Bargain Bead Box is a monthly subscription promising over $40 worth of quality jewelry-making supplies every month.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Bargain Bead Box
The Cost: $15.95 a month
The Products: Designer quality beads in materials ranging from crystal to glass to semi-precious gemstones, plus metal beads and findings. Bargain Bead Box does not send any plastic beads or seed beads.
Ships to: U.S. (free), Canada for $7.50
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There was a letter in the box with some more information on the theme (“Mad for Matte”). The back contained a list of the month’s 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!
36 Pieces 7 mm Scalloped Bead Caps
You’ll always get some bead caps with this subscription. I’ve gained quite the collection after a few months. What is great is that they always match the finish of the other metal items, so even if you don’t have a massive stash like I do, you’ll be able to complete several pieces using just what you get in the box. I really like this antique brass color.
3 Pieces 56 mm Feather Pendants
You’ll usually also get some rather large pendants with this subscription. I am thinking about using these in conjunction with some real feathers (I have a collection, of course) in a mixed-media piece.
50 Pieces 4 mm Faceted Oval Spacer Beads
These came in handy this month. The holes in the beads I used for dangles were too big for my headpins, so I put these on the headpins first, to keep all the beads in place. (See below.)
1 m 5 x 4 mm Steel Twist Chain in Antique Bronze
I’ve been wanting to get more chain in larger sizes as everything in my collection is rather delicate. So this made me happy. See some in use below.
32 Pieces 8 x 5 mm Chinese Crystal Rondelle in Satin Lemon Chiffon
This is a fairly neutral color. We received so many different Chinese crystal beads that I lose track of which ones made it into my necklace or not, but it was great to be able to pick and choose exactly the right sizes and shades from among the box contents.
30 Pieces 6 x 4 mm Chinese Crystal Rondelle in Ice Blue Satin
These had a nice blue/gray thing going on that worked well with the oranges/reds and peach/yellow tone beads. I would not have thought to include this color in the batch but it ended up coordinating nicely.
15 Pieces 5 x 3 mm Chinese Crystal Teardrop Beads in Dark Magma
These are pretty tiny and dainty. I think I will make them dangles in some earrings; they are a great size and weight for that.
2 Sets Toggle Clasps with Matching Charm
You’ll always get some clasps with this subscription and toggle clasps are pretty common here (sometimes you’ll get hook and eye instead). These are fun because of the little charms that come with them. See one in use below.
48 Pieces 6 x 5 mm Frosted Multi Iris Metallic Glass Rondelle Beads
These stand out a bit because they’re a different style from most of the faceted beads we received this month. I think I might seek out some similarly-colored beads with different finishes to use with these.
30 Pieces 6 mm Glass Window Beads in Slate Blue with Rainbow Iris
I love how the light hits the little windows/facets (it even showed up in the picture, some). I haven’t used these yet but they’re definitely going into a piece meant to catch the light, probably with lots of silvers and white or crystal with AB coating.
18 Pieces 21 mm Feather Charms
Aha, enough charms to actually make a charm bracelet! I am thinking of using these with some homemade headpins with wire coils and maybe a few beads for color. They’d go well with the chain you see up above.
32 Pieces 8 x 5 mm Chinese Crystal Rondelle in Satin Peach
32 Pieces 8 x 5 mm Chinese Crystal Rondelle in Satin Thunder
I’m going to talk about these together since they’re the same type of bead, just in different colors. I love the look of the facets in both of these and you can see that the hole size is also fairly generous, which opens up some additional design possibilities. (In general, Bargain Bead Box is great for sending Chinese crystal. It’s not quite up to the same quality standards as Swarovski, but it can look nice and won’t break the bank.)
12 Pieces 8 mm Banded Chinese Crystal Bicones in Golden Shade
I love the combination of shiny and matte here. These might look good with the window beads from up above, due to how they catch the light.
20 Pieces 10 mm Chinese Crystal Round Beads in Magma AB
I used a lot of these in my necklace. I thought the non-traditional facet shapes (which showed up really well in the photo above) were a fun touch.
30 Pieces 6 x 4 mm Chinese Crystal Rondelle Beads in Dark Magma AB
Another great size and shape of Chinese crystal. I’m not often into plain stringing, but if I was, there are some wonderful possibilities this month using all the Chinese crystal.
15” Strand 8 mm Dragon Veins Agate Round Beads, Frosted
I used a bunch of these too. You don’t often get semiprecious stones with this subscription, but when you do, they always are a bit off the beaten path (and I mean that in a good way – I think these are fun and unique). I still have enough left over for earrings if I want to go that route, too.
There were so many great, large beads this month, they were just calling out for me to do a bib-style necklace. I got to use some of the chain and one of the clasps, too. This took a bit of trial and error to finish up but I think it turned out well!
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Bargain Bead Box, as explained above. But, if I counted correctly, you’re paying less than $1 per item, and I think if you could find these exact beads on sale elsewhere, you’d pay a lot more than $1 each. As usual, the colors went together very well and I appreciate getting some findings and metal components with a matching finish.
Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, etc.
What did you think of the August 2017 Bargain Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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