Blueberry Cove Beads Subscription Box Review – February 2017

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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

Good to know: 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. (Blueberry Cove Beads did recently start using a new shipping service so now you can track your packages, though!)

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’s theme was “Naturals” and the challenge is to make something using the wooden bicones (which you will see below).

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.

Gemstone Chip Strand

I’m not sure what kind of gemstones these are. There are a lot of inclusions, which make for a more organic/natural look overall. I used some but have quite a few leftover so I can make some coordinating pieces.

White Stone (?) Strand

I don’t have any idea what material these are. They could be made from some kind of shell. They don’t look like mother of pearl. Some of them were vaguely tooth-shaped (like tiny sharks’ teeth) but most weren’t, so I am at a loss. I intended to use them but realized that the holes drilled through these were VERY tiny so my eyepins wouldn’t fit through. I will have to use some thin beading cord or thread for these!

Wooden Rings

I think these are wood, anyway. There is a coating or paint on one side of them. I used one and have some ideas for the other two. They are lightweight, which is nice.

Wooden Bicones

These are the challenge beads for the month. They have pretty large holes so there is a variety of stringing options. These are also lightweight. I did incorporate a few of these into what I made this month.

Woven Beads, Style #1

Woven Beads, Style #2

I don’t really know what to call either of these (this is definitely one of those times I’d love to have some kind of identification key available). In both cases, the fibers are covering a clear, round, probably plastic bead. I definitely appreciate the attempt to include some natural fibers in among the beads and I have a couple of ideas for these.

Shell Beads

These are made from cut shell. The holes must not be entirely straight or even because I had a hard time fitting headpins through some of them. I was able to get a few to work, though, and a twisted wire needle would have an easier time.

Stone Beads

These, unlike most of the other beads this month, are pretty heavy. It is interesting to get stone beads that are not polished/tumbled. I think these might look good as macrame centerpieces. Definitely too heavy for earrings…

Nut/Seed Beads

I don’t know what kind of plant these come from, but by the shape, they are definitely some kind of drilled nut or seed. They are super lightweight despite being large.

Small Wood Beads

These are lightweight and have large holes. They would work for macrame with 0.5mm cord or so. They are actually a lovely deep reddish/mahogany color that my camera just didn’t do justice to. I used quite a few in my necklace (see below) but I have some left over, as well.

Stone Beads

Again, not sure what kind of stone these are, but I like the inclusions and patterning here, as well as the size and shape (I don’t see this shape too often).

Here is a necklace I made with some of the beads from this month. This is actually about my third idea for the month. First I tried macrame and it just didn’t look right (probably picked too complex of a pattern for my skill set…). But anyway, I like how it turned out.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value here but if you divide the total cost + shipping by the number of items, you are paying about $2.45 an item. That is pretty standard for this box. I expect that some of the beads would cost less, but others would cost more, and that it probably averages out, especially since there are some semiprecious stones in there. I definitely think Blueberry Cove Beads thought outside the box when it comes to natural materials – the only things I could come up with that weren’t included were pearls! (OK, also bone and horn, but I realize that bone and horn might not go over well with all subscribers.) I do kind of wish there had been an identification key, though, as I am curious as to what the white beads are.

What did you think of the February 2017 Blueberry Cove Beads? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?