2023 Holiday Countdown Boxes!

Happy October!

I know it may seem early to talk about holiday items now but it will take a long time to pack and ship holiday countdown boxes so I have to release them early! Additionally, mail is always a little slower during the holidays from the increase of packages going through the system! I also noticed that some brands much larger than me have already sold out of their calendars!

Anyway, I wanted to share about the boxes because I am doing TWO boxes this year. I am doing the 12 day Winter Countdown that you know and love but I am also adding a 24 day stationery countdown/calendar!

I decided to do a second box because I’ve always wanted to create a 24 day calendar but since I am purchasing tea from other companies instead of using my own teas, it is prohibitive. I brainstormed about how I could create 24 day calendar that wasn’t exorbitantly expensive to make. You all know my love of stationery and it all developed from there! I went back and forth on the types of items to create but eventually with a few nudges form friends (Taniya!) I started designing. I actually started the design process in the spring to not put too much pressure on me to get it all done at once.

2023 Holiday Boxes Release Day: Thursday, October 19th 2023 - 11 AM - Newsletter subscribers get early access

Countdown Pricing:
Winter Countdown/Advent Calendar: $55 + Shipping
Fall Countdown purchasers will get a discount

Stationery Calendar: $26 + Shipping
Sticker Club Members will get a discount

2023 Winter Countdown/Advent Calendar

This year’s countdown will be a little different because it wont include any design items! The countdown will be 12 days, 1 day will have a brewing vessel and 11 days will be tea! You may get some extra goodies as usual in the envelope :) Usually I include magnets + stickers of the design but this time since there is only tea there will be one other item!

Teas Included:
Oolong: 6
Black: 2
White: 3

As with other countdown boxes, there will be a QR code in the box that will take you to a landing page with information about each day as well as dates to countdown to the first day of winter or Christmas Eve. You can always open this box however you’d like but I like to include these two date ranges since they seem to be the most popular. Nothing in the box, including the designs is related to any one holiday, more of a general winter theme!

The box, wrapping paper and extra goodies will have the winter fox design shown below!

2023 Stationery Calendar

This calendar is different from my normal countdown boxes. So I wanted to share a few things, please review these before purchasing so you know what you’re getting!

-There is NO tea in this box
-There won’t be a QR guide to this box since there is no tea, just stationery!
-There will be 24 days instead of the usual 7 or 12 days
-You will get a note from me in your box!

For what is actually in the box, I wanted to share that the designs are not all winter based. I tried to do some general designs and one or two seasonal so that you can use the items in the calendar whenever. Most of the designs will be 100% new to you and there are a few that will be familiar but I’ve reworked them a little bit!

In the box:
-12 Vinyl Stickers (Vary in size but generally around 2 - 3 inches)
-7 Sticker Sheets (4 in x 5 in)
-5 Washi Tapes (Same size as in my shop)

Here Is a preview of what the inside of this box will look like, the stickers will be in envelopes and the washi tapes will be in boxes!

The 2022 Countdown To Fall Box

The Countdown to Fall Box launches on Tuesday August, 30th! I wanted to write a little bit about the box and a few small changes I made to the box this go around!

Here are the general details about the box:

This time around, I made a few changes that I wanted to share about. Some of the changes just happened to work with the items in the box and some are things I want to try.

Labels: Normally, I stamp out a shape and write each individual number on the labels. I do enjoy doing this but I often have trouble finding paper that looks good with the wrapping. I use a Rollo printer for my shipping labels and have started printing more packaging labels with it as well. While it doesn’t print in color, it’s a thermal printer so I never have to replace the ink and the labels are relatively inexpensive! This round, I changed the box design black and white and printed them on rectangular labels with the numbers on each label. I think they look good!

The Box: The box this time around has a few changes as well. I opt for the kraft box because I noticed when I used the white box, it got way more visibly dirty. When I switched to kraft, I also started just using line art with one color because it’s difficult to have vibrant colors on kraft. I decided to just see what the colors would look like and since the colors are earthier colors, I think it looks great and has some lovely fall vibes!

The other change for the box this time around is the size! Since I won’t have any teaware again this time (look out for the advent box!) I was able to use a smaller box. This means that the box with all the items weighs less and shipping should be a little less too :)

The Fortune Teller: This is the big one that I’m a bit scared about. I love making the fortune tellers but also sometimes feel that this paper could be saved and I often have trouble writing all that I want to in the small spaces. Something I’ve wanted to try for a long time is to provide a QR code that you can scan and go read more about each day and also have a welcome message and other information. While I too enjoy having paper I can feel, I think I will be able to give you more information about each item and my thoughts behind them. Additionally, I can put links to the places I purchased the tea where it applies so you can go directly there!

I’m very excited about this box and have been started preparing it! Let me know what you think of the changes and if you’re excited to get one!

Countdown Box & Gift Box Previews for 2022

Another year is wrapping up nd I’m so grateful to have been able to put out more countdown boxes! This year was so incredible and I’m very happy with how each box turned out. As many of you are opening the last day of your advent/countdown to winter boxes and smaller countdowns, I wanted to share my thoughts for how next year will go!

In previous years I have done a valentine’s day countdown, spring, summer, fall, Halloween and the advent/winter countdown. While I LOVE doing the valentine’s day countdown I have decided to do something different for 2022.

The timing for these boxes is a little complicated especially since I love to be able to provide them to my tea friends in Canada! My ship out day needs to be 2 weeks or more before the first day of the countdown, and with Valentine’s day being somewhat at the start of the month, this timeline has been really stressful the last couple of times. Instead, I am going to do a box for valentine’s day but I will be more like a gift box!

2022 Schedule of Giftboxes

Valentine’s Day - Date Night Box for yourself or for you and a date! I haven’t decided if the box contents will be a surprise or not but it will include tea and teaware to be able to have a Valentine’s day session! The reasoning behind the valentine’s day box has always been my love of the holiday. If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t love the holiday because I’ve had romantic, sweep you off your feet moments throughout the years. It’s because I like the spirit of the holiday, showing people you love them. I often like to make cards and give them to my family and friends who are local and mail them out to those far away. I think love is worth celebrating in al it’s forms - love for family and friends, love for a romantic partner and love for yourself!

Release Date: A couple of weeks, in early to mid January! These will ship end of January to hopefully make it on time to father away places !

Norouz Box- Spring is an important time for me and Persians around the world as we celebrate New Year. I don’t always share about Norouz because I’m never sure how interested people will be but I will be attempting a small gift box for Norouz that will include tea, something to drink the tea in and probably a Norouz themed gift! This will release either at the same time as the spring box or a little later.

2022 Schedule of Countdowns

Countdown To Spring- Another reason I’m not doing a valentine’s day countdown is that it cuts it too close to the spring countdown which has never actually counted down to the first day of spring, except for this year! While you can open countdown boxes however you’d like the guidance will be to countdown to the first day of spring! This box is almost set and I’m excited to have a piece of teaware, yummy teas and hopefully a handmade item! Spring holds a special place in my heart because it’s New Year so I am excited for us to actually count down with a box! Spring is also a time for renewal so I hope to…RENEW… your love of tea with some interesting teas !

The Advent sold out so quickly so I will be adding a few more boxes to this batch :) I haven’t decided on a theme for the box decoration but will share previews as always when I have it down to one design.

Release Date: This box will hit the shop in Mid February and be shipped out in late February

Countdown to Summer: I will be doing another Countdown to Summer box and soon will start planning these teas. I think Summer is a great time for tea - hot or cold and I have some ideas on what to bring you in the box!

Release Date: The box will hit the shop in Mid May and ship out at the end of May

Countdown to Fall: Another Countdown to fall! In 2021, the Fall box replaced the Countdown to Halloween. While that box was SUPER fun to curate it was similar to the Valentine’s day box where it cut very close to the advent it it was stressful to get everything on time and done. I also want there to be enough of a break between boxes! Fall is such a wonderful time of year so I think this box will be another fun one!

Release Date: The box will hit the shop in Mid August and ship out the end of August!

Countdown to Winter/advent: In 2022, this advent will be my 4th Annual! I get so excited about this, planning started in Spring. I wan to do things a little different this year. While I’ve always wanted to do a larger countdown, I struggle with trying to keep it somewhat affordable so that it can be accessible to most! The boxes are extremely labor intensive from curation to packing to shipping, I don’t really factor in my labor when I should so I’m afraid a larger countdown for the advent would be too expensive. I may however try to add a day or two if I can to make it a little more magical!

Your Feedback:

I can’t guarantee that I will be able to deliver on everything you suggest because not every suggestion works for me but I am always listening and want to hear what you think! There are a few topics that I am especially interested in hearing your opinions on! Check them out below and feel free to leave a comment or email me - hello@teathoughts.com . Please note that the valentines, spring and norouz box are pretty much set.

In 2021, I started putting pieces of teaware in the box, do you want that to continue?

What kinds of non tea items would like you to see more of?

Would you like to see the advent box have more days in it?

What is your favorite aspect of the countdown boxes?