Blueberry Cove Beads Subscription Box Review – December 2016

Blueberry Cove Beads is a beading subscription from Canada. Every month they ship beads and supplies and post a challenge incorporating one or more items from the box. If you choose to enter the challenge, you share photos of your project and may win your next month’s box free!

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

The Subscription Box: Blueberry Cove Beads

The Cost: $27 ($22 for the subscription + $5 shipping)

The Products: A curated selection of beads and findings centered on a theme.

Ships to: U.S. and Canada

Check out all of our Blueberry Cove Bead reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory for more great craft supply and DIY project boxes!

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

There isn’t a traditional information card with this box. This month the challenge is to make a necklace with some of the charms in the box; the theme was “Winter Solstice.”

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. Even different colors of the same size and shape of glass beads are priced differently due to materials needed to make the colors! So I have opted not to provide prices in this review.

Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings. Also, note that you will receive this towards the end of the month or the beginning of the next month if you live in the U.S. since it is shipping from Canada.

Goldtone Tree Pendant

This is nice and delicate (my preference). I am thinking about adding some seed bead “leaves” to the tree. I’ll have to try it out and see how it works.

Large Lampworked Glass Bead with Foil Accents

I think I would like to string this on some thin ribbon with other lampworked glass beads. (I don’t have any ribbon, so it’s an excuse for more shopping!)

Faceted Purple Glass Drops

I received some teardrops with a different finish but a similar color in Dollar Bead Box this month. I think I would like to use those and these in the same piece. (I totally mix and match items from different boxes!)

Drilled Crystal Points

I’m not sure what gemstone this is (if it’s a gemstone). I like the mix of purple and yellow/orange and I’m going to see what these look like with some copper metal. (I’m hoarding copper lately – beads, sheet, wire, metal blanks, even copper washers from the hardware store.)

Lampworked Glass Beads

I’m collecting similar beads to use in a necklace together (modeled after something I’ve seen my grandma wear in the past). So I will hang on to these for a bit.

Mother of Pearl (?) Moons

These are cute. I used them in a bracelet (see below).

Matte Purple Rounds

I’m not sure what these are made of but they have an interesting matte finish.

Sparkly Purple Rounds

I totally couldn’t capture this with the camera but these are sparkly, almost like there was glitter inside. I love them.

Clear Crackle Glass Rounds

These were interesting paired with the sparkly purple rounds. I used all three of the items from this photo in a bracelet.

Silvertone Antler Charms

These are a bit big for me to use in jewelry but I am trying to branch out into other beaded objects and I am thinking of some kind of home décor item.

Silvertone Celtic Knot Charms

I used these in a bracelet this month, too. (See below.)

I am determined to master the Chan Luu style leather wrap bracelet. I got the idea from this blog post to use a loom (I used a Jewel Loom) and it worked – I am pretty happy with this as my first attempt (although it could really stand to be a half inch or so longer – live and learn). The button came from my stash.  Don’t look too closely at the thread between the beads, I need to work on my technique there.)

Here is what the bracelet looks like on, wrapped around twice.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value here but if you divide the total cost + shipping by the number of items, you are paying slightly over $2.40 an item. I think that is fair – there were a lot of fancy lampworked beads this month, a generous number of accent beads (love the purple glitter ones), a fair amount of metal, as well as a couple of other interesting inclusions (those little moons are cute, too). Also, I don’t know what changed, but this box is getting to me a lot faster than it used to, which is nice (I feel bad emailing the owner each month to ask where it is…).

What did you think of the December 2016 Blueberry Cove Beads? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?