Blueberry Cove Beads Subscription Box Review – April 2019

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.)

About Blueberry Cove Beads

The Subscription Box: Blueberry Cove Beads

The Products: A curated selection of beads and findings centered on a theme.

The Cost: $27 ($22 for the subscription + $5 shipping)

Ships to: the US and Canada

Blueberry Cove Beads April 2019 Review

Blueberry Cove Beads shipments always center around a theme. This month’s theme was “Rustic Vintage”:

There isn’t a traditional information card with this box (i.e., you don’t get an item list). The card typically contains a photo or piece of art on one side and information about the theme on the other.

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.

Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings. Also, note that you will receive this towards the end of the month if you live in the US since it is shipping from Canada.

(Blueberry Cove Beads uses the Chitchats shipping service so now you can track your packages, though!)

Ceramic Stars

These have big enough holes, I feel like I should string them on some leather cord, maybe with brass accent beads in between. I think they’re a really good size to go on a bracelet.

Rounds with Painted Roses

These appealed to me this month and I knew I wanted to use some of them in a bracelet. I just kept going back and forth about how I wanted to use them. In the end, I made the same bracelet using them in two different color schemes.

Wooden Rounds

I don’t know what kind of wood these are, but I guess it doesn’t matter. They are lightweight and I did use some of them in a bracelet this month.

Chinese Crystal Bicones, Teal AB

I’m just guessing at the color names here. By quality, I’d definitely say this is Chinese crystal (I’ve bought a lot of crystal lately, Czech and Chinese and actual Swarovski, so I’ve looked at the different types closely). Anyway, with Chinese crystal, there aren’t super official color names like there are with Swarovski. These are great accent beads and could even be used in a beadweaving pattern if you wanted.

Key Charms, Oxidized Brass Finish

You’ll often get a few charms in Blueberry Cove Beads. All of the charms in a shipment don’t necessarily come in matching metal tones, so just be forewarned. This finish is good for a theme called “Rustic Vintage” because the oxidizing makes it look older (brass will take on a similar finish if left exposed to air for a long time). There are enough of these to make a charm bracelet (and they are a good size for that, too).

Large Matte Rounds

I don’t know what these are made of, but they are quite large and are very interesting. (I wish there was a real information card for this subscription, even if it was emailed. Apparently right now the information is in a Facebook group, which I have no access to since I refuse to start a Facebook account). I think they might make nice accent beads on either side of a pendant in a simple necklace.

Toggle Clasps, Antique Gold Finish

You don’t often receive clasps in this subscription. These are rather large toggles, so they’d be great for securing a heavier necklace. The pieces I made this month didn’t require clasps so I still have these left over for another project later on down the road.

Yellow Ceramic Ovals

These are also relatively large-hole beads (not large enough for Pandora bracelets and the like, but large for people like me who are used to working with Fireline for stringing material). I think these would also work on a leather cord, perhaps with a middle brass bead or pendant.

Chinese Crystal Rondelles, Clear

This is a handy shape, and one that often gets overlooked (I get waaaaay more bicones than I do rondelles). These are wonderful just as simple spacers, but they also have lots of surface texture of their own.

Spacer Beads, Oxidized Brass Finish

These do match the key charms, but would also work well on their own. They have large enough holes for thicker stringing material (that seems to be a common theme this month). I have absolutely a ton of stuff in my collection that matches these so I am going to think for a while about how best to use them.

Glass (Resin?) Cabochons

I do want to get into working with cabochons more, but I feel like they are best used in bead embroidery (requires a backing and a lot of seed beads), so I will hang onto these until such time as I have the materials for bead embroidery. (You could also glue them into a setting.)

Black Glass Rounds

Here is another strand of accent beads. These have very smooth surfaces. I used some of these in a bracelet this month. Maybe not the most creative thing ever, though.

I wanted to make some multistrand bracelets using the rose beads, but I didn’t have quite the findings I wanted, so I tried using memory wire. I also couldn’t decide whether to go with wood and teal crystal accents, or black with clear crystal accents, so I tried both. (These would not be worn together. I just think it is interesting how you can make basically the same bracelet with different beads and it turns out looking totally different.)

Verdict: I did not calculate a value here because it is hard to find similar items when you don’t know the precise materials the beads are made from (I do wish there was more information on the card that comes with the box, in case I find something I’d like to order more of). There were 12 items (if I counted right) so you are paying about $2.25 an item once you factor in the cost of shipping. I rather like the idea of making vintage-looking jewelry with newer materials, rather than paying the full vintage retail price.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, your first box would come in May. However, sometimes leftover monthly boxes show up in the Blueberry Cove Beads shop and they occasionally have sales, too!

Value Breakdown: At $27 for this box, including shipping, you are paying about $2.25 per item.

Check out more Blueberry Cove Beads reviews, and our favorite Arts and Crafts boxes!

Keep track of your subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

What did you think of the April 2019 Blueberry Cove Beads? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?