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!
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 January 2020 Review
The Cherry Box is a hand-picked selection of crafting items from the website A Cherry on Top. This was my fourth month receiving the box, and I was excited to see what this month offered. 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.
There was no information card detailing the items inside, which is something I found myself missing in this box! It would be nice to have information on what was included.
Without further ado, onto the items!
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Card
The first item is a two-sided card made out of thin cardstock. It's quite flimsy, hardly thicker than a sheet of printer paper. It seems like it could be used as a Valentine's Day card, but I don't know what other purpose it would serve.
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Count the Ways 6" x 8" Paper Pad - Retail Value $6.99 (currently on sale for $5.59)
The first big item in the box is a 36-page paper pad with a heart and love theme. I love these paper pads because there are so many uses for them - even if you're not a scrapbooker. I love using paper like this to make handmade cards for my friends or for making decorations for my house. I'm thinking of using a paper punch to create a heart garland out of these papers and decorating my office for Valentine's!
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Prima Flowers Pale Wind Lavender Frost Flower Embellishments - Retail Value $5.00 (currently on sale for $4.49)
The next item also goes along with the pink theme of this box and is a sheet of nine flower and butterfly vellum embellishments. We have gotten embellishments from this brand before, and I think they are of great quality. Each flower or butterfly has a small square of sticky foam on the back, and they add a wonderful three-dimensional quality to whatever project you use them on.
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Pebbles Forever and Always Ephemera - Retail Value $4.99 (currently on sale for $3.49)
Next up is a pack of 40 different cardstock shapes that also goes along with the Valentine's Day theme I'm seeing in this box. These are so cute! I love the doodle-like quality of them, and they are fun and whimsical. The metallic gold accented ones are my personal favorite. These do not have any adhesive on them, so you will need to use your own adhesive to adhere them to your project.
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Gem Stickers, 6mm - Retail Value $2.99 (currently on sale for $1.44)
We also received a pack of sticky gems in a bronze/silver color. There are 240 gems in the package, and each line of gems is attached to each other. The back of the packaging gives you several ideas of how to use the gems - they recommend adhering the gems to the side of a mug (the practical side of me wants to know how you would wash this after!), or on your computer, or in your car. I think I'm going to stick to using these as embellishments for cards.
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Assorted Buttons - Estimated Value $1.25 (similar found here)
Next is a small box containing around 50 assorted purple and pink buttons, as well as two wooden heart buttons. I couldn't find this exact assortment, but it appears to be a partial mix from one of their Button Mason Jars, which includes around 200 buttons. These would be fun to glue onto cards or craft projects, or the light pink ones look perfect for baby girl items!
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Distress Oxide Reinker in Milled Lavender - Retail Value $4.99 (currently on sale for $3.99)
This seemed like a bit of an odd item to send, as its intended use is to re-ink a stamp pad, and we did not receive an ink pad in this color. However, it is a really pretty lavender pink color, and I think you can use it just as ink for whatever purpose you wanted. The first picture of the heart I drew above shows how the ink looked coming straight out of the bottle, and the second photo shows how it looked after the ink dried. The instructions on the bottle say that the ink will take on an oxidized effect if sprayed with water, so I tried that in the third photo. I didn't see a huge change in the appearance of the ink, but it did crisp up the differences between the pink and purple pigments in the ink.
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Prima Quilted Word "She" - Retail Value $2.95
Next up is an embellishment with the word "she" made out of white fabric with pink polka dots. Each letter has stitching around the border. I like the theory behind this item - I can see using a phrase like "love," "dream," etc. in some sort of craft or card-making project. But I honestly don't know where I would find a use for the word "she" - maybe for a baby girl? Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas for me!
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Decorative Tape - Estimated Value $2.00 (similar found here)
We also received two rolls of unmarked and unbranded decorative tape. Since there is no packaging on these, it looks to me like they came from a larger set of coordinating tapes that were possibly split up (see what I linked above for an example). I couldn't find these exact tape designs in my searches, but there are hundreds of different Washi tape designs out there for you to look at if you are in the market for some fun designs!
We received a thicker tape that features a faux-lace rose design in darker pink, and a thinner tape that is a sheer baby pink. Having extra tapes on hand is always great for any craft project - they can add the perfect finishing touch. I also like to use decorative tape as an extra special touch to seal an envelope.
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Glue Tape Runner - Retail Value $1.99 (currently on sale for $1.49)
In my opinion, this glue tape was an excellent addition to the box! It's a must-have when using embellishments like the cardstock shapes we also received, as it makes adhering them to your project much less of a hassle than a traditional glue stick. The glue tape runner we received is a comfortable size to hold, and I found that it glided easily across the paper.
Now, let's get crafting!
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Since this box was so heavily leaning into the Valentine's Day theme, I thought it was only appropriate that I make a Valentine's Day card for my husband! I first picked out a few of my favorite cardstock shapes and laid them down on one of the paper sheets. I chose the red roses pattern because one of our favorite things to do together is watch The Bachelor (don't tell anyone, but he loves it just as much as I do!), and I liked how much variety there was in the phrases on the ephemera - I was able to choose ones that fit our relationship best.
I then cut out one of the "I love you" phrases from a different paper, and used my glue runner to affix all of the items to the rose paper. I also liked being able to add a three-dimensional feel to my card with the flower decoration and the sticky gems. The back of the paper is plain white, so I wrote him a letter on the back. This card is much girlier and floral than anything I would typically give to my husband, but when I gave it to him he loved it and said it was very cute!
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. Finally, I feel like the box is coming together in a more organized way, and this month I loved that there was a definite theme that all of the items tied into. I felt like making a project from the items in this box wasn't as big of a stretch as it has been in the past, which I really enjoyed. However, the box still 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 also still am 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 $33.15 worth of craft supplies. This is very much on the low end of what previous boxes have sent, and this isn't even an entirely accurate valuation since so many of these items are currently on sale. I'm disappointed in this low value of the box, but am looking forward to seeing how this box keeps improving.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you'll receive the February box if you subscribe now. Sign-ups for the current month's box go until the 20th of that month, and boxes ship the last week of the month.
Value Breakdown: At $32.00, this is approximately what you are paying for each item:
- Paper Pack - $6.75
- Flower Embellishments - $4.82
- Cardstock Ephemera - $4.82
- Gem Stickers - $2.89
- Buttons - $1.20
- Distress Oxide Ink - $4.82
- Quilted Word - $2.85
- Decorative Tape - $1.93
- Glue Tape - $1.92
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What did you think of the January 2020 Cherry Box? Let us know in the comments!
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