Last year my family gifted me with an Artza box at the end of November, and that was the absolute best time to receive one of these amazing gifts (though I don’t think there could possibly be a bad time). But what is Artza?
Artza is a subscription service based out of the Holy Land. Boxes are shipped quarterly, and you can subscribe box by box or annually. Each shipment is intended to bring the beauty and wonder of the Holy Land alive for you and so contains gifts to taste, educate, inspire, cherish, and more. Most pieces inside are curated from a specific region of Israel and are handmade by local artisans.
My most recent box came from the Judaean Desert, and let me just say: I had no idea that a desert could be so beautiful! With handmade, painted pottery, bath salts, coffee, infused sea salt for cooking, a miniature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and much more, I have loved vicariously exploring the Judaean Desert region through the items in this box. Each time I reach for my special rosemary sea salt it reminds me of the way that we humans are connected despite the distance between us geographically!
Last year’s Christmas box was absolutely amazing, and this year’s box looks even better. My family loved using the special items we received in the box throughout the Advent season. It made our time together seem sacred – and I know it can do the same for you. Being able to touch items that came from the places where the Jesus walked, knowing that traditional items or ingredients or materials came from there to your home is something that is totally unique.
Artza is shipping the Christmas boxes now, and they’ll make amazing gifts – but this also means you could have yours in hand before Advent begins. Artza is the perfect complement to Advent: here’s how to make the holiday season extra special with this one box:
- Taste the season. I don’t know what it is this year, but the boxes typically include something to taste and something to cook. Go big and do both! Last year’s Christmas box had an amazing chocolate bar and a nut spread with a recipe for baking a special type of cookie. That was so much fun to do! Turn up the Christmas music and cook or bake as a family. Taste the results and talk about the ingredients that make it unique. Find the location of origin for that on a map and something from the Bible that happened there. You could also share some with a friend or neighbor.
- Decorate! Artza boxes always include something that makes a perfect decoration or display, and I bet this one will have more than one of these. Last year’s luscious candle stayed on our table all through the Advent season, when we eat by candlelight each night – and we lit that candle, as well, and enjoyed it’s sweet fragrance all through the season. Where can you put that special item so that your family can see it, enjoy it, and reflect on it daily through the holidays?
- Repurpose it! A special hand-painted plate came with last year’s Bethlehem box. We put it in the middle of the table, where we could enjoy it’s special artwork at each meal, but as we often play games while we eat and talk, I soon worried that it would get broken. While I didn’t want to subject it to the frequent washings eating on it would have necessitated, we found it worked perfectly for holding pieces of our games. That way we were interacting with and touching the plate and being reminded of the hands that created it while making it a part of our own family traditions.
- Learn it! Use it! Each box comes with informational cards that share all sorts of special information – about locations, about traditions, about history, and even a few words in Hebrew. Reading and learning this information is special – but you could always take these a step further. Read those words in Hebrew and try to swap out the English words for those Hebrew ones at every opportunity. Think of it like that old cartoon show from the 90s – when bells and whistles went off for the word of the day – and cheer for each other when you speak Hebrew.
- Have fun with it! Most of my boxes have included some kind of card game. These were simple matching or trivia-type games, with flexible rules and lots of pictures. Playing them always meant that we were learning something while we were hanging out together, doing something fun but meaningful. It’s always important to take time just to be with those you love, and playing games is a great way to to that. Bonus points if you’re learning something worthwhile at the same time, right?
You can sign up for an Artza box here – and if you use this link you’ll save 20%! Go ahead and subscribe now and your box will soon land on your doorstep. Then let me know how much you love it!
