BeadCrate Subscription Box Review – October 2017

BeadCrate is a monthly subscription box for beading enthusiasts. Choose from “The Enthusiast” for $15.99 a month or “The Collector” for $35 a month. You can also buy a single box to see if this subscription is for you.

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 Enthusiast, $15.99 a month, box. 

The Subscription Box: BeadCrate

The Cost: “The Enthusiast” for $15.99 a month or "The Collector" for $35 a month. Save with longer subscriptions.

The Products: A selection of beads curated around a monthly theme (or beads that are just cool and random)

Ships to: U.S. (free for “The Collector” and $5 for “The Enthusiast”)

Check out all my BeadCrate reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory for more great beading, craft supply, and DIY project boxes.

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

This letter/information sheet accompanied the shipment. The theme this month was “Scaredy Cat.”

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!

12 x 10 mm Glow in the Dark/Topaz Flattened Ovals (2, Czech glass)

Every once in awhile I get some glow in the dark beads. Usually not very many. I’m never sure what to do with them but perhaps if I save them all up, I can make a whole bracelet or something?

22 x 17 mm Howlite Skull (1)

Various colors were possible. Mine was green. In keeping with the Halloween spirit of this box, I did use this bead in a necklace this month (see below). This is cutesy enough that I like it (I like cute Halloween stuff, not scary Halloween stuff).

3 x 10 mm Matte Jet Daggers (25, Czech glass)

These are the smaller daggers (Czech glass daggers come in two sizes). I used them to make a pendant this month, which you will see below. These have only one hole and can be used as petals in flower-style designs, which is what I always think of first.

6 mm Hyacinth Faceted Rounds (20, Czech glass)

You’ll usually get a couple of types of firepolished glass beads with this subscription. They’re great accent beads and this color is particularly appropriate for the season (though these would also work for summer designs, I think).

12 x 26 mm Tierracast Zombie Charm (1, brass)

You’ll see a little Tierracast in this subscription. If you’re not familiar with the brand, they make a lot of charms, buttons, and then supplies for riveting/setting eyelets in leather (that can also be used in metal). They rarely go on sale with a significant discount so this is a chance to test out the quality. I am growing a little collection of Halloween-themed charms (I have some cats and owls, too) and I think this guy will go in a bracelet with those.

14 x 4 mm Matte Amethyst Long Tubes (25, Czech glass)

This is a shape I don’t have much of in my collection, but it fits right into my usual color palette (copper with accents of teal, olivine, and some purples and pinks). I think these might look good with some copper chain in a simple multi-strand necklace.

13 mm Tortoise Cat Faces (2, Czech glass)

As you may know from reading my other reviews, I am a crazy cat lady. So these are perfect for me. I haven’t decided how to use them yet but my guess is they will end up as some kitty earrings.

4 mm Topaz Druks (50, Czech glass)

You’ll almost always get some 4 mm druks with this subscription (or at least, it seems that way lately). This is fine by me. I am hoarding this type of bead. There are a lot of patterns calling for these and by stocking up now, I will always have what I need in a complementary color for the other beads I plan to use.

Miyuki 10/0 Triangle Apparition Mix (8g, Japanese glass)

Instead of rocaille-style seed beads this month, we got some of these small triangles with a mixture of glass colors and hole-lining colors. I don’t have any others in this size (though I do have a lot of triangles, just bigger). I seem to remember seeing a pattern in a book that called for these so now maybe I can make that pattern (assuming I can find it again – my living room is littered with beading books).

6 mm Jet Renaissance Firepolished Beads (25, Czech glass)

More firepolished beads. However, these are interesting because they have a slightly different cut and shape than what you usually get, so the faceting is also somewhat different. I feel like these have a little bit of sparkle even though they are opaque.

4 mm Amethyst Firepolished Beads (25, Czech glass)

I’m never going to be sad to receive 4 mm firepolished beads. They can substitute for the 4 mm druks in a lot of patterns and add a bit more sparkle. Plus, this is a color I can definitely use – there are a lot of purples in my collection already.

5 mm Milky Caramel Round Melons (50, Czech glass)

You can’t really see the melon shape in the photo (“melon” as it refers to beads involves fluted outside surfaces, usually on round beads). What I like here is that (1) I don’t really have anything else like this already and (2) there are a lot of these so you could use them in a necklace instead of just a bracelet (don’t get me wrong, I like bracelets, but I feel like I make an awful lot of them!).

Here is a necklace I made using some of the beads from the box. I’m showing it farther out here so you can see the length.

Here is a closer view. Please pardon the messy tassel but I am not yet very good at making tassels and this was probably the wrong type of cord to do it with. You can see the skull bead here.

And here is a pendant centerpiece I made with the daggers (the smaller ring of black daggers around the center, not the outer beads, which I think are thorns) and there are some of the triangle beads in the back. I am not sharing a link to the pattern because it was expensive and unclear and didn’t work right and I had to make a bunch of modifications to hold the rivoli (center stone) in place. In the end, it was also very floppy and I had to glue it to a piece of cardboard to keep it from folding over on itself.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for BeadCrate, as explained above in my note about prices. If you divide the cost of the box plus shipping by the number of items, you get about $1.33 per item. The Halloween theme was fun and it gave you options – you could go all out with glow in the dark, skulls, cats, and the zombie charm, or you could use the color palette provided for inspiration and make something that doesn’t obviously scream “Halloween.”

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 October 2017 BeadCrate? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?