Bargain Bead Box is a monthly subscription promising over $40 worth of quality jewelry-making supplies every month.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
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
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There was a letter in the box with some more information on the theme (“Plumage”). 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!
20 Pieces 10mm Fancy Cone Bead Caps
You’ll usually get some bead caps with this subscription. I never used to use bead caps, but now that I get them in this box, I use them all the time. (The nice thing about Bargain Bead Box is that the metal tone of all the findings color coordinates, so these will go with the clasps, pendants, etc.) These can fit beads a little smaller than 10 mm in addition to 10 mm beads, so they are versatile.
89 x 18 mm Feather 5-Hole Focal Component
You’ll also usually get some larger pendants or focals with this subscription. I am probably going to make some chain out of headpins with beads on them and then add a few dangles to make a necklace using this. I might try to make something like feathers out of seed beads to go with this. We will see.
110 Pieces Sapphire AB Chinese Crystal Bicones
There were a lot of Chinese crystals this month. (Chinese crystals are not quite up to the same quality standards as Swarovski, but they still look pretty good and are much more economical.) These were super sparkly; if you scroll down, you can see them in a necklace I made.
48 Pieces 6 x 4 mm Royal Blue Half Plated Chinese Crystal Rondelles
More Chinese crystals! These are not as sparkly as the previous ones since they lack an AB coating, but I don’t think I have seen this “half plated” style before and I like it. It is also nice to get a couple of different shapes (i.e., rondelles in addition to bicones).
3 Sets 24 x 26 mm Fancy Wavy Oval Toggle Clasps
This subscription always sends you a few clasps, usually hook and eye or toggle clasps that are more suited to necklaces. I used one of these in a necklace this month but I have a few left for other projects.
148 Pieces 4 x 3 mm Copper Plated Chinese Crystal Rondelles
Even more crystals! I haven’t used these yet but I have been looking for ideas online and I’ve seen a few things I want to try to replicate. Should be easy to make something pretty with so many of these to work with.
53 mm Feather Pendant
Here is a single feather pendant if something simpler is your style (compared to the previous one). This would work with some chain or you could do simple stringing to make a piece for layering.
12 Pieces 29 mm Feather Charms
These tie in nicely with the other feather elements this month, or you could go a different direction and use them in a Southwestern-style piece. These are small enough for earrings or a charm bracelet if you are so inclined.
16” Strand 10mm Synthetic Chrysocolla Beads
Semiprecious stones are rare in subscription boxes (though semiprecious-only subscriptions exist), as they are just very expensive. These are synthetic, but they are still pretty, and they do a decent job of mimicking real chrysocolla (I looked at some pictures). They also go really well with the glass and crystal colors this month.
110 Pieces Teal AB Chinese Crystal Bicones
Here are some bicones in the second of three colors for the month. I enjoyed getting three colors of the same item as it opened up some beadweaving design possibilities for me (I am not much for simple stringing, to be honest).
48 Pieces 6 x 4 mm Emerald Half Plated Chinese Crystal Rondelles
Here are some more half-plated rondelles. These would look good with the blue ones from up above and I am happy to have this type of bead in a second color.
6 Pieces 16mm Chinese Crystal Oval Beads in Peacock Vitrail
I used these to connect the two strands of right-angle weave I used in my necklace this month. Sometimes it is a challenge for me to think of ways to use like 5 or 6 matching beads, but what I tried this month worked really well, so I have a new strategy for small numbers of beads like this going into the future.
39.5 mm Silver Plated Brass Peacock Pendant
Here is the last focal for the month. It is fun to get an actual peacock pendant to go along with all the peacock colors we received this month!
110 Pieces Amethyst AB Chinese Crystal Bicones
Here is the third bicone color. The purple, teal, and blue all looked great together this month and the AB coatings made them super sparkly. I have very few of these left now.
14” Strand 6mm Metallic Purple Iris Glass Beads
More shiny stuff! These would be great as the centers of flower motifs along with some shaped beads, or just in a chunky bracelet.
3 Pieces 29mm Fancy Linking Ring Component
I have lately been wanting to try bead embroidery with donut-shaped components and I think these would be great to start with since they are relatively flat and have some detail to add interest to the flat metal parts.
50 Pieces 6.5 mm Daisy Spacer Beads
These would be wonderful in some strung bracelets or necklaces, or maybe a few could be added to earrings since they are relatively lightweight. Certainly a useful thing to have in my stash.
I had about 7 ideas for the items in this box, but the first 6 or so didn’t end up working out for one reason or another. (That happens sometimes.) However, I like what I eventually came up with. The photographs don’t capture how sparkly this is in person. I used each color of bicone in two strips a right-angle weave pattern (along with some silvertone seed beads I had on hand) and added in a few silver plated beads with loops from my stash. Then I used the loop beads to connect the two strips. I also used one of the clasps from the box in the back.
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Bargain Bead Box, as explained above. The information sheet gives a retail value of about $57 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 a little under $1 per item since the price is $15.95 and there were 17 items this month. And THAT is a pretty good deal. The colors definitely appealed to me this month, as did all the sparkling stuff.
Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, etc.
What did you think of the November 2017 Bargain Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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