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Dollar Bead Box Subscription Box Review – January 2017

Ragan Buckley
ByRagan BuckleyJan 16, 2017 | 3 comments

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The Dollar Bead Box
5 overall rating
2 Ratings | 0 Reviews

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.) 

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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. 

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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: U.S. ($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!

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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. There were two bonus items. I’m not sure if mine were the same as everyone else’s, but I received some Swarovski cubes in a pretty yellow color and a strand of red 4 mm Czech firepolished beads.

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!

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Czech Glass Angel Wings in Aqua Rainbow Iris (36)

I’ve been collecting a lot of beads in this color family lately because I think they look good with copper. So these will go nicely with some other things in my stash.

Czech Glass Table Cut Chartreuse with Travertine (10)

This is one of my favorite items from the box. I’ve been buying a ton of beads in this style lately in a lot of colors that will go well with these (again because I think it will look good with copper).

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1 x 3 Plastic Storage Box (3)

I am running into issues storing beading needles lately and I think these are just the solution to my problem. I can label the cases with the needle size (10, 13, 15, etc.) so I can always find the right needle when I need it.

20 mm Faceted Whiskey Quartz Bead

It was difficult to capture the facets here since this isn’t sparkly, but it is a good, neutral-colored bead and I used it in a necklace this month.

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Czech Glass Star in Jet (19)

I apparently had this obsession with star-shaped beads some years ago as I found a ton when I cleaned out my craft closet. But I didn’t have any black ones so these fill a little void in my collection. (Yeah, I hoard beads.)

Czech Glass Beads and Pearls Designer Strand in Assorted Colors (30)

This is practically a ready-made bracelet. I’m just going to re-string these and add a clasp (and probably leave a few off for matching earrings or something since I have tiny wrists).

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Peacock Bead in White Opal

Dollar Bead Box sends out a lot of beads with this peacock finish. I now think I have enough of them to make something pretty cool with this as the centerpiece. (It looks better in person but is pretty reflective through the camera lens.)

20 x 17 mm Czech Glass Sugar Skull Bead, Black with Gold (2)

So normally, this is not the type of item that would appeal to me, but there was something about these that I just loved. I used one of them in a necklace (see below).

8 mm Aqua Dyed White Jade (4)

These are a nice basic accent bead. I used them to liven up the otherwise-neutral color scheme of the necklace I made this month.

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4 mm Red Firepolished Beads

I think these were one of my two bonus items because they weren’t on the information card. Red is my favorite color and it is easy to find uses for 4mm beads so these work for me!

4 mm Chinese Crystal Bicone in White Opal Chili Pepper (50)

These are a nice alternative to the 4 mm firepolished glass beads we often get with this subscription (and a more economical alternative than genuine Swarovski bicones) so they are welcome. I think this color would look good with antiqued copper findings.

3 x 5 mm Pinch Bead in Purple (40)

Another small alternative to 4 mm firepolished glass!

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Softflex Beading Wire in Medium (10 ft)

Eek! Glare! This is a useful item for me, though, and something I needed to repurchase anyway.

Griffin Silk Cord

Silk cord is good for knotting between pearls (including fake pearls) and gemstones. It has a nice drape and it is easy to use this to make something pretty classy in not a lot of time.

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Here is the color of Softflex I received.

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4 mm Swarovski Bicones in Assorted Colors (12)

I don’t often buy genuine Swarovski crystals because of the expense, but I am never going to turn them down in a subscription box. Especially when they are such a usable color.

10 mm Round Beads with Imitation Gold Plate (12)

These are good, lightweight accent beads. I used a few of them in the necklace I made but there are plenty left over for other projects.

Swarovski Cubes (3)

This was my other bonus item. I really like cube beads and I am accumulating quite the random assortment of Swarovski cubes. I’m going to put them all together into one necklace or bracelet one of these days.

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Here is a necklace I made using one of the skull beads, some of the imitation gold-plated beads, the aqua dyed white jade, the whiskey quartz bead, and a tassel from a past Dollar Bead Box. (I knew if I kept those tassels around long enough I would come up with an idea for one! Now I kind of want to make some other tassel necklaces.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the January 2017 Dollar Bead Box, for reasons explained above. If you divide the cost of the box by the number of items, you get a little over $1 per item, which I definitely think is fair, especially with the Czech diamonds (which usually cost a few dollars for a strand) and some genuine Swarovski beads in there. The skulls were fun and I finally came up with a use for tassels! I enjoyed working with the contents of this box.

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 January 2017 Dollar Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?

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The Dollar Bead Box is a monthly subscription box that includes a large variety of beads, beading products, and items exclusive to the Dollar Bead Box. During the month, you can reorder any or all of the items in the box for just $1 each. For example, you can order items from the April box through t... read more.
Ragan Buckley
Ragan Buckley
Ragan stumbled across My Subscription Addiction in late 2013 and immediately subscribed to way too many beauty boxes. She's now focused on boxes for her cats and dog, vegan/vegetarian food boxes, and craft subscriptions (and she didn't give up beauty boxes entirely).

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3 comments

Serena

That necklace is my favourite thing I’ve seen you make since I started reading your reviews a few months ago! It’s amazing!

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Nikki g

I love it! You’re so talented.

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Lunalee

Ikr! I am not interested at the moment in creating necklaces myself, but I always read these reviews just to see what Ragan has made.

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