BeadCrate Subscription Box Review – August 2019

BeadCrate is a monthly subscription box for beading enthusiasts. Choose from “The Enthusiast” for $18.99 a month or “The Collector” for $35 a month. You can also buy a single box to see if this subscription is for you.

This is a review of “The Enthusiast,” which is $18.99/month + $5 shipping.

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

About BeadCrate

The Subscription Box: BeadCrate

The Cost: $18.99 a month + $5 shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.

The Products: A selection of beads curated around a monthly theme (or beads that are just cool and random).

Ships to: The US (free for “The Collector,” $5 for “The Enthusiast”)

BeadCrate August 2019 “Grass is Greener” Review

BeadCrate is great for stash-building if you are into seed beads and Czech glass, and you’ll also usually get some useful supplies:

This letter/information sheet accompanied the shipment. This month has a lot of greens.

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!

2mm Saturated Metallic Martini Olive Firepolished Rounds (Czech glass, 50)

I have a little bit of an obsession with saturated metallic beads. Every time Artbeads gets some new colors in (they’re usually one of the first shops to do so) I place a big order. But the colors are so fun and vibrant. I used some of these in a bracelet.

3mm Saturated Metallic Arcadia Firepolished Rounds (Czech glass, 50)

More saturated metallics! (Another favorite in this color family is lush meadow.) I also used these in my bracelet – I was going for gradual increase in size and these worked nicely.

3mm Olive Rounds (Czech glass, 100)

This is a good, basic shape to have on hand for patterns. I used some in my bracelet to switch up the textures and finishes a bit. I still have a lot left so I may make some matching earrings or something of that nature.

4mm Metallic Suede Leafy Green Firepolished Rounds (Czech glass, 50)

I am also a big fan of the metallic suede finish, which is similar to but subtly different from the saturated metallics. (And then there is polychrome, which seems like it is related as well.) You guessed it – these also went into my bracelet.

6mm Prairie Green Firepolished Rounds (Czech glass, 25)

We got two different colors of 6mm firepolished rounds this month. I think I’ve said it elsewhere, but this is a good stash-building subscription. These would be great in a pattern although I don’t have too many left for a pattern, having used most of them in my bracelet.

Grass Critters Mix of Turtles, Frogs, and Ladybugs (Czech glass, 7)

Often you’ll get a charm or something, and this month there wasn’t a charm, but there were some pressed glass animals. I haven’t used them yet because I did beadweaving this month, but these will be fun for some earrings or a necklace (and I have some of the ladybug beads in other colors as well).

6 x 6mm Emerald Green Bicones (Czech glass, 50)

I used a lot of these in my bracelet as well. They lend themselves particularly well to cubic right angle weave because their angles/edges fit really nicely together. I’d love to see some of these in a smaller size but I don’t think they’re made in a smaller size (and I have looked in some obscure places).

Toho 11/0 Transparent Rainbow Green (Japanese glass, 2.5” tube)

You’ll get seed beads in nearly every BeadCrate shipment, usually 11/0 (sometimes 8/0). These are just a touch smaller than the 2mm rounds up above so they were handy for getting my bracelet weave started.

10mm Olivine Snake Firepolished Rounds (Czech glass, 2)

I like this snakeskin finish; I actually have quite a lot of beads with this finish in various colors. I haven’t used this yet, but these come in lots of sizes so I can probably find some of this same color in a smaller size to coordinate in a pair of earrings. (It is pretty much just a given that I already have coordinating beads in my stash, given the size of my stash.)

15 x 15mm Table Cut Beads in Opaque Avocado Green Picasso (Czech glass, 2)

These will go very well with any number of other items in my stash because olive green/avocado green/olivine colors look nice with copper, and my general collection strategy of late has been “things that look good with copper.” Not sure how I will use these yet but there are a lot of possibilities.

9 x 6mm Olivine AB Teardrops (Czech glass, 25)

Two colors were possible here but I got the olivine ones. This is a good, basic shape that works well for earring dangles or in necklace fringe, and it will go with a lot of other beads in my stash.

6mm Green Tortoise Firepolished Rounds (Czech glass, 25)

This is the second type of firepolished rounds in 6mm we received. I have a hard time finding beads with this tortoiseshell finish and I don’t have any in this color, so these are appreciated. I haven’t used them yet but I think they will look nice with some metallic browns to bring out the tortoise colors.

#10 Coloreyes Black 2.25” Beading Needles (6)

This is a brand of needle I haven’t tried yet. I guess they are color-coded by size. The black is some kind of paint or coating because I kind of flaked most of it off during the process of making my bracelet. #10 needles are so big! I am used to a #12, which is smaller. I did manage to bend the needle I used while I was working, but I will hang onto these for when I am using larger beads. (I will always love Tulip needles best, though.)

Here is a bracelet I made using cubic right-angle weave with graduated sizes of beads. There were enough different beads that worked with this stitch that I could do a whole bracelet, which was fun.

Verdict: I did not calculate a value for BeadCrate, as explained above in my note about prices. If you divide the cost of the box plus shipping by the number of items (I counted 13), you get about $1.84 per item. I went back to an old favorite, the cubic right-angle weave. There were just so many beads in slightly different sizes that this worked really well this month as a graduated size bracelet. I have not one but TWO green dresses and also a green sweater so I will get a chance to wear this pretty often, too.

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, your subscription would start with the September box. Destash items and excess inventory (and sometimes whole boxes) may occasionally be available in the BeadCrate Etsy shop.

Value Breakdown: At $23.99 for this subscription (counting shipping), you are paying about $1.84 per item.

Check out my past BeadCrate reviews and visit the Craft Subscription Box List for more great beading, 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 August 2019 BeadCrate? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?