Crated with Love is a monthly subscription designed to revamp date night. Each month delivers everything you need to help you reconnect with your partner in a fun and meaningful way.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Crated with Love
The Subscription Box: Crated with Love
The Cost: $39.99 per month + free shipping. Save with 3- and 6-month subscriptions. (One-time box purchases are also available for specific themes for $49.99)
The Products: Everything you need for a creatively themed date night with your significant other.
Ships to: The U.S.
Crated with Love January 2021 Review
Baby, it's cold outside, and we are enjoying every second of it! Living in Minnesota, our winters tend to start in October and end in April, which can get long...and cold. We take advantage of the cold weather and snow by participating in a lot of outdoor activities. Our weekends are filled with snowmobiling, ice fishing, skating, sledding, and campfires, which happens to be helpful this year as they all can be done in quarantine! Anyways, as much as we love spending time outdoors, sometimes that just isn't possible when the weather gets nasty. While movie nights are great, I am always on the lookout for easy at-home dates that will keep my husband and me connected. This is the first time I have reviewed Crated with Love, so see below to find out how it went!
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At first glance, I gotta say I was really impressed with the presentation of this box. The packaging was perfection, and everything was very well coordinated. I couldn't wait to dig in! This month's theme was "Awards Night" and they really curated this well. As we opened the box, we were greeted with a matte black envelope sealed with a gold sticker. Inside was our invitation to "The Crateys Award Show!" Not only did they give us a heads up of the events, but they also challenged us to dress the part...creating an ensemble that contained a piece of clothing made out of something from the linen closet, a decorative part created from an item found in the kitchen, and an accessory handcrafted using things found in the garage.
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The next item we received was a small note including the link to stream this month's date night Spotify playlist on one side and a list of contents on the other. We are happy to report the playlist was bomb and found ourselves reminiscing about songs we hadn't heard in ages.
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Once we were dressed to impress, (Dustin had a towel cape, and I donned a tablecloth toga) we set our playlist up in the background and dove into the included booklet. This little guide continued with the gold and red theme and included the deets on how we should proceed with our date. We followed this through our entire date and found the instructions helpful and easy to follow.
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Our first activity was to show off our charming personalities with a red carpet interview. You first had to answer the questions on your card as your partner writing them down in the provided spaces. As you ask the questions to your partner, you tally up the amount you get correct for a bit of friendly competition.
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Of course, no interview would be complete with a microphone, so an inflatable version was included in the box -- complete with an antiseptic towelette for safety.
The questions in the interview were ones that I typically wouldn't ask my husband, and both of our questionnaires were different, so it was pretty fun. My husband is pretty quiet, so I knew a typical answer he would have is "no comment." While I didn't get every question right, (and neither did he) we discovered that while we didn't say each other's answers as our own, they were actually the closer answer had we thought about it a bit more! I guess that's what 17 years together does to a person!
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Activity #2 played out as us making our way down the red carpet and taking our seats amongst the other nominees. Here we took our "Movie in a Minute" card deck and the timer, then tried out the game. To play, the player without the card must start telling the story of the indicated movie to mention as many of the plots, characters, and listed items on the card as they can. The more you get correct, the more points you earn. While my husband and I enjoy movies, we were terrible at this game! We couldn't remember character names and the actor/actresses for the life of us. While neither of us came close to making it to 50 points (the included scorecard has room for 20 rounds), we found they included a good variety of movies and had us adding a few to our "need to watch again" list. Another feature the booklet offers is at the end of the activities, they have a "Why are we doing this?" section. I like how they explain the purpose of their activities, and the added conversation starters they suggest.
While we started out strong, our movie knowledge started to fizzle, and we quit keeping track.
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Activity #3 was another game, but we found this one to be much easier on our brains. Here you received 4 piles of cards based on their categories (prompt, plot, actor, and twist). We each received 3 cards of the plot, twist, and actor categories. Drawing one prompt card, we had to create our own movie that we think would be one we would go see together. We definitely had some interesting combos! The instructions also suggest playing this with other couples, choosing a "Critic" to judge.
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One aspect I liked about this game is that it can be played over and over again with different results, instead of something repetitive, which made it even more fun.
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The last activity was our acceptance speeches. This was probably my favorite part of the box. Each of us took one of the golden envelopes and had to ask the other to answer the questions. Once the questions were answered, we filled in the blanks on the card's backside using the corresponding answers from the front. This was sort of like a Mad Libs, but even more hilarious.
I loved doing this Q and A with Dustin because they were easy questions that didn't require a lot of deep thinking. The acceptance speeches turned out hilarious, and it was so funny that I had to do it with my kids' answers the next day. Along with some of these random questions came stories that I had never heard before, and we learned more about each other in an enjoyable, not forced way.
No awards show would be complete without an actual award right? Also included in this box was a little plastic statue painted in gold on a black stand. My husband graciously said I deserved it and should keep it on my desk at school, which I'm totally going to do -- and my kids are super jealous!
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Another token of appreciation we received was this little "Awards Night" magnet. Tiny and cute, it serves as a little reminder of our fun date, while currently holding up a reminder for my next dentist appointment.
Last but not least, we received a holographic sticker that coordinates with the box theme perfectly. I personally enjoy stickers, but just don't know where to put this shiny little piece...I suggested putting it on my husband's toolbox in the garage, but he kind of gave me a funny look and set it back in the box....do you think that means he wants me to put it front and center on the Craftsman drawer?
The Verdict: Crated with Love was a really fun change of pace. The "Awards Night" theme was perfectly executed throughout the entire box, and I thought the activities were fun, easy to follow, and beneficial to our relationship. Because this is more of an experience box than one that includes physical items, the value may differ from person to person. My husband and I spent 2 hours on our "date" and had a lot of laughs throughout the evening, reminiscing and learning a few new things about each other. Could I have created something similar for less than $39.99? Probably, but all of the little details that went into the whole package made it extra special -- especially the tiny statue! I can't wait to see what next month's theme will be!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes. While you are not guaranteed to receive this box as your subscription box, you do have the opportunity to purchase it as a one-time date night box for $49.99.
Check out all of our date night boxes and the Lifestyle Subscription Box List!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What do you think of Crated with Love? What do you think February's theme will be?
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