Galilee Artza Premium Box

A couple of years ago I finally got the itch to go to Israel. I've been a Christian for 30 years and it's only been recently that I've had a desire to go and see the places Jesus walked and to see holy places. With the world being what it is right now, I don't foresee me or my family going there any time soon. When Artza reached out to me again to see if I'd like to experience their Galilee Artza Box, I felt very blessed!

I had the opportunity to learn more about Artza back in November of last year with their Nazareth box. The wall hanging still graces the wall by my front door, the soap sits on my side table next to my bed because it smells heavenly, and I ate through the Apple, Pomegranate, & Honey Spread like it was going out of style. I'm pretty sure no one even had a chance to sample it after I opened it. Oops.

So, let's chat about the Galilee Artza Premium box! The Premium box gives you an extra an extra hand-crafted gift. For instance, with the Galilee Premium box I also received a hand crafted Mosaic making kit. The "basic" box doesn't come with this feature. If you sign up for Artza, they send a box out quarterly. For the Premium box, you can either pay $94.99 seasonally or pay an annual amount and save 10%!

Here are the items that I received in my box. The first item that stood out to me was Itamar Even's custom designed and handmade ceramic bowl. The turquoise caught my attention as soon as I opened the box. I love that there a fish and bread loaf etched inside the bowl as a reminder of the fishes and loaves story. This will definitely hold trinkets. Ok, maybe not "definitely". It'll probably find a coveted spot on my bookshelves and you'll see it in my future bookstagram photos.

I'm also going to fess up right now. I used the olive oil immediately. Did not pass "Go" and did not collect $200. I just pulled it out and made a quinoa and kale lunch for myself. It's one of my favorite recipes and this olive oil added a delicious flavor. Sindyanna of Galilee is the only certified Fair-Trade olive oil producer in Israel! They've even won  multiple international awards! I can see why! My husband LOVES cooking with olive oil and now he's going to want to use this olive oil in all of his recipes.

To stick with the food theme, I've recently gone on a kick again about hummus. I'm trying to find ways to be a healthier eater. Seriously I am. In fact, this is how dorky I am. On the way to Minnesota on the 3rd I was sitting, waiting for my plane, when the people across from me pulled out veggies galore and hummus. I decided to ask them about flavor suggestions. HA! Now that I have the Spice Road Farm hummus seasoning, I can venture out and use the recipe that was sent as well. This seasoning blend is actually custom made for Artza!

Next up is the chocolate spread from Tzuf. The Galilee Artza Premium box came right before I left for 8 days in Minnesota so I had enough time to grab photos and look through the box, but haven't had time to sample anything. Doesn't "Nectar Spread" sound amazing? I mean, I'm a gardener and my nectar garden for my bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds brings me great delight. I have a feeling this Nectar Spread will as well! Oh, and it's vegan!

Moving on from food, take a look at these gorgeous hand-dipped candles by Safed Candles. I have a feeling if I were to visit Galilee I'd end up spending a LOT of time in their shop. I always find candles to be so fascinating, especially if they're hand-dipped. They're never exactly the same. Now, I get that the point of having candles is to burn them, but these are serious too beautiful to burn. Shhhh don't tell them I'm not using them as intended. These, too, will probably grace my bookshelves and you'll see them in future photos!

When we travel places, and I don't know how this happens, I'm always drawn to soaps and scrubs. If you were to ask my husband, he'd confirm this for you! The only problem is, I get them and love them so much, I don't want to use them. I know, much like the candles. I DO end up using soaps and scrubs though. Michal Soaps lemon-lime body scrub will definitely be used!

In Israel there's a local game maker called Family Nature Games. This card game for the whole family will help reinforce and teach about Christ's journey in the Holy Land. What I liked about the cards, and I think this is such a brilliant feature, is the map on each of the cards. You'll have to order the box to see the cards to understand why I'm digging them.

And as an added piece to Premium box, subscribers will get Holy Land Mosaics. It's a DIY kit to make a design of your own creation or follow one of their patterns. These are natural stones and once you create your design, you can either glue them to a frame following the pattern or come up with other ideas on how to display your creation. You could also just play around with them coming up with creative new designs over and over.

Do you have a favorite item from this box? If you went to Galilee, what artisanal or handmade item would you pick to bring home? Something altogether different?