain. These are fairly small; none is larger than 5x7.

All of my papers were red/pink, but I think subscribers might have received a variety of different colorways. Here's a closer look at some of the patterns:

Detail of paper patterns 1

I love this floral butterfly pattern; it reminds me of some vintage wallpaper in my grandmother's house.

Detail of paper patterns 2

Pamphlet detail 4

Once again, having more info about the origin behind the item is such a nice touch and one of the things I love about GlobeIn. Seeti has been making paper for more than 13 years to support her family, and the entire process is non-toxic with the water being filtered and reused for irrigation.

I happen to have a friend who needs a little care package next month, and she loves handmade paper, so I think I'll be making her a card from these pieces (and sharing some of the extras, too!)

Recycled Sari yarn

Recycled Sari Yarn from India, 100 grams – Suggested Retail $12

I'm a serious hobbyist when it comes to knitting, so I was a little irked that this yarn didn't come with any information about the fiber content or yardage. That said: the colors are so beautiful that I'm sure I'll find something interesting to do with it!

Sustainable, fair trade, and made in India tag on this red and blue yarn.

It is a fairly big ball, so I'm thinking there would be enough for a small shawl or cowl if I were to knit it up.

Graduated color shift on a string of the yarn

The yarn itself is doubled with a little knot tied in the end. This should make it have a more textured look since each knit or crochet stitch would have more than one color in it.

Pamphlet detail 2

Since the yarn is a recycled sari product, I'm pretty sure it's either cotton or silk, or a mix of the two. I've been dying to try weaving lately too, and I think this would be a fabulous yarn to play with on a loom! Or maybe a temari ball?

Our next item goes along with the yarn perfectly:

Yarn in yarn bowl

Ceramic Yarn Bowl from Tunisia – Suggested Retail $25

It's a yarn bowl! If you've never seen one of these before, the idea is that it can contain your ball of yarn while you knit, so it doesn't roll away on you.

Cobalt blue yarn bowl

This one has four different sized holes that you can thread your yarn through. These are actually super handy for stranded colorwork– you can thread each color through a different hole and this should help them from getting tangled.

Detail of holes in the yarn bowl

I am in love with this deep cobalt blue color, too! If you don't knit, this is a beautiful ceramic bowl that could easily be repurposed to hold crafting tools or as a small catch-all on your dresser.

Bottom of ceramic yarn bowl

Pamphlet detail 3

This bowl comes to us from Tunisia, where this featured maker Noureddine has been working with ceramics shop Le Souk Ceramique for over 15 years.

Globein Flat Basket with Lid

Palm Leaf Flat Basket, 8" x 4.5" – Suggested Retail $15

Finally, it just wouldn't be GlobeIn without a basket! This is a wider, flatter basket than the ones I've seen in other boxes.

Closed basket

This one is a nice neutral palm color with purple accents.

Open basket

The lid fits comfortably on top. I was able to fit three skeins of yarn plus a few spare needles inside.

Pamphlet detail 6

As suggested by GlobeIn, this is a perfect place to stash yarn or other crafting items. I put it straight to use tidying up some yarn and needles on my dresser. These baskets also make amazing gift packaging and bathroom storage, too.

Pamphlet detail 7

GlobeIn also suggests that you can decorate your basket with the tassels, and repurpose it as a planter. What a cute, cheerful, and easy DIY project to get you started! Although I'd definitely recommend putting a pot inside the basket rather than just adding dirt as they suggest. 😉 I am definitely thinking about adding the tassels to the lid of my basket to add a nice pop of color on my dresser.

Verdict

GlobeIn Artisan Box always has interesting curations available, and I really like their mission of supporting fair trade artisans around the world. Their boxes make great gifts or make nice feel-good treats for yourself, too! I thought this box was a nice collection of crafty items that would appeal to a wide range of comfort levels when it comes to DIY projects; the only thing it's really missing is any specific project or instructions to use all of the items, so this themed box is more about 'inspiration' than 'specific finished projects' like dedicated crafting boxes usually are.

The suggested retail prices for all of these products adds up to $76, which is comfortably above the $40/box + $10/shipping price of the box. I do feel like if I tried to put together my own box of similar items, I'd end up spending $75-80 easily.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes! If you subscribe by the 15th, you can choose to get this box. Premium Box schedule from Globein:

1st - 5th: Customize your theme and choose add-ons!
10th: Last day to cancel or skip before getting this month's box (and add-ons).
15th: Last day to update your shipping address
18th - 21st: Your box starts to ship!

Coupon – Use coupon code MSAWELCOME to save $10 off any subscription

Value Breakdown: At $50 for this box ($40 + $10 shipping), here’s what you are paying approximately per item:

  • Ceramic Yarn Bowl (Retail $25) – $16.47
  • Yarn Ball, India (Retail $12) – $7.89
  • Scrapbook Paper (Retail $12) – $7.89
  • Tassel Set (Retail $12) – $7.89
  • Palm Leaf Flat Basket (Retail $15) – $9.86

*These prices would be even less if this was your first order and you didn't pay shipping costs.

Check out all of our GlobeIn reviews and the Artisan Subscription Box Directory for similar boxes!

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

What do you think of this month’s GlobeIn Artisan Box?

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Lacey Volk
Lacey Volk
Lacey's introduction to the world of subscription boxes was Julep Maven, but she quickly moved on once she discovered there were subscriptions for cooking, coffee, and art supplies. Current favorites include Crate Chef and Ecocentric Mom, and she's looking forward to trying more.

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10 comments

Penny

Finally decided to add this to my monthly subs and I am so sad I missed this one.

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JV

Is this yarn made from recycled saris or from fabric remnants left over from manufacturing saris? I have never seen yarn that looks like that made from used apparel. Looking through Darn Good Yarn’s shop it appears that the yarn they sell from saris is ribbon-style; the more conventional-looking yarn is spun from reclaimed fiber or remnants. I’m really interested in learning more about repurposing/recycling fabric and I don’t know why this particular yarn is so irksome to me.

I skipped on this box at the last minute because I’m holding out for a wooden yarn bowl. Wish I had thought to take add-on credit and build my own box with the wooden bowl in the shop instead!

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Lacey Volk

What an interesting question! Most of the non-ribbon yarn that Darn Good Yarns sells is rough and ‘nubby’ and had been made from actual sari fabric being reclaimed and spun. By contrast, this yarn is very fine and smooth and is made of thinner fibers that are spun together to make a thicker strand. It looks more to me like Darn Good’s laceweight yarns (albeit plied into a thicker strand), which is says are made from silk waste rather than recycled fabric… so I’d suspect that is the case here, too.

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Helen

If anyone’s swapping the yarn bowl you have an eager taker right here!

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Maria

How can I get a response from this company? I bought add-ons in December and have yet to receive them. I’ve e-mailed a couple of times and have never heard anything back. This is incredibly frustrating and makes me very reluctant to want to continue to do business with a company I now feel has stolen from me or at the very least has failed to even try and resolve this situation.

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Redhed36

I emailed them last week and it only took a day or two for them to respond. Try blasting them on their Facebook page (I assume they have one).

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Beth

@lacey – the globein website has some info on the yarn you received:

“This adorable yarn ball is hand spun by Sari Artisans in India. Measurements: 100 gms ball of yarn (4″ to 5″ D) Materials: 100% Cotton.”

I think most of the yarn products globein is using this month come from a company called “darn good yarn” so they may have more info on their site.

I’m always crafting something, so I really splurged on the theme this month. One thing I never understood in the past was that if you are a premium subscriber, when you chose your monthly box, there is a selection that looks like a raffle ticket that says $45 on it. This month they seem to have added text explaining it – If you choose that as your monthly selection, it means you can take the cost of the box and spend it on anything you want on the list below that. So I DIYed my DIY box:

– wooden yarn bowl (made from Rosewood)
-premium hand spun Sari silk yarn (x2)
-a pair of large ombré knitting needles
-basket like you received.

I am so excited about all of these – I can’t wait!!

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Lacey Volk

Thank you! I searched for the yarn on their site and could not find it for some reason. And very cool that you DIYed your own DIY box, it sounds lovely!

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Shana

I am super excited to get this DYI box! I’m a total crafter and after watching the live unboxing on Globein’s page I loved it even more. I love everything about this box and will put it all to good use.

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Redhed36

I chose the Cozy “box”. I wanted that back in December, but it was sold out (went with snug) and it’s currently sold out, thank goodness I remembered to get on and grab it. I hope I get the purple variation. I am excited to see what I get in the Essential box. I think I might keep the essential box after this month. I wish I could afford the Premium box, but $50 is too steep for me.

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