Bargain Bead Box is a monthly DIY subscription promising over $50 worth of quality jewelry-making supplies every month.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Bargain Bead Box
The Subscription Box: Bargain Bead Box
The Cost: $17.95/month
The Products: Designer quality beads in materials ranging from crystal to glass to semiprecious gemstones, plus metal beads and findings. Bargain Bead Box does not send any plastic beads or seed beads.
Ships to: The US (free), Canada for $3.50, and worldwide for a low cost. Contact Bargain Bead Box for affordable international rates.
Bargain Bead Box June 2020 "Mystic II" Review
Bargain Bead Box always includes a few clasps and other findings in matching metal tones; this month they were in an antique copper finish.
Here’s more about the specific items in the box this month:
There was a letter in the box with some more information on the theme. The back contained a list of the month’s beads. I just want to say that I really like how they're now indicating whether items are lead free (all the metals are) or nickel free (most of the metals are).
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.
15" Strand 8mm Electroplated Lava Stone Beads, Rainbow Iris
The electroplating on these seems good because the baggie in which they were mailed was not all stained with colors. (That's not always the case.) Still, as with most beads that have had a coloring applied, it's a good idea to test for colorfastness and/or apply a fixative, and probably also not to get them wet. These are good for an organic sort of look since there is natural pitting and a bit of unevenness as is the case with all lava beads. (All the pores make them lightweight compared to certain other stones, though.)
20 Pieces 18 x 17mm Copper Finished Brass Earring Hooks
This month really included quite a lot of findings, starting with these earring hooks. If you are worried about the finish irritating your ears (they are nickel-free but copper and brass, which includes some copper, may be problems for some people), you can paint a bit of clear nail polish over them before wearing. This will have to be reapplied from time to time. But it's nice because none of the hypoallergenic options really match the antique copper color super closely.
1 m 5.7 x 4.8mm Steel Figaro Jewelry Chain
Most months you will get chain in a matching color. This is somewhat lightweight chain but the necklace I was making this month was not overly bulky and it supports the necklace well enough. The links here were soldered for extra security.
5g Mixed 4-10mm Copper-Finished Steel Jump Rings
We don't receive jump rings often with this subscription, which is OK by me as I have a large collection in my stash. However, these were nice to get because I didn't have to go hunting for any and I was able to use several different sizes in the items I made this month.
100 Piece Strand 4mm Crystal Bicone Beads, Metallic Rainbow Iris
I don't normally go for rainbow finishes like this but, for some reason, these really appealed to me. I used a few and there are a lot left over. I think these would be fun in a beadwoven piece alongside some black beads so they really stand out.
10 Pieces 18 x 11mm Glass Leaf Pendants, Blue Iris
I'm not sure what I will do with these yet but I do like receiving pressed glass and I think they're pretty. I keep saying that someday I will make a necklace with a lot of different leaf beads and charms I've accumulated and maybe getting these will finally prompt me to get started on that.
24 Pieces 4mm Crystal Cylinder Beads, Blue-Green Iris
Here is another shape of Chinese crystal. It is a little less common than the bicone shape but because of the size, it would work well in many of the same applications as the bicones.
12 Pieces 8mm Fancy Swirl Bead Caps
Bead caps are Bargain Bead Box mainstays. These were a little mismatched compared to the bead sizes this month (well, now I realize I didn't try them with the lava, for which they may have been perfect). Anyway, it's not as if I don't have a TON of round beads in various sizes in my stash. These will get used in no time.
12 Pieces 10mm Frosted Smooth Crystal Oval Beads, Aqua Blue Iris
Here is another unusual crystal shape and also an unusual finish. I think these would be good in a bracelet meant to lie flat against the wrist so you could control the appearance a bit more than if they were dangling free.
2 Pieces 25 x 22mm Chandelier Drops
I actually got four of these instead of just two. Anyway, I used two of them to make some earrings and I have two left over for a different project. You can see the earrings I made below.
7.5" Strand 8 x 6mm Crystal Rondelle Beads, Frosted Rainbow Iris
This was a crystal-heavy month but there were so many unique sizes, shapes, and finishes that I think it's OK. I have some gemstone beads in my stash I want to incorporate into bracelets and I think these would provide some nice contrast between stones so that is probably how I will use them.
45mm Electroplated Textured Jasper Pendant
I think this is very pretty. I almost used it to make a project similar to last month but my desire not to show you the same thing every time led to me setting it aside for awhile. I'm sure I will come back to it soon, though.
3 Sets 24 x 11mm Hook and Eye Clasps
You always get clasps with this subscription and this month is no exception. Hook and eye clasps are not the most common type you'll receive so these were fun for a change. I used one set in a necklace.
10g 6.5mm Fancy Bicone Spacer Beads
Metal accents are common and we got two types this month; these are the first. If you like to do stringing projects, these are great between crystal or gemstones. They have a lot of surface detail that nicely contrasts with smooth beads, as well.
5 Pieces 8-13mm Electroplated Natural Quartz Crystal Beads
These are fun. I've been wanting to work more with irregular, hand-knapped, nugget, and slab gemstones lately, and I got a chance here. I used some of these in a necklace, which you can see below.
32 x 37mm Chandelier Focal
You'll usually get a couple of pendants in this subscription, often on the larger side, and here is this month's second one. I like how this kind of recalls the shape of the chandelier findings but not exactly, so I used it too and made a coordinating earring/necklace set.
40 Pieces 4mm Corrugated Spacer Beads
Here is the second type of metal spacers. There was really a lot of metal this month, which is great -- so many design possibilities. Anyway, I used a handful of these in my pieces this month as they just happened to have a small hole size, which I needed for some of the dangles I made.
7.5" Strand 10mm Crackle Agate Beads, Violet
Some months you will get a lot of gemstone beads and sometimes only a few. This month, in addition to the lava and the electroplated pendant, we got these agate beads. They're dyed, which is fine, lots of agate is, but as with the lava beads, just test for colorfastness if this is going to be worn against clothing. Anyway, these are nice and large and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet but I do have a fair amount of purple in my stash so I'll come up with something.
20 Pieces 6.5mm Crystal Fancy Pyramid Beads, Light Peach
I really like the finish on these, I just think the added shine goes quite well with this color, which is fairly neutral and will itself go with a lot of different colors. I'm not sure how I will use these yet, I feel like it would contrast nicely with some gemstones if I can just find the right color. Luckily I have a huge stash of gemstone beads!
5g 35mm Steel Head Pins, Antique Copper Finish
We got head pins this month, too. They're not top quality, some of the heads aren't really centered, but they're not too bad, and with them I was able to use only items from this package to make two projects. I even clipped the heads off two to make eyepins so I didn't have to go rooting through my stash for eyepins or wire.
I made two projects this month. The first was some simple earrings, there's not much to explain about the process, but you can see in the pictures what I did.
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And here are the finished earrings:
Here is a second project since this first one didn't take too long:
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Here is the finished necklace:
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Verdict: I did not calculate a value for Bargain Bead Box, as explained above. I normally shy away from the rainbow-colored stuff but I think it works here, especially with the limited color range of mostly cool colors. My instinct would be to pair it with silver but I think it looked good with copper, too, after trying a few things. I was happy to see the electroplated quartz as I've been wanting to do more work with freeform nuggets and slabs and such. And the interesting thing this month was that I was able to make both a necklace and earrings using ONLY materials from this month's package since multiple types of findings were included.
Please note that no directions are given and you usually have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, etc. and come up with your own project(s).
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you would receive the July 2020 box as your first one if you sign up before the 9th, although they do sometimes offer past boxes on their site, and individual items can sometimes be purchased from Bead Box Bargains.
Value Breakdown: At $17.95 for this subscription, you are paying about $0.90 per item.
Check out my past reviews of Bargain Bead Box and see more of our arts and crafts boxes for more great beading, craft supply, and DIY project boxes.
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What did you think of the June 2020 Bargain Bead Box? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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