Dollar Bead Bag is a smaller box from Dollar Bead Box, which delivers Czech fire-polished beads every month. During a given month, you can reorder your favorite items from the Dollar Bead 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 Dollar Bead Bag, which is $8.00 a month.
The Subscription Box: Dollar Bead Bag
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!
The bag included a list of items in the 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 could mean 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): Blue Zircon, Pink Opal, Opaque Turquoise, and Medium Violet
These are some nice, springy pastel colors. They actually go together pretty well. I didn’t have a pattern that used only 3mm beads so I chose a couple of strands to use in a pattern that called for both 3mm and 4mm beads. All of these go nicely with the color palette I’ve been working with lately so they will be great with lots of other things from my stash.
4 mm Czech Firepolished Beads in (from top to bottom): Garnet, Peridot Rainbow Iris, Alabaster White, and Beige Luster
The 4mm colors were a bit more of a mixed bag this month. I used some of the peridot and white ones in a bracelet along with some of the 3mm beads. I do like the beige luster a lot; I’ve been buying tons of Picasso and travertine finish beads lately so these are right up my alley.
This is a bracelet I made using a couple of different colors of both the 3mm and 4mm beads. It is a modification of Deb Roberti’s Tuscan Cuff bracelet pattern, which you can buy here for $4.50. (Sign up for her email list; sometimes she has pattern sales, too.) Normally I would not have done alternating colors in the motifs, but I didn’t have enough of any one color to complete the pattern. (This pattern is a good excuse for ordering more strands for $1 from the Dollar Bead Box shop, though.)
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the August 2017 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.
Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings.
What did you think of the August 2017 Dollar Bead Bag? Do you subscribe to any DIY beading or craft boxes?
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