Fun fact: I consider myself THE primo connoisseur of date night at home subscription boxes. 🙂 I was the first person posting about them online in 2015 and I’ve come to get to know most/many of the larger companies that provide these boxes. It’s a silly thing to toot my own horn about, but still, it’s one thing I like being known for.
Before I get into this box review below, let me tell you a bit about the company Crated With Love. A loooong time ago, they were called Date In a Crate and they were one of the very, very first date night subscription boxes to come out on the scene. I never had a chance to review any of their very early boxes, but some of the early reviews out there was um, not the best (I’m so sorry CWL; I don’t mean to embarrass you! Follow me on this one, I’ve got lots good stuff to say! 🙂 ).
BUUUUTTT – here’s why Crated With Love is awesome. Because unlike other date night box companies I’ve seen over the years that have slowly faded away (scroll to the end of my box listing page to see all the box companies that are no more), Crated With Love has ALWAYS found a way to make improvements and changes necessary to meet the needs and expectations of its subscribers. I love seeing them always come up with new stuff. Crated With Love is a company I feel that I can trust and is devoted to strengthening relationships.
(See, CWL, I told you I’d have good things to say about you!)
Ok, ok, ok – on to the main point of this post. Crated With Love, CWL for short, has recently changed up their product line offerings some. (If you’re interested in previous offerings, take a look at my old reviews) Here’s what they now offer:
I’m going to talk about their STORY MODE subscription in this post.
Just like a usual date night subscription box, you’ll get a box in the mail with themed activities. However, CWL takes things a bit further with making every box a kind of a “game” or adventure for you and your partner to take together. And bonus: if you’re able to make it to the end of your date night adventure – you earn a merit badge. No joke. But I’ll tell you more about that part later.
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Crated With Love, however, if you know anything about me, you know I pride myself on honesty. Every word here is my own. I was not told what to say. This is an honest and legitimate review.
Let’s start with the usual. Here’s the box and its contents.
Crated With Love Story Mode Review – Romantic Renaissance
Box Contents
- Watercolor set
- Watercolor paint pen
- 2 feather pens
- 2 paint canvas cards
- secret code cards w/envelopes
- Would Your Partner Rather? activity cards
- molding clay
- activity guide/instruction book
- Date Night Reward Envelope
The first page of the date instruction book set the scene for the date night and the “journey” we would take: While looking at a old painting in a closed off section of a museum, we are transported back in time to the early 1500s! Albeit a bit silly, the idea of the adventure together is kind of fun. While most of the other date night boxes also offer spotify playlists to go with their dates as well, this particular playlist of Renaissance/Medieval music really added to the pretending-to-go-back-in-time vibe.
Quick Mention: CWL offers extra online “Bonus Content” each month. You can add this option to your monthly subscription for a few bucks (the price varies depending on the subscription length you choose). The Bonus Content includes things like: themed recipes, weekly date extensions, ideas on making the date into a family night, and a customized spotify playlist. I strongly suggest checking this out BEFORE your date night. For this month, there was a recipe for fig tarts that sounded pretty fun and I really wish bought some figs beforehand and made them!
This month’s online Bonus Content:
Aaand back to our regularly scheduled date night box review:
Activity 1: Our Secret Love Language. For this activity, KP and I each created a secret code and then wrote each other a secret message to be decoded at a later date.
Activity 2: Paint Night Date Night. Thinking of a memory together, we were each supposed to paint for 30 seconds and then switch paintings with each other. We’d take turns finishing painting the pictures together. I admit that 30 seconds was too short for us, so we made it 1 minute intervals. And then at some point, we each just finished out own pictures, lol. Can you guess what our paintings are of?
Activity 3: Sculpting Our Love. We had to sculpt a representation of a two-part component of our relationship. KP made an ear and thought bubble to represent communication and being heard. I made a sand timer and connected rings (I mixed the red/yellow clay to make “gold”) to represent spending time together.
Activity 4: Would You Rather? House of Cards. This card game was two fold. First we asked each other questions that we had to answer for each other. Then, we attempted to add each card to a house of cards. The house pictured above is the best we ever got. Card house building is apparently not one of our skills.
Aaand then, dun dun dun…the date night was finished, we were transported back into our present time, annnnddddd….We got to open our final envelope:
We earned the Mio Amore badge!! Hah, I know this is totally nerdy, but there really is something that feels accomplishing about earning something tangible! (If you subscribed for a certain length of time and received the Story Journal/Merit badge card in your first box, you can add this question/badge there, otherwise you can also just stick the magnet on our fridge, which is where ours currently is. 🙂 )
Crated With Love info:
- created by a husband-wife team (see their story here)
- $19.99 – $26.99/month, depending on the options you choose
- Digital date option for only $1.99/month
- “Staycation” option which offers a date night box for you and a We Craft box for the kids (& $20 in gift cards) for $49.99
- FREE shipping
- Use THIS LINK and you’ll get $5 off your subscription
I’m really excited about the direction that CWL is going – thanks CWL for letting us review this date night box!
