BeadCrate Subscription Box Review – May 2018

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BeadCrate is a monthly subscription box for bead enthusiasts. Every month, you’ll receive a curated collection of beads, findings, and other goodies to enhance your beading creations! There are two box sizes – Enthusiast ($18.99 + $5 Shipping) and Collector ($35 with free shipping) to choose from.

This is the Enthusiast Crate!

We also have a curator’s note explaining the theme. This month’s theme is Fortune Teller! You can share your creation on their social media (Instagram or Facebook, don’t forget to tag them!)

The crate comes with a chart that tells you exactly what you’re getting.

The beads always come neatly packaged inside individual well-labelled plastic bags inside a cute organza bag.

3mm Siam Ruby Faceted Rounds. I really like these small faceted beads. They add accent to matte design, they have that bling factor and the color reminds me of, well, rubies!!!

6mm Siam Ruby Lentils. These are perfect to create lovely flowers with nylon thread. I’m just not that confident yet! They could also be hanged on a chain with simple jump rings for a fun anklet or small but interesting necklace.

8/0 Toho Silver-Lined Light Topaz seed beads. Every month, we get at least one selection of seed beads. This month’s beads reminds me of fringed Bellydance scarves I use to own, but there’s not enough for me to make a new one! Instead, I used them for earrings as they are very light and the silver lining helps hide the type of wire or thread you use.

13mm Amethyst Flat Star Beads. This is a fun bead that really fits into the theme. They are like little coins and I really wanted to use them as a pendant.

11x14mm Hansa Bead Frame for 5mm bead. Basically, you choose your favorite gemstone 5mm bead that you put in the middle and then thread both on a wire, on a cord, or anything else. Or you could use it as is to showcase a colorful cord, or as a pendant. I will probably make a stretch bracelet with it once I get the 5mm bead I want (for some reasons, I only have 4 and 6mm beads…)

12mm Crystal ‘Balls’. They are translucent round beads. I like to use these bigger beads with bead caps to bring some oomph to an otherwise low-key bead. Antique silver or antique brass bead caps would look lovely to fit in the theme.

7x9mm Luster Blue Iris or Green Vitral Flattened Ovals. I think I got the Green one? Anyway, I love these beads and I usually use them as a pendant because I really like the shape. Sadly, I thought that the silver and green colors didn’t work the way I wanted with the other beads from this month’s box.

8mm Jet Diagonal Cubes. The hole goes through corners. This was the bead this month I had no idea what to do. They are lovely and I like how they look with the Flattened Ovals. I might do something with both of them later.

Quest ‘Share’ Antiqued Brass Connector. They are very thin, very light little connectors. I would use them for a chandelier earrings with very lightweight drops.

35mm Bronze, Olive Green, or Reddish Nylon Tassels. I think I got the bronze ones? They are so cute! It was my first time having the opportunity to play with these tassels and I loved it! They are perfect to make statement pieces without being too heavy. Of course, they are a bit tricky to slide on a jump ring (like I did), but not hard. I may have to get more!

1mm P’Leather cord (not real leather!) I love getting cords in my box to make bracelets or nice teardrop shapes on earrings, but the beads I wanted to use from this box had holes that didn’t fit with it. I’ll keep it for a later boho project.

13x8mm Matte Gold Metallic Flat Twist. I’m not a big fan of them, even if they look great, but only because I tend to not be gentle with them! I used some in one of my design, paired with golden metal findings, and while twisting the wire, I closed a loop to close to the hole and broke some of the golden colors. Besides that, they are lovely for a fringe look with a tassel, or at the end of a cord on a bracelet or necklace.

4mm Topaz Faceted Rounds. I like to use these tiny little faceted beads as an accent to add some bling to a design. You don’t need a lot, and the color works well with the seed beads we also received.

This month, I decided to make two pairs of earrings. I like long ones, and the tassels were the perfect complement to the spiral beads for a fun, yet discreet long earrings! For the second pair, I really wanted to use the coin beads and the seed beads.

I really enjoyed this month’s selection. Fortune Teller is right up my alley and I love creating jewelry with a bit of that Boho vibe. I was really happy with the tassels, even though I wasn’t sure at first, but I’m glad I worked with them. This box really inspired me for future projects!

What do you think of this month’s BeadCrate box?

Visit BeadCrate to subscribe or find out more!

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