Dollar Bead Box Subscription Review – August 2018

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 $1.00. (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 full Dollar Bead Box, which is $19.50 a month + shipping. 

About 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 US 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 Box August 2018 Review

You’ll get a variety of different beads with this subscription. You can count on some strands and Czech glass nearly every month, but half the fun here is seeing what other random things show up. Let’s see what we got this month:

You’ll always get a brief letter and an item list from Dollar Bead Box. The item list is useful if you are looking to reorder something but don’t know what to call it; use the name to search their shop! (This list seems to have undergone a format update lately.) The folks at Dollar Bead Box recently went on a bead-buying trip in the Czech Republic and I’ll be interested to see in my box in the coming months, what sorts of things they brought back.

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!

8 x 28mm Pewter with Silver Plate Connector (2)

I am pretty sure we received these in another color a few months ago, but I had fun coming up with a design then and now I get a chance to either repeat it or come up with something new.

20mm Czech Glass Elephants, Turquoise with Silver Wash (2)

I’d been looking at some of these on Etsy so I am happy to get a few in my hands so I can really assess size and weight. They’re a bit heavier/larger than expected but not too big for earrings (I hope, since I made earrings with them, which you can see below).

18 x 26 mm Pewter Fairy Charm, Antique Silver Plated (1)

You’ll get a charm or two most months with this subscription. They’ll be in various metal finishes but after subscribing to this box for a while, I have a collection big enough to make a decent charm bracelet!

5mm Czech Fire Polished Rounds, Opaque Turquoise (25)

I used all of these but one in some earrings (and the one was only left over because we got an odd number to begin with). You’ll usually get some fire polished rounds in Dollar Bead Box, and they may be nonstandard sizes for patterns (which usually call for 3, 4, or maybe 6mm), but they’re great for stash-building.

14mm Czech Glass Hawaiian Flower, Jet Black (1)

I think these are really trendy right now. A lot of Etsy sellers and bead shops whose newsletters I subscribe to are promoting them. I like them but find them to be a bit expensive. Honestly, $1 to reorder these is a pretty good deal.

6 x 22 mm Czech Glass Vitrail Coated Feather (6)

These have an interesting finish, but one that actually works well with a lot of other items in my stash (since I have been focusing on turquoise and, to some extent, purple, lately). They are pretty lightweight and would be suitable for including in earrings.

3 x 5 mm Czech Glass Gem Cut Rondelle, Jonquille Opal (25)

This is a super pale yellow color that is great for spring and summer designs. I think it would look good as the middle of a beadwoven flower with some Czech shaped beads (like daggers or pips). I often buy larger rondelles (like 9 x 6 mm) but I never think to buy smaller ones. Luckily, Dollar Bead Box supplies me with quite a few.

10 x 40 mm Pewter Leaf, Antique Silver Plated (1)

I thought this was a feather, oops. Anyway, here is another example of a charm you might get in this box. For me, this is a bit long for a charm bracelet, but it could work as the centerpiece in a very delicate necklace.

4mm Pewter Spacer, Antique Copper (60)

These are just handy to have around. Metal accent beads are always useful. If you are like me and have a huge stash in every metal finish possible (bright brass/goldtone, antique brass, antique and shiny silver finish, antique and bright copper, black, rose gold, etc.) then it is beneficial to have small spacers like this to complete your designs. I used a few of these in earrings, which you can see below. Since they are 4mm, they would also work in patterns calling for druks.

4mm Czech Glass Onion, Jet Black (30)

This is a shape I am unfamiliar with. It is hard to spring a new bead shape on me, usually, I know them all before you can even buy them! These don’t show up very well in the picture (black is hard to photograph in my dining room) but they have ridges around the outside edge and would be good as accent beads or in place of rondelles in beadwoven designs.

12 x 14mm Czech Glass Pillow Bead, Pink Opal (3)

Not sure how I will use these yet but they are a good size for inclusion in bracelets. I’ve bought a lot of pink lately, too, so it will be easy to find coordinating beads.

36mm Resin Flower, Assorted Colors (3)

I really wanted to make something with these, this month, but I’m still struggling with how to connect them to a base so they look like I want. I think resin flowers are fairly popular lately, based on what I see on Etsy.

2 x 3mm Czech Glass Gem Cut Rondelle, Opaque Olive Travertine (50)

My preferred color palette of late has been “things that look good with copper” and also “Picasso/travertine finish.” These beads combine both of those elements and they will match absolutely a ton of stuff in my stash, so I know they will get used soon.

10 x 14mm Czech Glass Table Cut Turquoise Oval with Travertine (2)

I love table cut beads but rarely buy them because they can be expensive. I was happy to receive some here. I used them in a pair of earrings, which you can see below. I would be happy if the Dollar Bead Box shop started stocking more like these.

12mm Silver Plated Toggle (1)

You’ll usually get some handy findings in this box, often a clasp (and sometimes other things). This is a nice, basic toggle that I have put into my stash for future use. It would work for a semi-heavy bracelet or a lightweight necklace.

8 x 10mm Czech Glass Trilobite, Assorted Colors (4)

I haven’t seen these before but they are kind of fun. I have some ammonite beads in similar finishes that I think I would like to use with these for sort of a prehistoric vibe.

12 x 16mm Czech Glass Voodoo Bead, Matte Black with Copper Wash (2)

I think these have cute faces, though I’m not sure that was the intent. We received these in a slightly different finish in a past month but I am totally OK with getting more since I like them. I used these in some earrings, which you can see below.

Here are some earrings I made with the elephants and some aluminum wire (it’s hypoallergenic). I still need to work on my earring jig using skills but not bad for a first attempt.

Here’s another pair of earrings made with peach colored niobium wire, some coated copper wire, some fire polished rounds, and the table-cut ovals. These are a little bigger than intended but I can always cut off part of the back and re-bend if I decide I need to.

And here are the voodoo beads with some of the pewter rounds. Sorry, this picture is a little dark; some colors of bead just don’t photograph well in my dining room (probably because it’s dark and the walls are painted red…).

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the August 2018 Dollar Bead Box, for reasons explained above. There were 17 items (if I counted right) so if you divide the cost of the box by the number of items, it is about $1.14 per item. The mix was eclectic this month, but that’s usually the case, and I would definitely say this was representative of what you would receive in a given month if you were to subscribe.

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 an item that appeals to you, if you become a Dollar Bead Box member, you can order items from past Dollar Bead Boxes from the Dollar Bead Box shop for $1 each (plus shipping).

Value Breakdown: At $19.50 for this subscription, you are paying about $1.14 per item.

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 Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?