Vintage Bead Box DIY Subscription Review – October 2018

Vintage Bead Box is a monthly subscription box providing you with beads and findings manufactured between about 1930 and 1970. Vintage Bead Box formerly offered a themed box and a surprise mix box.  They are transitioning away from the surprise mix box (current subscribers can continue to receive it for the duration of their subscriptions and/or until they switch to the themed boxes) so I am now reviewing the themed box.

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

About Vintage Bead Box

The Subscription Box: Vintage Bead Box

The Cost: $25 a month. Save with 3 and 6-month subscriptions.

The Products: Beads and findings made from a variety of materials (glass, wood, semi-precious stones, metal, acrylic, etc.). Most were manufactured between 1930 and 1970.

Ships to: US (free), Worldwide (additional shipping charges will apply)

Vintage Bead Box October 2018 "Bewitched" Review

This month’s theme was “Bewitched”:

There isn’t a traditional information card with this box because, owing to the nature of the contents (i.e., limited supply), every box could be a little different.

A note on prices: Because these beads are vintage, they can’t be purchased separately from any sources. Further, materials, country of manufacture, and more can be a little difficult to determine precisely. Thus, I have opted not to provide prices in this review.

Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings.

Multicolored Acrylic Ovals

I think these are kind of fun just to look at, and you’ll notice they’re somewhat graduated in size. I think I would like to just string these with some brass accent beads between them for a simple fall necklace.

Carnelian Beads

You’ll often get one kind of semiprecious gemstone bead in this subscription box. This month it is some carnelian rounds. I used a lot of these in a bracelet, which you can see below.

Black Glass Beads

These are quite unusual. Some are pitted rounds and some are pitted rounds at the ends of rough cylinders. In the pits, there is a silvery material (not rhinestones but perhaps something meant to mimic the look of rhinestones). I don’t quite know what I will do with them yet but I am sure I will think of something.

Metal Beads

I am pretty sure these are not actual metal (they don’t have the right weight or surface temperature when you hold them), but some kind of metalized plastic. I have rather a lot of metalized plastic vintage beads. Anyway, I do like the flower shape and that they’re pretty lightweight.

Orange Acrylic Rounds

These are quite large. You can see the size context up above where all the items are pictured. The thing about acrylic is, it isn’t heavy, so if you wanted to make these into earrings, they would totally work. I actually have some fun textured yellow and hot pink acrylic beads I could use with these.

Orange Glass Beads

These are some basic rounds. I really like the color, Fall colors are some of my favorites. I used a bunch of them in my bracelet this month. I think I only have two left.

Seed Beads

You’ll usually get seed beads or bugle beads in this subscription. They’re not super regular so they’re not the best for bead weaving, but they’d be good for bead embroidery or as spacers or whatever. These are hex cut, which is kind of fun.

Wood Beads

I never know what to do with wood beads but lately, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making beaded beads and I think these would be excellent as bases for practicing that.

Faceted Glass Beads

These are bright and cheery. I liked the look of the faceting and opacity of these next to the smooth round transparent orange glass beads and the translucent/semi-opaque carnelian beads so I used them in my bracelet as well.

This month I made a bracelet using the carnelian beads and some of the glass beads along with copper chain and findings. (I had wanted to do rose gold but didn’t have enough rose gold headpins, but copper is pretty close.)

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Vintage Bead Box, as explained above, but if you divide the total cost by the number of items, you are paying about $2.78 an item. This seems quite reasonable to me. If you browse Etsy or eBay, you can find similar groupings of vintage beads and findings for prices ranging from $2-$7 (and beyond). 

For what it’s worth, everything arrives clean. I suspect at least some of it is from deconstructed vintage jewelry (but honestly, that is OK by me – I get fun beads and things stay out of the landfill).  It is all clean and, so far, manufactured pretty well.  Some beads show a little wear but that is part of the charm of working with vintage beads. Plus, a lot of the items are unusual and you’d have a hard time finding equivalents made from modern materials.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? This subscription ships very early in the month, so your first shipment if you signed up now would come in November. (Also, your box might not match mine exactly since many vintage beads are in short supply.)

Value Breakdown: At $25 for this box, you are paying about $2.78 per item.

Check out all of our Vintage Bead Box reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory for more great craft supply and DIY project boxes!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

What did you think of the October 2018 Vintage Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?