Dollar Bead Bag is a smaller box from Dollar Bead Box and delivers Czech fire polished beads every month. During a given month, reorder your favorite items from Dollar Bead Bag shop for just $1. (This deal is only available to subscribers.)
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Dollar Bead Bag
The Subscription Box: Dollar Bead Bag
The Cost: $8 for the Dollar Bead Bag; free shipping with 3- and 6-month subscriptions (plus get an additional discount on 6-month subscriptions)
The Products: 4 strands of 3 mm Czech Fire Polished beads and 4 strands of 4 mm Czech Fire Polished Beads
Ships to: US
Dollar Bead Bag December 2018 Review
This is a subscription where you know what to expect every month, only the actual colors of the beads are unknown. The information card lists the color names for reordering purposes:
The bag included a list of items.
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!
3 mm Czech Firepolished Beads in (from top to bottom): Winter Blue, True Purple, Light Aqua Half Silver, and Matte Garnet
The winter blue and light aqua half silver are wintry colors to me, putting me in mind of ice and things half covered in snow. But I like the contrast with the jewel tones of purple and garnet (dark reds and purples don’t photograph well but I can assure you, these are quite pretty in person). I like to have a stash of various 3mm firepolished rounds ready to go as they are quite common in a variety of beading patterns.
4 mm Czech Firepolished Beads in (from top to bottom): Matte Evergreen, Turquoise Half Copper, Matte Tangerine, and Dark Topaz
I used the matte tangerine beads this month. I totally made something springlike and festive (see below), partly because I’m tired of cold weather and partly because those are the colors of Miyuki triangles I actually had available in the sizes called for in the pattern. Anyway, I am especially looking forward to doing something with the turquoise half copper beads but I think the others are great basics to have on hand as well.
Here is a pair of earrings I made using the matte tangerine 4mm beads. This is a free pattern from the Caravan Beads website, which you can find here. It also calls for Miyuki 8/0 and 10/0 triangle beads, size 11/0 seed beads (using Miyuki doesn’t seem to be critical here), earwires, and some 10mm soldered jump rings (links to all supplies are included in the pattern, or you can find them a lot of other places on your own – I had everything but the jump rings already).
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the December 2018 Dollar Bead Bag, for reasons explained above. This is one of those subscriptions where you know in advance what you are going to get each month (only the color is a surprise). It works out to $1 per strand, and I think that is reasonable. These strands are a little shorter than what you’d get at Fire Mountain Gems, for example, but the prices are also lower. This is a good subscription if you are looking to build your stash or you like to make things from beading patterns.
Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, but if there is a color that appeals to you, if you become a Dollar Bead Bag member, you can order items from the past two Dollar Bead Bags from the Dollar Bead Box shop for $1 each (plus shipping).
Value Breakdown: At $8.00 for this subscription, you are paying $1 per strand.
Check out all of our Dollar Bead Box reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory!
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What did you think of the December 2018 Dollar Bead Bag? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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