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.
About Dollar Bead Bag
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: US
Dollar Bead Bag August 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): Matte Aqua, Turquoise Vega, Crystal Gold Lined, and Full Coat Chrome
I used 4mm beads in my project this month, but each of these 3mm bead colors will fit in nicely with my stash. I have a ton of aqua/turquoise sorts of colors in the color palette I’ve been using lately, and the gold lined beads are a great way to add a metallic finish to designs. The full coat chrome also adds a metallic finish, and we got 4mm full coat chrome beads last month, so they could be used together in a pattern if you wanted.
4 mm Czech Firepolished Beads in (from top to bottom): Crystal Cranberry Lined, Seafoam Opal AB, Opaque Yellow Nebulous Luster, and Crystal Copper Lined AB
These beads are all unusual and I am a fan. I have seen color-lined beads before, but those cranberry-lined ones are just so different that I had to use them. The seafoam opal beads have a nice combination of matte and shiny, and both they and the opaque yellow nebulous luster fit into the color palette I’ve been using lately. The copper lined beads I thought would be an interesting contrast to the cranberry lined ones, so I used them as color 2 in a bracelet (see below).
Here is a bracelet I made with the two lined kinds of 4mm beads this month. It is the Crystal Chain Bracelet from Deb Roberti, which is free here on her site. In general, I recommend her patterns if you are wanting to use a lot of fire polished beads. They are easy to follow, which you can see by downloading one of the free ones to try. Anyway, I think this turned out pretty well and it worked up quickly, too.
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the August 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.
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!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What did you think of the August 2018 Dollar Bead Bag? Do you subscribe to any DIY beading or craft boxes?
Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.