Dollar Bead Box Subscription Box Review – November 2016

Dollar Bead Box is a monthly delivery of beads and beading products. During a given month, reorder your favorite items from the Dollar Bead Box shop for just $1. (This deal is only available to subscribers.) 

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

This review is of the $19.50 a month, Dollar Bead Box. 

The Subscription Box: Dollar Bead Box

The Cost: $19.50 + $4.50 shipping for the Dollar Bead Box or $8 for the Dollar Bead Bag (4 strands of 3 mm Czech Fire Polish Beads and 4 strands of 4 mm Czech Fire Polish Beads in every bag); free shipping with 3- and 6-month subscriptions (plus get an additional discount on 6-month subscriptions)

The Products: Beads and beading-related items including but not limited to stringing materials, Swarovski crystals, vintage glass, freshwater pearls, buttons, and more.

Ships to: US ($4.50 on a month-to-month subscription, free with longer subscriptions)

Check out all of our Dollar Bead Box reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory! 

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

The box included a letter reminding us that subscribers can buy more of the box items for $1 online. The back of the letter included a list of items in the box.

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!

Czech Glass Vintage Look Drops (2)

These are sort of an opaque pink color with black swirls. They look neat, but they are sort of blurry even in real life if that makes sense. I think they look nice with gold (I used them in some earrings).

Aqua and Amethyst Spikes (5 each)

I don’t have many ideas on how to use spikes (these are drilled perpendicularly to the long axis) but a thought did just occur to me as I’m writing this. I need to get some wire on the thin side (22 or 24 gauge maybe?) and wrap it around them.

Seed Beads (jet, 1 tube)

Such a cute little tube of seed beads. I have a lot of colors of seed bead, but actually not that many black, so these are handy.

Rectangle Bead Peacock Marea Finish (2)

We’ve been getting a lot of beads with this sort of finish lately. I’m thinking I might be able to string them all together into one necklace  Dollar Bead Box is good for building up your stash.

Czech Glass Ankh (4)

I think these would look good with some wood beads. I know I have a stash of wood beads in my craft closet somewhere, I just need to find them.

Oval Bead in Peacock AB (2)

More beads with a cool finish!

Pewter Antique Bronze Hammered Circle (2)

I used most of my findings in this color in last month’s necklace, so I haven’t used these yet, but I have been all about metal lately so I know these will be put to good use.

Pewter Flower

This is nice and simple. I prefer smaller centerpieces for necklaces so it is right up my alley. It also might work on a bracelet.

Pewter Antique Bronze Leaf

I love the detail in this. I have been focusing on copper so much lately but I can’t forget that antique bronze also has a lovely color.

Bezel with Silver Plate

Bezel with Gold Plate

I don’t have any stones to put in these right now. But I have been buying a lot of cabochons lately so I am sure that the right stone will turn up eventually. I like that they hold relatively small stones since that is more to my taste.

Garnet Bicone (25)

Navy Bicone (25)

You will always get a few strands of glass beads. I like that they mixed it up and sent us generous amounts of bicones this month. The blue is opaque and very dark (I used it in the antique copper finish earrings below) and the garnet matches nicely with some other Czech glass I received in Bead Crate this month.

7 mm Czech Fire Polished Beads in Tequila Sunrise (29)

6 mm Czech Fire Polished Beads in Jet Half Green Iris (25)

You will also get a few strands of fire polished Czech glass beads every month. These colors are ones we haven’t seen before. You do see a variegated finish in the darker ones, but you have to look closely.  This is a great subscription for building up your stash of basic glass beads!

Here are some earrings I made with beads from this box and other items I had in my stash.  Those long drop-shaped beads defied attempts at photography.  (The earring hooks don’t match the color of the other findings exactly because they are all hypoallergenic niobium or titanium.)

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the November 2016 Dollar Bead Box, for reasons explained above. If you divide the total cost by the number of items, you get $1.30 each, which seems reasonable. (I have the three-month subscription, which bills monthly but doesn’t have a shipping charge.) You also get the benefit of being able to order items from your box from their shop (only members can) for $1 each, which I have done in the past. (They have pretty fast shipping and great customer service.) I do like that benefit since sometimes, they offer unusual beads and findings that I haven’t seen elsewhere, and sometimes I have ideas for projects that take more beads than we receive in the box.

I think this is best as a stash-building subscription. There is not a monthly theme so I can’t always use everything at once. But I hang on to absolutely everything and keep it in plastic containers with clear lids so I can scan my stash quickly to find just the right item for what I want to make, which is often something from a past Dollar Bead Box. I think my favorite items this month are the antique bronze circles and leaf.

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 November 2016 Dollar Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?