Dollar Bead Box Subscription Box Review – August 2017

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 full Dollar Bead Box, which is $19.50 a month. 

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: U.S.

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!

You’ll always get a brief letter and an item list from Dollar Bead Box.

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!

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

21 x 22 mm Pewter Connector in Antique Brass (2)

I know people typically think of earrings with these types of findings, but I have been really into using these as necklace components lately. See below for a close-up of how I used them.

12 x 40 mm Pewter Keys in Antique Brass (2)

I am collecting a lot of key charms like this lately in different metal finishes. I am going to have to use them all in one piece, one of these days. (Sometimes I like to do mixed metal things with jewelry.)

15 mm Brass Sterling Silver Plated Toggle (1)

This is a fancy-looking clasp. Much nicer than the ones I usually buy for myself. I will be saving it for a special occasion. I think it will look nice with a geometric design.

10.3 x 10 mm Swarovski Heart in Indian Pink (2)

There’s usually a little Swarovski in Dollar Bead Box. I’m always happy to get it because I never want to pay for it on its own. I am debating whether to use these in a charm bracelet with other hearts or in earrings.

25 x 18 mm Hand Painted Chinese Porcelain Hex Oval

This isn’t blurry, it just looks like that in real life. Although this is porcelain, the color scheme makes me think it will look good with some natural materials like wood and stone.

17 x 32 mm Pewter Cross in Antique Brass

I’m not much into jewelry with religious imagery but I have some relatives who are, so I know this will be put to good use in a gift. (You will occasionally get a cross or Buddha head or something similar in this box.)

6 mm Czech Fire Polished Beads in Crystal (20)

I’m not sure how I’ll use these yet, but the thing about clear/crystal glass beads is, it’s good to keep them around because you never know when you’ll need them and they have the potential to be useful in just about any project.

6 mm Czech Glass Cathedral Cut Beads in Matte Crystal (20)

Here is a slightly different take on crystal beads. I think these will look good with some silver and light blue beads. Maybe I can work them into a pendant with a blue rivoli if I can find the right pattern.

10 x 19 mm Czech Glass Heart in Matte Pink Opal with Gold Wash (2)

Here are a couple more hearts. If I go with the charm bracelet idea I mentioned above with respect to the other hearts, I could add these for some variety in style. Alternatively, they could be good in a different pair of earrings or on either side of a larger pendant in a necklace.

4 mm MC Sun Cut Beads in French Rosaline (24)

I like to keep a variety of 4 mm beads around. I have a lot of bead books and magazines and sometimes I buy patterns online, and a lot of them call for various 4 mm beads. These are a color that will go really well with other items in my stash (I tend to stick to a specific color palette) so I know they will get used soon.

6 mm Czech Glass Bicone in Jet (25)

I used all of these in a necklace. I thought they provided an interesting contrast in shape and color from some of the glass rounds I also used.

5 x 10 mm Czech Glass Teardrop (24-25)

These are an unusual shape but I have seen some patterns that use these lately and I think they will look nice with either the greens or the pinks and purples in my stash. The finish is a little different from my usual choices but I think the contrast will be fun.

Czech Glass Autumn Mix with Vintage Bronze Luster

This is an odd little mix but I think a number of the smaller beads will go nicely together, maybe with some seed beads on memory wire, or in some asymmetric earrings.

8 mm Czech Glass Druk in Opaque Purple (25)

I used every last one of these in my necklace this month (see below). I think they looked nice with an antique brass finish, the black bicones, and the chartreuse druks. (Druks are just round Czech glass beads in any size or color.)

3 mm Czech Glass Druk in Chartreuse (50)

This is a color I typically stay away from (I just don’t look good in it) but I challenged myself to use it and found it to look rather nice with the purple druks. See a picture of what I made below!

Here is a necklace I made with the purple rounds, the green rounds, the black bicones, and some of the brass (as well as some chain from past Dollar Bead Boxes). It didn’t turn out quite how I expected, but I like the result. I found that it worked much better at choker length.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the August 2017 Dollar Bead Box, for reasons explained above. There were 15 items so if you divide the cost of the box by the number of items, it is about $1.30 per item. Sometimes the assortment of items in this box is a bit of a challenge to use together, but I managed to come up with something incorporating four of them. I saved the rest for other projects, but one thing I have noticed about Dollar Bead Box is that in future months and/or with other bead subscriptions, I will often reach for a previous Dollar Bead Box item to finish a piece of jewelry, so it is actually a nice stash-building subscription.

What did you think of the August 2017 Dollar Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?