Homemade Monthly Subscription Gifts – The Gift that Lasts All Year Long!

Surprise your loved one this season with monthly subscription gifts that you create! Check out these ideas. Your monthly subscription gifts are more personable and affordable than any subscription gifts you could buy.

subscription box cooking

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What are Monthly Subscription Gifts?

Monthly subscription gifts are a monthly gift you buy for someone (or even yourself!) that comes from a company that puts together a different themed gift each month and mails it.

I receive a book (or two or three) each month from Book of the Month and absolutely love it. I also love the Butterfly Box which sends beautiful, Christain owned and theme baskets.

The great thing about subscription boxes is that it takes out the guesswork of what to buy someone each Christmas or Birthday. And, you aren’t just passing out gift cards.

Buying vs. Making:

  1. Buying subscription boxes are too impersonal. Many boxes are simply a hodge-podge of items each month and you don’t know if your loved one will like, much less love, one or all the items each month.
  2. Making your own subscription boxes is a personal gift. You choose each item each month and wrap each month’s item. If you choose, you can include a note about the unwrapped gift. See free printable at the end.
  3. Buying subscription boxes can be expensive to spend all of that money upfront. This is especially true if you want to buy them a 12-month membership. Usually, the monthly gift is at least $10 per month or more, so you’re easily paying $150 on a gift if it includes shipping and tax.
  4. When you make your own subscription box you control the cost. You can make it an experience gift or give your loved one a coupon and spend the money throughout the year or even give them items you already own, such as passing on antiques, family heirlooms, monthly letters, or loved books.

Related: Make Your Own Gifts for Christmas Your Family will Love – No Craft Skills Needed!

Monthly Subscription Gifts – Create Your Own!

Making your own subscription boxes adds that personalized touch and can be zero cost (see the ideas below) or you can spread your costs throughout the year.

I like to shop the Black Friday sales then have all my gifts wrapped and done. However, this gift idea gives you freedom with your budget to spread the costs throughout the year.

Ideas for Creating Your Own Monthly Subscription Gifts

1.Monthly Cooking Subscription Gift

My mom loves to cook. Her personalized subscription box contains 12 unique cooking items that she would normally not buy for herself.

I go to World Market in December, and paying attention to expiration dates, buy 12 items then wrap and label them January through December. I add a small note on each one just hinting at what is inside.

cooking subscription box

2. Monthly Movie of the Month Gift

On the first of each month one year, I gave my children 12 movies from my childhood. All wrapped up and labeled for each month of the upcoming year. It was a fun gift.

Although you can stream most movies now, the kids enjoyed having this gift to open and knowing we would have a movie night each month.

Some of the movies were definitely a bust. Times have changed so much that kids often don’t understand the lingo before the cell phones but there are some classics out there that were a hit – like Goonies, Space Camp, and The Princess Bride.

3. Monthly Game of the Month Gift

This is a favorite at my house. I make sure to do a lot of research beforehand of the games that win awards in my children’s age bracket.

We open the Game of the Month on the 1st of every month and play it so much we are usually tired of it by the time the next month rolls along. For the best of the best after years of receiving this gift, check out our top 10 games here.

subscription box game of the month

4. Monthly Box Club Subscription Box

I’ve given this gift to multiple family members that love to read. It costs me $0.

I find 12 of my favorite books that I don’t think my recipient has read, wrap them with a decorative sticker containing each month’s name and a note of why I think she will like each one. All without giving away the title. Also included in each box is a special bookmark.

I especially like this gift because it cost me nothing, it is from the heart, it reduces the waste in my house, and it gives me and my loved one something to discuss each month.

book of the month gift
Ideas for no-cost monthly gifts
  • antiques from the family
  • cookbooks or a special recipe with the meal
  • family heirlooms
  • monthly letters
  • loved books
  • pass your jewelry onto your children

5. An Activity of the Month Club

Lastly, our favorite is the experience gift or as we call it “Activity of the Month”. There is where my kids open an envelope each month with an activity we will do together each month.

This one takes some planning beforehand. I figure out which 12 activities I want to do throughout the upcoming year for each calendar month. Then I make note of it on my phone so I can buy the game tickets or make reservations if needed.

Ideas for Activity of the Month Club

These ideas range from FREE to costly. This is a perfect example of a gift where the cost is spread throughout the year.

  • Bike Ride and Picnic
  • Progressive dinner – different restaurant for the appetizer, main course, dessert
  • Golfing
  • Shopping for school clothes
  • Breakfast at a restaurant before school
  • Road trip
  • Professional Baseball/Soccer/Football game
  • Swimming Water Park
  • Beach Day
  • See the sunrise and sunset together on the same day
  • Volunteer together
  • Go to a play or musical at a local theatre
  • Video game night
  • Geocaching
  • Cyber-bowling
  • Roller-skating
  • Ice skating
  • Dinner date with Mom – child picks the restaurant
  • Fishing
  • Paddle Boating
  • Bingo at a local organization
  • Movie night – child picks the movie and gets popcorn and drinks
  • Pumpkin Patch
  • Pedicure/Spa outing with daughter
  • Batting Cages

Presenting Your Personalized Monthly Subscription Gifts

You can present your gift in a couple of ways.

  1. Wrap all the presents at once and have the month on each present and give it to them with instructions to open the present on the month specified. This is easiest for adults that live away from you.
  2. For children, it is easier for you to give them a present each month. They won’t let you forget!
  3. For the Activity of the Month, you can simply give them 12 sealed envelopes. Each month they open the appropriate one.

The first year I gave my family a certificate stating they were enrolled in my Personalized Subscription plan.  This certificate can be found inside the Christmas Printable Mini-Bundle.

personalized_subscription_boxes

Monthly Labels for Your Subscription Presents

If you want your own labels for each month with room to write a sneak peek of what is inside (like I did on the books above). These labels are also found inside the Christmas Printable Mini-Bundle.

christmas labels for each month

make giving this year fun by getting the Christmas mini-bundle!

christmas mini bundle
Homemade Monthly Subscription Gifts - The Gift that Lasts All Year Long!

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