Vintage Bead Box Subscription Review + Coupon – May 2017

Vintage Bead Box is a monthly subscription box providing you with beads and findings manufactured between about 1930 and 1970. Choose from a themed box (limited numbers available) or a surprise mix.

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 Surprise Mix, $25 a month, box. 

The Subscription Box: Vintage Bead Box

The Cost: $25 a month. Save with 3 and 6-month subscriptions.

The Products: Beads and findings made from a variety of materials (glass, wood, semi-precious stones, metal, acrylic, etc.). Most were manufactured between 1930 and 1970.

Ships to: US (free), Worldwide (additional shipping charges will apply)

Check out all of our Vintage Bead Box 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 because owing to the nature of the contents, every “Surprise Mix” box could be a little different.

A note on prices: Because these beads are vintage, they can’t be purchased separately from any sources. Further, materials, country of manufacture, and more can be a little difficult to determine precisely. Thus, 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.

Acrylic Beads

You’ll get a fair number of acrylic beads with Vintage Bead Box. These are a great color for spring and there are a lot of them, which offers a lot of design possibilities, including matching sets.  I may use them in conjunction with both the metal beads and white glass beads below.

Button Clasp

I think this is the first time I’ve received a clasp with this subscription. Anyway, I love decorative clasps like this but rarely buy them because they are kind of spendy. I am totally not opposed to getting one in a subscription box, though. (I think a fair number of beads in this subscription come from old “junk” jewelry.  But they are always clean and in good shape.)

Coral Beads

These have a different texture and weight from the “coral” beads you see today (which are often either plastic or a dyed bamboo coral, which is a non-endangered species). I like the pink color, too. (These have tiny holes so you may need a twisted wire needle to get stringing material through them.)

Glass Beads

These beads have little flower details. (It showed up in the photo, so yay!) I never see beads like this for sale these days, so I am happy to get them.  I know I will use them soon.

Metal Beads

You’ll usually get one baggie of metal beads with this subscription. The styles vary quite a lot. What is nice about these is that you get a lot of them (plus they match the finish of some chain I have). There are a lot of possibilities here.

Rustic Glass Beads

These are really big and heavy. I am thinking they would work in a cuff or bangle bracelet (individually) so I am going to practice my wire wrapping skills. I don’t have any thread that would be strong enough for them, but I have a wide assortment of wire that should work.

Faux Pearl

Faux pearls are another mainstay of Vintage Bead Box. I like the mix of colors here and also the texture that some of the beads have. I ended up using these to make a necklace this month and I think it turned out really well. (See a picture below.)

Wood Beads

You’ll also receive a fair number of wood beads with this subscription. But, I have been wanting to practice my macramé so these will be useful (I like using wood beads with macramé because the holes in the beads are large and the pieces end up being pretty lightweight).

Here is a necklace I made with the faux pearls. I used all of them! This is inspired by something I saw in a Fire Mountain Gems monthly mini-catalog but I can’t find it again (I have a stack of those on my kitchen table).

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Vintage Bead Box, as explained above, but if you divide the total cost by the number of items, you are paying about $3.12 an item. This seems quite reasonable to me. If you browse Etsy, you can find similar groupings of vintage beads and findings for prices ranging from $2-$7 (and beyond). Because I opted for the surprise mix, it does seem a little random (don’t forget you can also choose a themed box), but due to the fact that I have a massive bead stash, I can almost always find exactly the right components to go with the beads in the box.  I would say this month I used more of the beads from the box in n pieces than I do in an average month, and I had fun coming up with ideas.

For what it’s worth, everything arrives clean. I suspect at least some of it is from deconstructed vintage jewelry (but honestly, that is OK by me – I get fun beads and things stay out of the landfill). It is all clean and, so far, manufactured pretty well. Plus, a lot of the items are unusual and you’d have a hard time finding equivalents made from modern materials.

What did you think of the May 2017 Vintage Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?