Darn Good Beads of the Month is a monthly subscription for jewelry makers from Darn Good Yarn. (You don’t have to be able to knit or crochet for this subscription!) Every month you’ll receive materials to complete a quick beading project. You will need some basic tools of your own (pliers, crimping pliers, glue) but they provide all the findings, beads, and stringing materials!
In addition to their Bead of the Month Club, Darn Good Yarn also offers a Yarn of the Month Club, Fabric of the Month Club, and Sock of the Month Club.
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 Darn Good Beads of the Month
The Subscription Box: Darn Good Beads of the Month
The Cost: $20/month plus shipping
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 15% off your first order when you sign up for the newsletter. No coupon needed - just use this link.
The Products: Materials and instructions to complete one beading/jewelry-making project.
Ships to: The continental U.S. for $4; Hawaii, Alaska, U.S. territories, and international for $13
Note: this is (I think) the January box and it did arrive late, but Darn Good Beads communicated the delay to subscribers and they are not falling further behind as other boxes tend to do. I’ve received the February box by now as well (in fact it arrived shortly after).
Darn Good Beads of the Month Vibrant Spectrum Necklace Review
I’ve been receiving Darn Good Beads of the Month for quite a while now. I expect to get a simple project with instructions that will be easy to complete in under an hour or two, but the projects have been pretty varied.
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Every box comes with an instruction booklet. This one was pretty complete. I didn’t notice any errors, although I didn’t read all the instructions in detail because it wasn’t really necessary to do so to complete the projects. The booklet also contains information about some of their other subscriptions.
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Vibrant Spectrum Necklace
This month’s project looked interesting. I don’t typically think to use leather (or synthetic leather, and I’m not sure which it is here although I noted there was no odd smell to the material) with gemstones.
You start by cutting the leather in two, wrapping it around the connectors (which seem to be the loops from toggle clasps, and I think this is an innovative way to use these components), stringing it through the metal tubes, and knotting it. I like this technique a lot and will probably use it in the future if I can find the toggle rings for sale without the corresponding toggle bars and some similar tubes. Note: this leather – or faux-leather – knotted well and I don’t believe glue is needed.
Next, you attach jump rings and a clasp. If you subscribe to this box and have not yet done this project, I would suggest holding off on this step until the end. This necklace turned out really, really long, and you may find that you want a shorter necklace. An adjustment would be easiest at this step, as you can just cut the leather off before connecting it to the jump rings.
Moving on. Next is an absolute wall of text with no line breaks telling you how to make the gemstone elements. I mostly used the pictures as a guide as I really struggle with instructions that abbreviate everything with letters and have the key to the letters on a different page (separating the beads into piles in alphabetical order helped a lot). Also, once you get to the halfway point, everything is a mirror image of the first half, so you can just look back at what you’ve done instead of reading the directions further.
So I strung beads on my eye pins and laid them out in order, then cut off excess wire and made rounded loops on the opposite ends of the eye pins. Then I strung them all together and connected them to the prepared leather/finding strips. And that’s pretty much it.
For this project, you will need scissors (they don’t need to be great, I used the pair I open packages with), round nose pliers, jewelry wire cutters, and whatever type of pliers you prefer for opening and closing jump rings (I usually just use round nose if they are handy and bent chain nose in the other hand). This is a good beginner project as you will get a lot of practice making loops.
Please note, I do not know what gemstone these beads are. The yellow/orange ones are a different type of stone than the rest. The other colors are either some form of dyed magnesite or impression jasper (also known as sea sediment jasper, it is not a true jasper but appears to be a trade name for some kind of composite material) as best as I can tell.
Here is the finished necklace:
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Darn Good Beads of the Month because the materials were unbranded and not labeled. This was a quick project to complete that was low on frustration. This one would be great for beginners and you really only need a basic toolset (pretty much any set of 4+ pairs of pliers with cutters would work, whether you get fancy-looking ones or a cheap set on Amazon). The only suggestion for improvement I would make is to add the jump rings and the clasp at the end, as that will allow you more control over the eventual length of your necklace; some people may like long necklaces but some may prefer a shorter design, and either would be possible with the provided materials. I learned some fun techniques and non-traditional ways of using components like toggle rings, and the findings seemed to be good quality this month.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you’ll most likely receive the March or April box. More from Darn Good Beads:
If you place your order by the 1st, then your box will ship on the 20th (or the next business day during weekends). If you place your order after the 1st, then your box will ship the next month.
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 15% off your first order when you sign up for the newsletter. No coupon needed - just use this link.
Check out my past reviews of Darn Good Beads of the Month and see 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 Vibrant Spectrum Necklace from Darn Good Beads of the Month? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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