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 September 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): Butterscotch, Crystal Electric Yellow and Green, Opaque Turquoise Blue Zircon, and Seafoam Opal AB
I have to say, those butterscotch ones look cooler (to me) in real life. I have been really into yellow, orange, and hot pink lately, though. The electric yellow/green ones have a nice, sparkly coating. The turquoise blue zircon ones will look good in something ocean-inspired, and the seafoam opal ones will match a ton of stuff in my stash. (I used 4mm beads in my project this month.)
4 mm Czech Firepolished Beads in (from top to bottom): Matte Crystal, Crystal Yellow Lined, Matte Crystal AB, and Crystal Fern Green Lined
These are all, believe it or not, variations on clear beads. I used the matte crystal ones in a pair of earrings, which you can see below. We’ve been seeing a lot of interesting color-lined beads in this subscription lately, and the yellow-lined and fern green-lined ones fit that theme this month. I am thinking of collecting more and using them all together. Plus, the matte crystal AB ones will look good in a piece of jewelry with some blues and silver tones, I think.
These are the Halo Earrings from Deb Roberti, which are available as a free download here. You will also need some honeycomb beads (those are the hexagons) and some size 11/0 seed beads in addition to some 4mm beads (I used the matte crystal ones from this shipment). My earrings didn’t lay totally flat and I note that Miyuki brand seed beads are preferred for this pattern, but I’m actually not sure what brand I used (I don’t keep my seed beads labeled so they could be Toho or even Czech), and that may be the issue. This was a very easy project to work up (less than 30 minutes start to finish for both earrings).
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for the September 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 September 2018 Dollar Bead Bag? Do you subscribe to any DIY beading or craft boxes?
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