A Month of Fun with Bluum {Review and Giveaway}

Baby C's birthday has come and gone quickly and now she is in the crazy toddler stage. She is in to EVERYTHING and a complete silly girl who loves to explore, discover, and test it all. What fun could it be to give her a monthly subscription box, full of surprises, a goodie box for her (with a dash of things for mom too). I think monthly boxes are so much fun, because they can offer you a variety of items for one fair price and, depending on the company, they are specific to your needs. This next company is great for babies and moms!

Bluum, was founded in 2011 by dad of three, Markus. Markus, who also serves as CEO, was looking for a way to help parents learn about the best products on the market and try them for themselves in a quick and easy way. The name bluum comes from the German word (the founders are from Germany), "Blume" which means flower, and what a better way to describe a growing and blossoming child . To read more about the team, click here.

With a passion for moms and babies, bluum set out to provide these services:

Allow you to try products before you buy, if you like it, you can buy it later
Recommend the best products, but you can actually try them at home
Shows what other moms think and how the product worked for them
Allows brands to receive feedback about what works and what doesn't

After these steps were met, bluum needed to assemble a team of moms and products to review. They chose a group of mom bloggers to check out the new concept, feature them on their blogs, and hope for the best. They were thrilled when within 3 weeks, over 4,000 moms had signed up to see what bluum was all about, they debuted in September of 2011.

While bluum started off smaller, offering a 4 sample size box, they realized they needed more and since 2013, offer full size products that are hand picked for the child's age, gender, and developmental stage, and have a value of around $40. All of the products are tested by bluum experts and must meet the challenge of being responsibly sourced, free of dangerous chemicals, and hopefully be organically manufactured so that they are healthy for moms and babies. Currently bluum works with more than 350 brands and over 1,000 different products, that they use in their monthly subscription boxes.

We were offered the chance to review a bluum box and I jumped on board with it. We worked with Emilee, who offered us a one month subscription box, that would contain 4-6 full sized products. She needed to know C's name, gender, and age to provide a perfect box for her. All of the boxes are individually created for each subscriber and hand packed. Emilee quickly sent off our information and we anxiously awaited our surprises.

Our bluum box is here!

Our box is so fun to see on the outside. It is a bright orange color with writing in fun fonts. It also states that it was created with love in NYC. The packaging gets a thumbs up from me.

I let C come over and check out her box from bluum. She was a bit hesitant to look inside, but was quickly drawn in by what she could see.

The bluum box can be personalized for different ages, they have a pregnancy line (up to birth), baby line (newborn-12 months), toddler line (13-36 months), and preschool boxes (up to 5 years old). The subscriptions can be purchased on a month to month basis ($29/month), 3 months ($25/month), 6 months ($23/month), or year (just under $21/month). Free shipping is always available and boxes ship between the 17-19th of each month.

Take a peek at our box, it was so full of fun, we couldn't wait to check it all out.

We were sent the 13 month box for C, which is specifically designed to be age appropriate for her. I do wish we would have gotten a card that included all our boxes products, it is nice to see in writing, what all we would be receiving.

It included a referral card for my other mom friends, I will be passing it on at soccer practice tonight. I know my friends would love to get a box full of goodies too.

The first item C pulled from the box was this guy. Can I say how much I love giraffe, so this toy made me super excited, and C was too. We had to open it right away.

Melissa & Doug First Play Giraffe Grasping Toy.

This guy is wooden, poseable, and so adorable. He is great for having C bend and move while making him come alive. We also have been working on finding his eyes, ears, mouth, and tail. He is also safe in case he becomes a chew toy as well. The giraffe has made its way into our church bag because it is such a versatile and quiet toy. This toy retails for about $10.

The next item we found was this, I LOVE her! This cow is so stinking cute I could almost just take it for myself.

Dandelion Handcrafted Cow Roly Poly

She is a small, cow ball, made of bamboo viscose, that has been hand crocheted by women working from home in Shanghai, China. With nine character options available, these roly polies are perfect for little ones to hold, shake, and throw around. C loves hers and carries it like a ball. It is also part of her church bag, it hasn't been thrown quite yet. This toy retails for around $15.

The third item we came to was a beautiful, blue flower rattle.

Dandelion Handcrafted Flower Pudgy Rattle

This soft, colorful flower is also a rattle. It is hand crocheted in China, just like the roly poly cow. It is 4.5" tall and perfectly fits in a toddlers hand. C likes shaking it and hearing the gentle sound it makes. Each rattle has a soft, huggable body that has been woven from colored pesticide free bamboo rayon thread, it also has a natural corn fiber filling. It comes in four different styles and retails for around $13.

Our church bag is filled with toys from our bluum box. They are quiet, fun, educational, and most importantly, safe for C. She has been thrilled with her newest toys.

Our box doesn't end yet, we still had more fun to find.

The fourth item we found was right up C's alley.

Fresh Baby So Easy First Toothbrush

Made of silicone, this flexible, easy to grip first toothbrush is made to help clean teeth and massage gums. It has a protective ring to stop baby from accidentally gagging themselves and is BPA, Lead, and Phthlalate Free. C loves brushing her teeth and acting like her big brother and sister. This toothbrush gives her all the tools she needs and is completely safe for her. It retails for around $6.

Our last item was exciting too.

Re-Play Spoons & Forks

Made from recycled milk jugs, this set of 4 spoons and 4 forks are perfect for toddlers. I like the colorfulness of them, nice and bright to catch C's eyes. The shape is unique and great for learning how to self feed. The spoons have a deeper mouth to them, offering a chance for more food and easier scooping. The forks are rounded so no hard poking to the mouth. They are BPA free, made in the USA, and retail for around $4.

Remember I said that each bluum box will have a value of around $40? I listed an approximate retail value on each item, based from prices I found online, and here is the breakdown again.

Melissa & Doug Giraffe-$10

Dandelion Handcrafted Cow-$15

Dandelion Handcrafted Flower-$13

Fresh Baby Toothbrush-$6

Dandelion RePlay Spoons & Forks-$4

Total=$48

Overall, I was very pleased with our bluum box and was introduced to some new brands. I know I have seen other months where they are food items or bath and body products. I was happy to not get these items, I feel like it isn't what I would be as pleased with and the value of the box wouldn't seem as great. I will be adding bluum box to my list of "likes" on subscription boxes, they completely fulfilled what they offered.

Want It? Buy It!

Interested in signing up for your own monthly subscription to bluum? I was thrilled with our box and products. You can follow along with bluum on all of their social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, or the bluum blog.

Want It? Win It!

One lucky reader will win a one month subscription box from Bluum. Just use the Rafflecopter entry form below to enter to win. Remember- if the entry field appears in BOLD, it's mandatory. Giveaway is open to US residents, 18 and older. Click on 'Read More' to go to the giveaway.

Thanks to Emilee and our friends at Bluum!