Dollar Bead Bag Subscription Box Review – December 2016

Dollar Bead Box is a monthly delivery of beads and beading products. During a given month, reorder your favorite items from the Dollar Bead Box shop for just $1. (This deal is only available to subscribers.) 

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 $19.50 a month, Dollar Bead Box. 

The Subscription Box: Dollar Bead Box

The Cost: $19.50 + $4.50 shipping for the Dollar Bead Box or $8 for the Dollar Bead Bag (4 strands of 3 mm Czech Fire Polish Beads and 4 strands of 4 mm Czech Fire Polish Beads in every bag); free shipping with 3- and 6-month subscriptions (plus get an additional discount on 6-month subscriptions)

The Products: Beads and beading-related items including but not limited to stringing materials, Swarovski crystals, vintage glass, freshwater pearls, buttons, and more.

Ships to: US ($4.50 on a month-to-month subscription, free with longer subscriptions)

Check out all of our Dollar Bead Box reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory! 

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

The box included a letter reminding us that subscribers can buy more of the box items for $1 online. The back of the letter included a list of items in the box. There were three bonus items.  I’m not sure if mine were the same as everyone else’s, but they were the Swarovski cube, the toggle clasp, and the 2 Chinese crystal teardrops (mixed in among the images below).

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!

18” Antique Brass Chain

This is a bigger chain so it seems like it needs to go in a statement necklace rather than with something delicate. I am hanging onto it; there are a few possibilities in my stash for centerpieces and accent beads.

1 Antique Brass Toggle Clasp

I used this, this month, for my necklace.  You won’t see it because it’s in the back of the pictures, but it’s there.

12 Pewter Diamond Spacer in Antique Brass

I am rebuilding my collection of antique brass beads, having used most of them in previous months, so these will be nice accents.

Antique Brass Corrugated Spacer

I used a lot of these this month. I had beads with large hole sizes that I needed not to slide off eye pins, so I put these on either side. (See below.)

Chinese Crystal Butterfly

Chinese Crystal Flower

These are a bit big to be pendants for me (my tastes tend to be more delicate) but I think I will try to make some suncatchers with them; they seem perfect for that.

3 Vintage German Drops in Matte Opaque Purple

I love vintage beads! I got some faceted purple teardrops in a similar size in another bead box this month and I think they are calling out to be used together.

Hand Pressed Czech Tablecut Dragonfly Bead

My lighting conditions really don’t do justice to dark reds. This is maybe the size of a nickel and I think it will make a nice centerpiece for a bracelet.

3 8mm Preciosa Crystal Squaredelle in Crystal AB

I recently found all the white freshwater pearls I had squirreled away (been looking for awhile) and I think some of those will look lovely with these squares as spacers.

2 Chinese Crystal Teardrops in Green

I can’t decide whether to use these in earrings or on either side of a focal bead in a necklace. I’ve been collecting a lot of colors in this color family lately, though, so these will be useful.

8 6 x 8 mm Chinese Crystal Drops

I have a new seed bead book that uses a lot of beads like this as accents in its patterns so I think I am going to work them into a seed bead necklace. (Use tough thread if you try something similar so it doesn’t get cut by edges on the beads.)

1 Swarovski Crystal Cube

I love cube beads and I love faceted beads although I rarely buy Swarovski because of the cost. It is pretty, though!

35 Czech Glass Daisy Spacers

Spacers are always good. They can really help with a quick, single-stranded bracelet.

50 3 mm Czech Firepolished Beads in Light Sapphire AB

I’ve been collecting blues and greens lately and these will coordinate nicely.

50 3 mm Czech Firepolished Beads in Jonquille AB

I am determined to get my right-angle weave to work. I got a bargain book on RAW and used these in some beaded beads from one of the patterns there. (See below.)

50 4 mm Czech Firepolished Beads in Siam Half Copper

I used these along with the yellow ones above. I like how it turned out!

Cut Crystal Oval

This is lovely. I’m not sure how I am going to use it yet but I kind of like just looking at it. (I get like that with beads…)

Tassels in Peridot and Aqua

I am growing a collection of tassels. I can’t see myself in tassel jewelry but I am going to try to incorporate these in some sort of home décor wall-hanging.

Here is a necklace I made with some of the beads from this box. I used the jonquil firepolished beads, the siam firepolished beads, the corrugated spacers (look at the ends of each larger bead), and the clasp. The large rounds came from my stash (they’re vintage, so I elected not to polish them), as did the chain and seed beads.

A close-up of the beaded beads using the firepolished beads from this month. I like how these turned out. The brown beads are 15/0 and the clear beads are 11/0 (from my stash). I wanted to make more of these but each one used 20 of the yellow beads so I ran out after two. Protip – if the needle is hard to get through the bead hole, don’t push too hard or you will end up breaking the glass bead, with a part of it hitting you in the face (good thing I was wearing glasses…). And then you will have to start over again, too! I have ordered some size 15 beading needles and size AA thread for future attempts at similar pieces.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the December 2016 Dollar Bead Box, for reasons explained above. If you divide the total cost by the number of items, it’s only a little over $1 per item, which I think is fair. This box is great for stash-building and it also challenges my creativity because there isn’t necessarily a theme each month (it was nice to get all one metal finish this month, though!).

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 December 2016 Dollar Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?