BeadCrate is a monthly subscription box for beading enthusiasts. They offer “The Enthusiast” for $18.99 a month + $5 shipping and “The Collector” for $35 a month + free shipping. You can also buy a single box to see if this subscription is for you.
This is a review of “The Enthusiast,” which is $18.99/month + $5 shipping.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About BeadCrate
The Subscription Box: BeadCrate
The Cost: $18.99 a month + $5 shipping. 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: The US (free for “The Collector,” $5 for “The Enthusiast”)
BeadCrate October 2020 Review
BeadCrate is great for stash-building if you are into seed beads and Czech glass, and you’ll also often get some useful supplies:
This letter/information sheet accompanied the shipment. This month's theme is "Nebula."
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.
On to the items:
3mm Sapphire AB Druks (Czech glass, 50)
You'll usually get a few nice basics for this subscription. I happened to find a free pattern this month (link down in the project area) that needed 3mm druks so these came in handy. I like how the AB coating enhances the basic blue base color of the glass.
8mm Gold/Crystal AB Rhinestone Balls (Czech rhinestones, 3)
I like rhinestones. I used these to make a simple pair of earrings and now I am not sure what to do with the third one but I will think of something. You can see the earrings below.
24x16mm Milky White Puffed Ovals (Czech glass, 2)
I often find it a bit challenging to use larger beads like this, but I thought they looked nice with the rhinestone balls so I used them in my earrings as well. They're big but honestly not that heavy.
9mm Nebula Mix Moon Faces (Czech glass, 8)
I have this weird hang-up about not making jewelry with human-looking faces, but these are stylized enough that they don't really bother me. I am not sure what I will do with them yet but one way to get ideas is to do a Google image search with some keywords that relate to the beads in question. (Don't copy anyone else's idea directly but use their images as a springboard for your own designs!)
2.125" Large Eye Needle (Beadsmith, 1)
I have a couple of these because you can get them as a free gift with purchase from Red Panda Beads. And I buy from there at least once a month. You can see it in use in the project images below (including a demonstration of the big eye), although needles like this aren't the best for designs that include a lot of passes through the same seed bead, especially not in combination with a thicker thread.
Needle Threaders with Cutter (Beadsmith, 2)
This month was heavy on the supplies. These are your standard style needle threaders with the little wire loop. I'm glad to get them because I lost the one I was using, but also, these are better quality than the free ones that come with some beading needles. And they have little thread cutters, too. (I've left them in the package for now because having them free-floating around my mess of a beading area is a surefire way to lose these in addition to the one I have already lost.)
6mm Dark Bronze AB 2-Hole Tile (Czech glass, 30)
I love 2-hole beads. I feel like the tiles have been around for quite a long time and, as a result, are available in more interesting color combinations than some of the other shapes. The pattern I found for this month also used these; you can see what I did below.
7x6mm Montana Blue Table Cut Diamonds (Czech glass, 10)
These are cute little accent beads. I think they would look nice with some brass. I can probably find some other Montana blue beads in my stash to use with them as well. I think this shape is a little more interesting than plain firepolished rounds.
6mm Firepolished Rounds, Coated violet AB (Czech glass, 25)
But then again, I do like firepolished rounds, especially when they are this awesome color. (No, that's not sarcasm. I love this color. I am very into hot pink and purple lately.) These will be good to use in patterns and I have a lot of beads in my stash that will coordinate nicely.
6x6mm Jet AB Bicones (Czech glass, 50)
Lots of AB coating here. Between these and the druks and the firepolished rounds, you really get a sense of what the AB coating looks like on different base bead colors. These 6mm bicones can be used in place of 6mm crystal bicones in patterns if you want some softer lines and/or less faceting.
Toho 11/0 Transparent Rainbow Sapphire Seed Beads (Japanese glass, 10g)
You'll usually get some size 11/0 seed beads in this subscription (occasionally you'll get size 8/0 instead or something unusual like triangle beads or bugles). These were handy for the beadweaving pattern I found this month and the color went well with the druks.
7x11mm Nebula Mix UFOs (Czech glass, 10)
UFO beads don't get a lot of attention but I really like the mix of finishes here. Here is one free project using them, although you would need more than provided here to complete it. Of course, "UFO" beads are appropriate for a nebula-themed box!
S-Lon Royal Blue Size D Bead Cord (78 yards)
This is not a type of beading thread I use often (I am more of a Fireline gal) but I thought it would work well in this month's project because it had blue seed beads and druks along the outer edges, so hopefully the thread wouldn't show as much. That turned out to be right. Also, this is just a really pretty, vibrant color.
I made two projects this month since the first was simple.
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I took some gold-plated headpins, jump rings, and earwires from my stash. I made dangles out of the beads shown as well as the rhinestone balls and then attached them to the earwires. This was a pretty simple project:
Here is the second project I made; it's from a free pattern found here (Deb Roberti's Tile Bead Stacker).
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I started out using the big eye beading needle, which you can see "open" in the first picture. Essentially, the needle has an eye along almost its entire length, but you kind of have to slightly bend it or otherwise pull the two sides apart to get your thread in there. A few rounds in and I had to start using a Tulip #12 beading needle instead because it was thinner and easier to use for multiple passes through the same bead. Anyway, I kept all the tile beads in the same orientation so you get a reversible bracelet in the end:
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Verdict: I did not calculate a value for BeadCrate, as explained above in my note about prices. If you divide the cost of the box plus shipping by the number of items (I counted 13), you get about $1.84 per item. There were a lot of supplies this month (more than usual) but I thought they were all useful and I think the thread color is beautiful. My favorite items were the rhinestone balls and 6mm firepolished rounds but I got excited about a lot of the other items as well. (Maybe you have to be a beader to understand...) Anyway, this was a fun month and a novel theme!
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? Your subscription would likely start with the November or possibly December box. Destash items and excess inventory (and sometimes whole boxes) may occasionally be available in the BeadCrate Etsy shop.
Value Breakdown: At $23.99 for this subscription (counting shipping), you are paying about $1.84 per item.
Check out my past BeadCrate reviews and visit the Craft Subscription Box List for more great beading, craft supply, and DIY project boxes.
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What did you think of the October 2020 BeadCrate? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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