World Vision sent me the cinnamon box shown below, as a thank-you and to facilitate my review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

World Vision is probably familiar to most of you.  It’s one of the best-known organizations for “giving back” when you purchase your gifts.  There are a variety of options.  You can donate directly for a specific cause: laying hens or milking goats to provide nutrition & extra income for a family, clean water, access to education, etc.

Or, my favorite, buy a tangible item that provides you with something concrete to wrap for your recipient and helps meet a need at the other end of the transaction.  (Oh, my goodness; all the jewelry and accessories on that page are gorgeous!)

This Prosperity Cinnamon Box from Vietnam is one of those gifts.  The cinnamon bark box is carved with the Vietnamese character for “prosperity.”  It’s filled with 3 oz. of sweet Vietnamese cinnamon and adorned with a cinnamon stick (and a tag).

My daughter loves this because it smells fabulous!  The cinnamon is in a zipper-sealed plastic bag so it won’t spill or anything like that.  If you wanted to, you could remove it altogether and use the box for another purpose.

The box itself is really beautiful.  Because it’s carved from bark it has a wonderful texture.  And it smells subtly of cinnamon, as well.

Here I’ve dumped a bit of the cinnamon atop a bowlful of palm sugar in preparation for seasoning and baking an apple.

Mmmm…