While I was away for the holiday break, I got my Homegrown Collective GREENBOX for December and I was itching to get my hands on it! I finally did this week, but didn’t have daylight to take pictures so I got up early yesterday to snap these shots on the freezing cold porch. Can’t wait til we’re at the condo and I can easily get good lighting indoors.

The Homegrown Collective GREENBOX is $39 per box + $9 shipping (or as discounted as $429 for an entire year, with options in between) and comes with fun and easy projects to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program you can apply to join.

This time the sticker was artistically off to the side.

Project #1, oregano oil: I just love everything I learn from each month’s box. I had no idea oregano was such a powerful plant! And I certainly didn’t know essential oils are THAT potent. Just one or two drops for that bottle? Wow, this cure will last a long time. I’m totally going to have Panda try this since he just got sick and tends to be more prone to illness in general. Of course I shall be taking it too so I can ensure I don’t catch anything! Is it just me or is that amber dropper bottle just adorable? I assume you drop some on your tongue but I’ll have to make sure how to use it best. In researching, I discovered it’s great ingested or topically – it can help everything from respiratory issues to acne (OMG I NEED THAT PRONTO). If it helps with my breakouts I will be thrilled.

I laid out all the essential oils before noticing you only need the oregano one for this project.

Project #2, herbal tinctures: A tincture?? Another completely new concept for me. At first I thought I was supposed to get all three herbs but then on the last info sheet you see that you get either the echinacea and elderberry OR the St. John’s Wort. All these herbs sound great, so really trying any of them would be cool. I’m cautious about the alcoholic content here since I don’t drink and I have no idea what 80-100 proof alcohol means. But since you only need a fraction of a teaspoon I think it’s much like taking some cough syrup.

Project #3, eucalyptus vapor cups: So cool (literally too right?)!! I have shower bombs and never really knew what it’d take to make them. I’m so excited about this one, though I might wait til we move to the condo to make them. I can just see myself using the kitchen there having a blast! I also love those little baking tins, which will be so fun to use to make chocolate cups and maybe even little cupcake things in the future. One of the side bonuses of HGC is the awesome tools and jars and accessories you get, which can be reused for plenty of things.

Yeah, I decided to keep the oregano oil in there even though you only use the lavender and eucalyptus for this one.

And a quick roundup of the amazing box, with some info on essential oils. What a fantastic way to start off the new year healthy all naturally!  What are your thoughts on the last box of 2013? If you want in, be sure to sign up for your own Homegrown Collective boxes soon to get the January one (and beyond).

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]