Dollar Bead Box Subscription Review – March 2017

Dollar Bead Box is a monthly delivery of beads and beading products. During a given month, reorder your favorite items from the Dollar Bead Box shop for just $1. (This deal is only available to subscribers.)

My helper, who was grabbing strands of beads in his teeth and trying to run off with them.

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 $19.50 a month, Dollar Bead Box. 

The Subscription Box: Dollar Bead Box

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!

Dollar Bead Box is undergoing some changes. They now operate a wholesale-type club where you can buy a yearly membership and buy unlimited items in their shop for $1 each (plus shipping), or you can gain access to their shop by being a Dollar Bead Box subscriber. They are adding to their inventory on a regular basis, including a lot of the new and popular Czech glass shapes I love. (I’d link to the shop but you have to be logged in to see anything other than the subscription there.)

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!

10 mm Pewter Baseball in Antique Silver Finish (2)

There were a lot of pairs of metal beads this month. I’ll be honest, at this time, anything even remotely related to baseball strikes fear into me (they are opening an MLB stadium within walking distance from my office for the 2017 baseball season and I am seriously worried about how my commute is going to change). So I am going to put these aside for now and then use them to make a gift at some point in the future.

10 mm German Style Hex Cut Beads in Opaque Blue (4)

I like German style glass this is an interesting, opaque color. These have a 1 mm hole and were just perfect for sliding over the leather cord that you will see a few photos down.

15 mm Magnesite Cross in Turquoise (2)

Really, many of the items this month were especially well-suited for slide-knot bracelets. These would be perfect in such an application. I have some orange beads in my stash that would provide a nice contrast.

12 mm Large Hole Brass Cat (2)

Of all the pairs of metal beads this month, I’ll bet you can guess which ones were my favorites. I used these to make a bracelet. You can see a little better view of them in one of the bracelet pictures below.

10 mm Chinese Silk Cord in Lavender (1 yard)

I’ve been looking for a good piece of cord or ribbon to use in a necklace with some lampworked glass foil beads I am hoarding. This might be just the thing.

2 mm Vegan Suede in Mocha Brown (1 yard)

I like to occasionally use suede or faux suede in wrap bracelets. I have a small collection on hand but none in this color, so this will be useful for at least a shorter bracelet.

1 mm Leather Cord (1 yard)

Good leather cord is hard to find, but this was easy to work with, knotted easily and held knots, and was easy to string beads onto. See it in use below.

12 x 13 mm Large Hole Fish in Antique Silver (2)

Here is another pair of large hole metal beads. These fit easily over even pretty thick cord (or use beads to either side to keep them in place). I like aquatic charms and beads so these will probably get used soon.

9 mm Czech Glass Potato Cut in Olive, Aqua, and White Opal (4)

More basic glass. I used several of these in a bracelet this month. They also fit over the 1 mm leather cord, for what it’s worth.

9 x 14 mm Czech Glass Vintage-Style Leaf Strand (in yellow, khaki, and white)

You’ll usually get a few strands of Czech glass in Dollar Bead Box. I always feel like I am lucking out with them, as they’re usually very nice quality and would cost a lot more from another source. I think I am going to try to use these as dangles in a bracelet or necklace (or possibly several matching pieces of jewelry).

6 mm Czech Firepolish in Jet Light Vitrail (25)

These are a bit larger than the firepolished beads we usually get, but some variation is good, I think. And this is a nice basic color that will look good in dressier pieces of jewelry.

4 mm Czech Glass Pellet in Bermuda Blue (25)

4 mm Czech Glass Pellet in Vitrail Medium (25)

Going to be honest, I don’t know that I’ve identified the colors correctly here. Oh well. Pellet beads are starting to show up in beading magazines so I’m excited to have some to work with.

7 x 11 mm Pewter Filigree Bead Cap in Antique Silver (4)

These are lovely bead caps. You could just use the ones you get to accent some other beads, or you could buy more in the Dollar Bead Box shop for something with a bit more silver. I’m undecided at this point – I’ll have to look through my stash and see if I have something that calls to me to be used with these or if I need to place an order (I think these would look good with blue or purple semiprecious rounds).

10 mm Large Hole Yin Yang in Antique Copper (2)

Here is the final pair of metal large-hole beads. Again, these would work on 2 mm cord or with beads to either side on smaller cord. I like the bare copper finish here; I think it’s more subtle than black and white paint or enamel or some such.

So this is not the most elaborate piece of jewelry I’ve ever made, but seeing the cord and some of the large-hole beads this month, I really wanted to try making a sliding-knot type of bracelet. I found some instructions online (sorry, don’t have the link with me at the moment) and what do you know, but it turned out really well. I just need to get some crimp covers for future pieces using this technique. (Of course I had to choose the cats, of all the various metal beads available…)

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the March 2017 Dollar Bead Box, for reasons explained above. There were 15 items so if you divide the cost of the box by the number of items, it is about $1.30 per item, which is not so bad. $1.30 is a competitive price for fancy-finish pellet beads, as an example, and you can buy additional strands from their shop for less (and buying some of the pressed Czech glass shapes in their shop for $1 is a really good deal – I know, because I overindulged in Czech glass buying last weekend…). This box sometimes seems a little random, but I love the challenge of using at least 2-3 of the items together in one piece of jewelry and I was able to do that (and learn a new technique) this month!

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 March 2017 Dollar Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?