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When AwesomeBox approached me telling me that they had the most awesome gift idea for those touching holidays and life-happenings such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduations, milestone birthdays, wedding showers, anniversaries…well, you get the idea, I wasn’t completely sold. I wasn’t even sold after using the service complimentary, until I heard EVERYONE exclaim about just how AWESOME this gift was when I recently gave it to a friend for her graduation and 30th birthday. I received an AwesomeBox and shipping in exchange for sharing my experience with you, my readers. All opinions are my own. Please check out my policies for more information on A Well Crafted Party’s sponsored content. Note: Personal images/ last names have been blurred/removed. Print quality is crystal clear and beautifully done! 

“Wow, it’s really awesome,” said my husband after looking through the gift that myself and 9 other people worked together to create for a dear friend and family member’s 30th birthday and graduation party.

It wasn’t the first time that day that I heard those words strung together and I couldn’t help but think that they certainly named the “Awesome Box” well. Recently I had the opportunity to set up and order an AwesomeBox for a friend.

What’s an AwesomeBox? Well, it really is a box full of awesome. Okay, I’ll try to refrain from using that word for the rest of the post. This neat little gift is a collaborative box of images and quotes put together in a well-designed package. The cards are 5 1/4 inches square with rounded corners. There are cards describing how many people contributed and then cards with images on one side and quotes on the other. Collaborators each upload images and quotes to build the box.

Sponsored Post: Setting up your AwesomeBox - featured on A Well Crafted Party
Choose to make the AwesomeBox by yourself or invite friends to join in on the creation. The real beauty of this gift is the opportunity to have many people pitch in to truly make the gift special.

How to create an AwesomeBox

Creating this easy, sentimental and fun gift is super easy. You simply visit www.AwesomeBox.com, create an account and select “Start a Box.” You can then upload images and quotes for the AwsomeBox. You will also have the opportunity to invite collaborators to upload images and quotes.

Sponsored Post: AwesomeBox Editing Options
The options for editing the AwesomeBox include photos, messages, and signature.

The one draw back to the AwesomeBox in my opinion was that I didn’t get to choose the background images that were used with the photos. I like the extra control of designing an item to look a certain way. However, to be honest, I might have never finished if I chose all the extra items. This made the whole process straightforward. And, when it arrived, I was so pleased with how the box came together and looked as a whole package that I didn’t even care that I didn’t select the backgrounds.

Reasons to Like an AwesomeBox

 

I liked working with AwesomeBox’s website as it was easy to understand, emailed reminders out so that the box would be delivered on time and it made it fun to collaborate with others. Once it was printed and delivered I liked it even more as the quality was really top-notch and there were added cards in the box that explained what the box was and how many people came together to create the gift.

 

Sponsored Post: Reminders and updates on your AwesomeBox ensure you get your gift on time! Feature of an awesome gift idea on A Well Crafted Party
The AwesomeBox system will remind you when it is time to complete your AwesomeBox so that there is time to ship your gift.

Awesome Gift Idea!

 

I really feel like the uses for this gift idea are sort of endless. Here are some ideas I came up with:

  • Proposal Idea: How cool would this be as a proposal idea? Have friends and family upload photos and stories about your significant other into the AwesomeBox’s system. Then as the final image upload a photo of the ring or of you both as a couple and put a “Will you marry me?” message on that last card!
  • Graduation Gift: Upload photos from throughout the years with messages about what the recipient wanted to be when they grew up or perhaps stories of things achieved over the years.
  • Family Recipe Box: Have family members upload images and recipes that they love and have a beautifully curated box of family recipes printed.
  • Anniversary Box: Upload one photo for every year with a favorite memory or short paragraph of what happened that year.
  • Family Flashcards: Have a big extended family that live far away? Create family flash cards with an image of your family member of the front and some facts about the person on the back. Use the cards to help kids get to know distant family members– or hey, quiz your spouse!
  • Birthday- There are so many ideas for how to use these for birthdays. I like the idea of uploading one image for each year with a quote about what happened that year or favorite things from when the recipient was that age.
Sponsored Post: The completed AwesomeBox is beautifully packaged and thoughtfully put together.
The completed box comes with all the messages and images uploaded by those invited to the gift. It also comes with a great message explaining what the AwesomeBox is and how many people pulled together to celebrate the recipient.

What would you use your AwesomeBox for?

Thank you to AwesomeBox for letting me experience your services. Thanks to readers for supporting the companies that help make this blog happen!

 

Bottle and Bottega invited myself and another local blogger out to try a complimentary painting and wine experience to see how it would fit for our readership. As always, all opinions are my own. To see my review posting policies please visit my policies page

Over the course of my pregnancy and the past few months I really haven’t had the energy or availability to explore the Portland area as much as I typically enjoy. I am thrilled to start writing about the local area again! I can’t be more excited to share about this Mom’s Night Out experience I had with my friend, Lindsey of Running with Tongs.

 

The Bottle and Bottega Space in NW Portland

Walking into the Bottle and Bottega space I knew that I was in for a fun evening. I loved the bright colors in the workspace and instantly imagined throwing about 10 different parties in that space. My friend Lindsey and I both thought about possibly bringing our kids out for the Bottle and Bottega All Ages events, but in the end decided we both needed a mom’s night out pretty badly. When the sparkling wine hit my hand my decision felt better than ever.

Bottle and Bottega is an art class and night out at the bar rolled into one - review featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

The night that we visited was the mixed media evening where we got to select a couple of different images to work off of or create our own mixed media painting. We still had an artist walking us through the steps, but many of us created different paintings. This is something I LOVE. While I always have fun at paint and sip events, sometimes, I just really don’t care for the image we are painting or want an image like everyone else in my home. This let me truly personalize an image.

Bottle and Bottega is an art class and night out at the wine  bar rolled into one - review featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

I chose to do the “love” image and use a color scheme that coordinated with my upcoming anniversary party. The painting basically started out as a series of strips and scraps of paper. Lindsey chose to do the same painting and picked just a slightly different color scheme. When it was all said in done we were supposed to write the word “love” across the painting. Instead I chose to do the word “cheers” so that I can hang it up over my bar area in the future.

 

Bottle and Bottega made for a fun Momma's Night Out - review featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

What to plan for when going to Bottle & Bottega:

Parking: Bottle and Bottega is located in NW Portland. There is both street parking and a convenient little paid parking lot near the workshop. It is also quite accessible to the MAX as it isn’t a far walk to the nearest stop. I chose to pay the $5 for parking so that my car was nearby because I knew it was going to be a semi-late night for this momma.

Timing: The event started around 6 PM and lasted until 9 PM. Due to the painting and drying time it is a longer event… which only means more WINE!

Beverages: The shop had a pretty good selection of red, white, and sparkling wine as well as some beer options. Beverage costs were above the $40 painting fee, but the prices were reasonable. The $40 painting fee gets you all the painting supplies, instruction, and your canvas to take home. I opted to purchase a frame for my canvas for just $20 more. Now my painting looks really finished.

What to Wear: Anything! No, but seriously, there were aprons to help protect clothing and the paint is water soluble. If you are really worried about something then probably opt to not wear it, but I wore my work clothes and came through unscathed!

Bottle and Bottega proved to be a fun Portland experience - review by A Well Crafted Party

 

Besides a Mom’s Night Out… what type of events work at Bottle and Bottega?

The cool thing—to me, a bonafide party junkie—about Bottle and Bottega’s business is that there are a variety of ways to make the sip and paint event work for parties or outings.

Check out the paintings from the evening I attended on the Bottle and Bottega Facebook page.

Public Events: Bottle and Bottega has public events that you (by yourself) or with a couple of friends can sign up for and attend. The public events are all listed on a calendar with a picture of the painting that they are going to be doing during the event.

Bottle and Bottega have a variety of event options from public events  and private parties to public events - review on A Well Crafted Party

Private Events: As for private events there are so many cool options! This would make for a fun bridal shower, bachelorette party, graduation party, baby shower… list goes on and on. The private parties have an option to create paintings (as seen above) or do collages of paintings that might don the house of a newly-wed or the nursery of a newborn.

Corporate Parties & FundraisingWouldn’t a paint and sip event be a great team builder? One of the HUGE art pieces in the workshop was a collage piece as an example of what a corporate party could create. I would love to do something like this with coworkers and then go to work to see the painting we created together each day. The team at Bottle and Bottega can travel to a site for an event as an option too.

Have you ever been to a paint and sip event? If so, what did you like about it?

Thank you to Bottle and Bottega for the fun Mom’s Night Out and painting experience! 

I was sent a complimentary snu:mee to review in anticipation of the crowdfunding campaign to bring snu:mee to the United States. All opinions are my own. To learn more about my policies regarding reviews and sponsored posts please visit my policies page

 

I have a secret. I hate lullabies.

 

Lullabies are ridiculously weird, right? Seriously, the words in most of them make no sense or are things  don’t really want to sing to my sons. We’ve changed a few words around to make them work for our family but, I haven’t found any that I just love to play at night for the kiddos. We recently got a cool little projector for the boys room that came with three lullabies in that general music box sound. While I found it cute at first… about the tenth playing of “Rock-a-bye Baby” and I’m ready to pull my hair out. Of course, my oldest LOVES it and wants to play it all night long.

snu:mee review from A Well Crafted Party - Finally lullabies that I actually like! #spon

Enter snu:mee…

 

I found out that snu:mee— a music box, mp3 player and baby monitor all in one that has been popular in Europe— was coming to the states with a Indiegogo campaign I instantly said YES I want to be a part of THAT. The three-in-one wonder currently runs about $139, but can be snagged through the campaign for only $79.

The snu:mee comes with some pre-loaded songs and a store of more music. The songs are popular songs made into a music box lullaby. My son now drifts to sleep to lullaby versions of  “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica and “Yellow” by Coldplay. (No words for these songs, because I’m pretty sure Nothing Else Matters as a lullaby might be just as bad as “When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, And down will come baby, cradle and all.”) They do have the classics on there if you want them as well. You can also transfer your own music to the snu:mee or even record your voice for your baby.

You can control your music on the snu:mee itself or, using wifi, control it from your phone. Baby getting fussy and you aren’t able to go right away? Turn on the monitor portion or even talk to baby through the monitor to calm him while you get free.

snu:mee review from A Well Crafted Party #spon

snu:mee features:

  • Baby monitor with up to 300m signal range
  • Feature packed MP3 player
  • Free app for iOS and Android
  • 60 decibel volume limiter for babies’ sensitive hearing
  • Headphone connector
  • Sleep timer allowing you to decide how long the music plays
  • Wi-Fi music streaming
  • Secure connection
  • Variety of cuddly sleeves to choose from! (I chose the star and it is adorable!)
  • 4GB memory, enough for more than 500 songs

 

snu:mee review from A Well Crafted Party #spon

Aging with the snu:mee

 

What do you do with your old baby monitors and music boxes when your baby gets older? The snu:mee grows with your baby first turning into a cuddly toy for an older baby by using a snu:mee sleeve and then use it as a MP3 Player for your older kiddo.

I know that this post screams AD like crazy. But, after listening to my millionth music box version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star this little thing has been a very welcome new gadget in our household. We carry it around at night as we are getting ready for bed. The older kid loves it just as much as the younger one. And, I’m ready to get rid of the many other gadgets in our baby’s room that perform one function only. Consider this my very enthusiastic goodbye to my old baby monitor and music box.

If you think the snu:mee is right for you and your family then hop on over to support the crowdfunding campaign and snag your snu:mee for a huge discount. If you aren’t quite there yet, but are ready to listen to new music with your kiddos, check out their free app Baby Stars- rock2sleep on iPhone and Android.

What music solutions have you found for you and your family? Love the classics or have you changed things up?