Bargain Bead Box is a monthly subscription promising over $40 worth of quality jewelry-making supplies every month.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Bargain Bead Box
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
Bargain Bead Box February 2018 "A Matter of Time" Review
Bargain Bead Box always includes a few clasps and other findings in matching metal tones; this month they were in an antique brass finish. Here’s more about the specific items in the box this month:
There was a letter in the box with some more information on the theme (“A Matter of Time”). 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!
48 Pieces 6 x 4 mm Chinese Crystal Rondelle Beads
I only realized when writing this review that they didn’t provide color names this month, so I am going to call these opaque aqua and leave off any discussion of finish. I have a lot of transparent crystal beads but few that are opaque, and these match a lot in my stash, so I am happy to see them.
6 Pieces 8 x 10 mm Cone Bead Caps
You’ll almost always get bead caps with this subscription. These are a little different from the usual ones, but they’re great for ending strands or gluing in cords, or you could use them as tassel caps.
100 Piece Strand 4mm Chinese Crystal Bicone Beads
I’ll call these “transparent peach” but I do think there is at least a partial AB coating. I used some of these in a project this month (see a few photos below).
100 Pieces 4mm Steel Spacer Beads
These are plated with an antiqued brass or some other yellow metal. They are simple but definitely useful and I also used a fair number of these in my project.
6 Pieces 17 x 9 mm Fancy Heart Lobster Claw Clasps
Yet another item I used in my project. You’ll usually get a few clasps with this subscription and these are different from the usual toggles. The ones I tried out worked just fine, too. (Side note: I love how the metal finish for all the metal beads, charms, and findings matches with this subscription within any given monthly shipment.)
24 Pieces 6mm Periwinkle Dyed Jade Round Beads
We’ve started getting more semiprecious stone beads with this subscription (it’s one of the only bead subscriptions to offer those regularly, in these amounts). These are a lovely purple/grey color that would look very nice with silver, I think.
24 Pieces Gold-Plated Mashan Jade Round Beads
I like the mottled appearance of these quite a lot. (They’re a bit bigger than the previous beads.) They would be great in a bracelet with some brass or gold beads and findings.
20 Pieces 8 x 6 mm Chinese Crystal Rondelle Beads
There were a lot of beads this month that I’d call “transparent peach.” These are a little bigger than some of the other rondelles. I like the possibility of using a bunch of similarly-colored beads in the same piece to add shape and textural interest while maintaining a simple color palette.
10 Pieces 10 mm Chinese Crystal Round Beads
More “transparent peach.” These are pretty big compared to the other beads for this month. I’m not sure how I will use them yet but I consider it a challenge and a chance to break outside my comfort zone, as I usually work with smaller beads.
10 Pieces 16 x 8 mm Fancy Links
I’ve been all about links and connectors lately so I was happy to see these. I might even go poking around the Bead Box Bargains website to see if I can find more.
10 Pieces 10 mm Porcelain Floral Round Beads
You may be wondering at the inclusion of purple flowers, but there are more purple beads in this shipment (see below). These go nicely with the rondelles, which are up next. I am never sure what to do with porcelain rounds so I am going to go look up some ideas, as I have a lot of others at home, as well.
96 Pieces 6 x 4 mm Chinese Crystal Rondelle Beads
This subscription always includes a lot of Chinese crystal. You’ve already seen the opaque aqua ones and all the transparent peach, but here is another coordinating color. I think these will end up in some right-angle weave work since there are enough of them to make something substantial.
16” Strand Rainbow-Plated Round Glass Beads
I think I’d probably use the word “coated” instead of “plated” but maybe there is something about these I don’t know. At any rate, they kind of remind me of soap bubbles. And glass rounds (in various sizes) are always useful for patterns.
5 Pieces 13 x 11 mm Ornate Rectangle Beads
These are pretty cool; they’re hollow metal beads not much bigger than one of my fingernails. This is another item I’d totally go looking for more of.
32 x 28 mm Watch Face with Jump Rings
Here is something I have never received in a bead subscription box before. And in case you were wondering, yes, it does work. I figured I had to use this in my project because it’s rare that you get such a unique item.
Here is a watch I made using the watch face, one of the clasps, the brass rounds, and the Chinese crystal bicones. I just did a two-row right-angle weave band to keep things simple.
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Bargain Bead Box, as explained above. The information sheet gives a retail value of about $49 and I can believe that value if you were to go out looking for similar beads to purchase individually. Looking at it another way, you are paying just over $1 per item since the price is $15.95 and there were 16 items this month. And THAT is a pretty good deal. The colors appealed to me more than I would have expected (I’m not usually into pastels) and I loved all the gemstone rounds.
Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, etc.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you would receive the March 2018 box as your first one, although they do sometimes offer past boxes on their site, and individual items can sometimes be purchased from Bead Box Bargains.
Value Breakdown: At $15.95 for this subscription, you are paying $1 per item.
Check out all of our Bargain Bead Box reviews the Craft Subscription Box Directory for more great beading, craft supply, and DIY project boxes!
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What did you think of the February 2018 Bargain Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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