Bead Crate is a monthly subscription box for beading enthusiasts. Choose from “The Hobbyist” for $7.99 a month or “The Enthusiast” for $15.99 a month. Save with longer subscriptions. You can also buy a single box to see if this subscription is for you. This is a review of “The Enthusiast.”
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Bead Crate
The Products: A selection of beads curated around a monthly theme (or beads that are just cool and random).
Ships to: US (free)
Check out all my Bead Crate reviews and visit the Craft Subscription Box Directory for more great beading, craft supply, and DIY project boxes.
This letter/information sheet accompanied the shipment. The theme this month was “Mermaid.”
A note on prices: Items like this can come from a variety of different suppliers at many price points depending on how many you buy, etc. I couldn’t find a lot of these exact beads from common sources (e.g., Fire Mountain Gems) and it’s of questionable value to pick something similar because a slight difference in grading or size or material and you are looking at half or double the price (or an even greater difference). Even different colors of the same size and shape of glass beads are priced differently due to materials needed to make the colors!
7 x 5 mm Center Drilled Freshwater Cultured Pearls (x 10)
These are bigger than the pearls I usually allow myself to buy and a nicer grade, as well. I am still thinking about what to do with them. But they fit the sea theme very well!
3 mm Aqua Czech Glass Druks (x 300)
Druks are round glass beads. They’re a good, basic standby sort of bead. (If you are not into beading, by the way, the Czech Republic is well known for producing glass beads of all shapes and sizes, from seed beads to fun shapes. I am a fan of Czech glass because it’s affordable and there are so many variations. There’s a lot of it in this box!)
8 x 3 mm Light Teal Czech Glass Dime Beads (x 25)
I have this obsession with flat, round beads. Not sure where it came from. But these were definitely appreciated.
3 mm Light Teal Czech Fire Polished Faceted Rounds (x 50)
Fire polished beads are a great alternative to Swarovski crystals, which are available in a lot of similar shapes but are a heck of a lot more expensive…
9 x 6 mm Czech Glass Vertical Hole AB Teardrops (x 25)
These are probably meant to be fringe beads but I used them in a different way (see below). I like the reflective AB coating.
5 mm Czech Glass Luster Iris Atlantic Blue Melons (x 50)
These are a cool variation on the standard round bead – they have grooves and a luster coating. I liked them a lot.
6 x 6 mm Czech Glass Emerald Bicones (x 50)
I like the color of these quite a bit. (I like the colors of all the beads this month, actually.) Bicones are another good, basic sort of bead to have around.
6 mm Czech Glass Matte Teal AB Lentils (x 50)
So I like round, flat beads, but I think I like lentil beads even more. They’re round and flat, too, but they have thicker middles and thinner edges, and the hole is through one edge instead of being down the diameter of the bead.
11/0 Toho (Japanese glass) Transparent Frosted Crystal Seed Beads (18 g)
These will go with a lot of things. And I found a way to use them that did not involve taking six weeks to finish a project!
I just did a quick bracelet this month because I was kind of worn out after my Blueberry Cove Beads project. I used some memory wire and then I added the charms from my stash on the ends.
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Bead Crate, as explained above in my note about prices. I think with this subscription, you have to ask yourself if each item is worth about $1.75 to you (roughly the cost of the subscription divided by the number of items this month). For my purposes, the value is good. I love the colors and shapes this month. Yes, you can get items for cheap if you buy in bulk, but I cannot tell you how many massive numbers of random beads I have in my craft closet from when I bought in bulk. Sometimes you just don’t WANT 1000 of something, you know?
Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings.
What did you think of the March 2016 Bead Crate? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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