The Cherry Box is a monthly subscription box for craft lovers, and each box contains a surprise assortment of scrapbooking and crafting supplies from A Cherry on Top.
This month's box is being reviewed thanks to MSA reader request!
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My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About The Cherry Box
The Subscription Box: The Cherry Box
The Cost: $32 + shipping (save with longer subscription plans)
The Products: Each box includes an assortment of craft supplies from A Cherry On Top
Ships to: The US and worldwide
Good to Know: Shipping rates vary based on location. Earn Cherry Reward Points with each month's box that can be redeemed for coupons.
The Cherry Box March 2020 Review
The Cherry Box is a hand-picked selection of crafting items from the website A Cherry on Top. The company says about the box:
We are so excited to launch our new monthly subscription box! Inside our signature red box you’ll find an assortment of crafting goodies hand-picked by our team. From paper and stickers, to adhesive and ink pads, there will be something for everyone. This is not your typical kit club with items all from the same brand. It’s more of a surprise sampler! You will get full products and some sample sizes from various brands. Every month will be slightly themed – as in maybe the colors go together or they go with a certain season. But the beauty of the cherry box is you get a variety of things you can use by themselves or with the stash you already have! You may find a new designer or brand that you love. Or maybe try something new you have been wondering about. Every box will be similar, but some items may vary in color or design.
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For the first time ever, we received a card that shows the items in this box! I have noted the lack of info in my previous reviews, so I was really excited to see this improvement. I still feel like the card could give more detailed information, but I do really appreciate the link to the blog post with tips on how to use one of the items.
Let's check out what was sent this month!
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Carta Bella 6x6 "Our House" Paper Pad - Retail Value $6.00 (currently on sale for $5.39)
The first item is a paper pad with 24 sheets of different patterns. It has a house/home theme and has lots of fun designs like flower bouquets and cats! These sheets are also double-sided, with different patterns on front and back.
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Carta Bella "Our House" Ephemera - Retail Value $4.99 (currently on sale for $3.99)
Carta Bella "Our House" Frames & Tags - Retail Value $4.99 (currently on sale for $3.99)
The next items are two packs of ephemera that go along with the paper pad. I'm super confused by the theme this month - all of the phrases in these packs are very obviously meant for fall, talking about bundling up and picking apples and harvest time. I wish the items sent were more seasonally appropriate, but I do think that these little cutouts are cute. I especially like the cat that wants to go on a walk!
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Dylusions Shimmer Spray in Dirty Martini - Retail Value $3.99
Next up is a liquid shimmer spray in an acid green color. The bottle came wrapped in plastic and has a spray nozzle topper. This is the item that is featured in the blog post from the info card - see below for more of my thoughts on this product!
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Echo Park Stained Glass Stencil - Retail Value $5.99 (currently on sale for $5.69)
Next up is a 6x6" stencil with a stained glass design. The stencil is made out of flexible plastic, and is designed for use with inks, paints, chalks, or markers.
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Jane Davenport Hair Lines Clear Stamp - Retail Value $8.99
We also received a clear acrylic stamp of a girl with long, flowing hair. I've seen people use stamps like this in art journaling, where you would use colored pencils or paint to color in the image after stamping.
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Jane Davenport Squid Ink in Blue Marlin - Retail Value $8.99 (currently on sale for $7.19)
Going along with the stamp, we have an ink pad from the same brand. The ink is a bright denim blue, and I think the ink pad has a cute shape.
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My Prima Planner Magnetic Closures Bow Embellishments - Retail Value $4.99
The last item in the box is a set of three magnetic faux-leather and glitter bows. The description says that they can be used as an embellishment on a planner, and can be attached to something metal like a binder clip. I think they would make great fridge magnets, too!
Now, let's get crafting!
I first watched the video on the blog post mentioned on the info card, which was all about the shimmer spray. The video was fairly quick, and it didn't go into a lot of detail on the craft techniques that the creator was using. For someone who isn't very experienced with stenciling or art journaling, I was a little bit lost when she was talking about the different techniques. However, one of the ideas she talked about was flipping the stencil over to use the reverse side of it after spraying the shimmer spray. This seemed like something I could tackle, so I tried it!
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In these reviews, I try to only create crafts from the materials supplied in the box. Therefore, I used two fo the simpler designed sheets from the paper pad to try this technique out. I first sprayed the shimmer spray in an even layer on top of the stencil. Before the ink had time to dry, I quickly flipped the stencil over onto a new sheet of paper, and used a paper towel to blot the ink down into this paper. When I removed the stencil, I had the inverse design as my first paper sample.
I actually really like the second paper design a lot better! The stained glass or trellis design stands out a lot more this way. Using a stencil in this way had never occured to me, so I was happy to try this new technique and add it to my crafting arsenal.
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Next, I used the stamp and ink pad to transfer the image of the girl with long hair onto a new piece of paper. You are supposed to adhere the stamp to an acrylic stamp block, but since I did not have one of these, I just kept the stamp attached to the clear packaging sheet. It was a little bit harder to use than it would be if I had a stamp block, and as a result I got a little bit of bleeding in areas where I didn't want ink (see the upper right area of the stamp, and also on the girl's face and neck). Overall, though, I thought that the ink transfered well, and it showed up as a clear, strong transfer in my final image.
I was going to try to decorate this image with the shimmer spray, using the diffuse spray method from the video, but when I went to shake up the shimmer spray, the shimmer spray ended up exploding and getting green ink all over! I had acid green glitter ink all over my kitchen table and on my window blinds. Alas, in my horror and speed to try to clean it up, I did not think to stop and take a picture for you all to see. Thankfully my blinds are white, and a little bit of diluted bleach was able to get the green spots out. However, after that incident I decided I was done crafting for the day!
Verdict: I've been receiving The Cherry Box for several months now, and one of my biggest gripes about the box in the past is the lack of a cohesive theme. The past few months have seen a shift towards more of a cohesive theme, and although this box had a very loose theme (art journaling?), it wasn't as solidified as the past two boxes have been. I felt like creating one project from the items this month was fairly impossible, and it was a stretch to me how I was going to do that - as you can see from my review, I didn't even really create a project at all. The box gives me a vibe of looking like the craft store discount aisle, and some of the items feel like they were just thrown in to bulk out the box. I am also still disappointed in the amount of items that are either on clearance or discontinued.
If you are someone who has a large craft stash or who enjoys scrapbooking or bullet journaling, I think you may enjoy this box. For $32.00 (plus shipping), we received an estimated $48.93 worth of craft supplies. While this box has a higher value than last month's box, I still think it's on the low end for what we received, especially since most of the items are on sale or discontinued.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, you'll receive the March box if you subscribe now. Sign-ups for the current month's box go until the 20th of that month.
Value Breakdown: At $32.00, this is approximately what you are paying for each item:
- Paper Pack - $3.92
- Ephemera Packs - $3.26 each
- Shimmer Spray - $2.61
- Stencil - $3.92
- Stamp - $5.88
- Ink Pad - $5.88
- Bows - $3.26
Check out our other reviews of The Cherry Box plus our top-rated craft subscription boxes!
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What did you think of the March 2020 Cherry Box? Let us know in the comments!
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