BeadCrate Subscription Box Review – January 2017

BeadCrate is a monthly subscription box for beading enthusiasts. Choose from “The Hobbyist” for $7.99 a month, “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 Hobbyist” for $7.99 a month, “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,” $5 for “The Enthusiast,” and $4 for “The Hobbyist”)

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 “Champagne.”

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!

Toho 11/0 Transparent Lustered Topaz Seed Beads (Japanese, 18g)

I love working with seed beads and have actually been doing it a lot lately. I just don’t usually do seed bead projects for subscription boxes because they can take a long time and I want to make something you can see before the end of the month! I like this color a lot and 11/0 is still my favorite size.

6 mm Honeycomb 2-Hole Beads in Crystal Beige Luster (Czech, 30)

I have this obsession with the new Czech shapes, especially the 2-hole ones. I actually had just bought a bunch of other honeycomb beads and am excited to add these to my collection.

14 mm Transparent Potter’s Clay Cushion Rounds (Czech, 4)

I like flat shapes and these are a color that appeals to me. I used them all in my necklace (see below).

Nymo Size B Bobbin in “Champagne” (72 yards)

Nymo is still my favorite beading thread (have tried a lot of others recently), so this is welcome.

Here is a better view of the color of Nymo thread I received.

4 mm Transparent Champagne Luster Faceted Rounds (Czech, 50)

I have a lot of 4 mm firepolished rounds from Dollar Bead Bag, but I am always happy to get more since they are so easy to use as accent beads (and usually are affordable, as well).

5 x 6 mm Freshwater Champagne Dyed Coin Pearls (5)

I haven’t used freshwater pearls much lately (mostly because I only just found a massive stash of them in my craft closet; I’d been hesitant to buy more because I just *knew* I had some, somewhere). But I like the shape of these and the color isn’t quite like anything in my collection.

9 x 7 mm Silver/Pink/Crystal Flattened Ovals (Czech, 25)

These are a little outside the golden color scheme of the rest of the beads, but I found them to be good for a pop of contrasting color.

3 mm Champagne Faceted Rounds (Czech, 50)

Another nice basic bead that integrates well into this month’s collection.

3 mm Topaz Druks (Czech, 50)

Druks are a different take on accent beads since they don’t have any facets. I think they provide an interesting textural contrast with the faceted firepolished beads from this month’s collection.

6 mm Crystal Rounds (Czech, 50)

“Crystal” refers to the color here; these are basically larger druks. But these will go with pretty much anything else so they are definitely handy.

9 x 6 mm Rosaline Vertical Hole Tear Drop (Czech, 25)

I much prefer vertical hole teardrop beads to top-drilled ones. They are just easier for me to use. Anyway, I only have one of these left after making this month’s project.

8 mm Light Topaz Faceted Rounds (Czech, 25)

This was another favorite for the month. Small faceted rounds are useful, but large ones are also fun. And 8 mm is about my preferred upper limit when it comes to bead size.

Here is a necklace I made using a lot of beads from the month. It is kind of similar to last month’s necklace but I liked the way that one turned out and wanted to do some more experimentation. I need to work on the weighting for the clusters a bit, but overall I like the result, and I’m happy with the choice of brass-finished chain and findings with these colors.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for BeadCrate, as explained above in my note about prices. Even with shipping, the value is under $2 per item. BeadCrate lists a retail value of about $32.28 for the box contents and I can believe that (I may have been doing a lot of bead shopping lately). The colors this month really fit well with the theme. I don’t often work with yellow tones so I appreciated getting outside my comfort zone a bit, as well.

Please note that no directions are given and you typically have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings.

What did you think of the January 2017 BeadCrate? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?