Where to buy inexpensive beads??
, Toronto, Canada, Monday, June 16, 2008, 20:26Hello all! You may not have noticed yet, but your fellow beader Tess has emailed me (allegra@friendshipbeading.net) a picture of her elastic caterpillar bracelet that she made based on the pattern on this site, and her bracelet is posted, along with a detailed description of materials, on the last page of that tutorial. Check it out! You too can email me your creations and I'd be happy to post them!
While we were talking, Tess mentioned to me that her local bead store is sadly closing its doors for good. So that got me thinking that it might be nice to discuss where to buy beads, because all these patterns require you to have them! I am lucky enough to have a local bead store called Butterfly Effects, whose prices are so cheap, they beat most online wholesalers!! But unfortunately, I have almost always been the only customer in the store every time I've visited. I don't know how long they will be there (but who knows? Maybe I just visit stores at weird times). So how can we as beaders procure beads? Regular bead store prices are really over the top. There are several other bead stores in my area that easily charge 10 times the price of the Butterfly Effects store I referred to. I couldn't help laughing out loud while browsing their stores, that they actually expected people to buy their merchandise! And yet, they are quite successful, very busy all the time! I have to wonder if it's just the tendency of people to shop the most expensive places on purpose out of fear of "lower quality" beads at more reasonable prices. Well, I have to admit to you that I actually do a lot of my bead shopping at no other than the dollar store! My favourite dollar store is Dollarama. They are so professional and everything is always neat and tidy and organized. I buy lots of beads there, like seed beads (they sell about 5000 for $1), bugle beads, and even cube beads! I hope there are dollar stores in your area as good as that. They even sell bicones, wooden beads, pearls, etc. Who has ever bought beads at a dollar store? And where else have you bought beads?
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
I know what you mean about higher priced bead stores. When I first got into beading, I searched around my area for bead stores. There was a bead store that is almost an hour away from my house. When I first walked in, I was impressed with the place it was so nice. But when I started looking at their prices I practically ran out the door screaming...lol!! Okay, I wasn't that drastic. But I pretty much just walked fastly for the door. Other places you can go to for beads are Walmart (which have improved on bead selections) and craft stores.
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
That's true that Walmart sells beads. I had forgotten about that. I guess these are places that don't come to mind straight away when people think of buying beads, and that is why the little overpriced stores laugh all the way to the bank. Also Michaels (the arts and crafts "superstore" lol) sells beads. But actually even though Walmart and Michaels are cheaper than the little corner bead stores, they are still a lot more expensive than that store that I am blessed to have near my house (for now!). And they are definitely a heck of a lot more expensive than the dollar stores. I guess you could say they are middle of the line in terms of price. It's funny that you got into beading and then started looking for where to buy beads. I was doing my regular dollar store shopping when I happened upon their seed beads. I thought they were so pretty. I had never seen beads like that before (I had only ever seen plastic pony beads!!), so I bought them without knowing anything about beading or what on earth to do with them! (the joys of the dollar store...it can actually bankrupt you with the guiltless temptation to buy everything off the shelf). Then, as if by fate, a couple of weeks later, I was shopping at my local Chinese Mall and happened upon the a store owned by a lady who beads all day and sells her stuff, and I talked her into teaching me!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
Nice!! I'm sooo jealous!!
Here's something you'd probably never do or think of doing when it comes to buying beads. Well, while my fiance and I were out shopping at a sports store called Sportsmans Warehouse, I was out meandering around in the fishing department and found a few things that maybe some people would never think of finding with regards to beading. Well, first of all: bead storage containers. They are just about the same stackable clear containers that are sold in the beads stores or arts and crafts section of other stores. They are the same thing and usually a dollar or so cheaper. Another thing I found are beads! The beads and containers all came from the fishing department. I don't know if this is a deal, but here it is. I got the container for $1.69 and the beads were a pack of 100 for $1.99. They're just round plastic 6mm beads. And the holes in them are pretty big. I also found metal beads of different sizes, but the holes were so huge that they looked funny...lol!!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
Hey Allegra, I like the new beach layout. It looks great! I am excited to see it when you are finished. I still haven't gotten to trying your kitty pattern. When I opened my bead box up, I realized I had a few unfinished pieces so I figured I would finally get to them.
But I had to get on here and share my favorite bead buying location. I get some things from the local bead stores but they are really overpriced and both the one near my house and by my work have really rude sales people. I have not seen any beads in the dollar stores close to me. I mostly use seed beads so that puts Michaels and Joannes out, their seeds are too inconsistent for peyote. Same goes for Walmart, though I did get some cheap plastic crystal shaped beads there and the kids made snowflakes with silver pipe cleaners that are absolutely gorgeous and super simple. So my favorite place to buy beads is Fire mountain gems online. They have everything! They will even send you a huge catalog if you like instead of just looking online. The best part is everything is assortable, the more you buy, the cheaper the price gets. I liked your idea about the fishing store to find things, Tess. Try looking around your house too. I bead on yogurt lids that bend and pour nicely back into my containers. I keep my needles in an empty pencil lead container that I cleaned out with a q-tip. I figure the less I spend on storage the more I can spend on beads, right?
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
That's an excellent idea, Jax, thanks so much for saying so. I always end up having issues when it comes to putting all of my beads away, especially the smaller beads. It's sooo annoying sometimes. But I like the idea of a yogurt lid or a smaller plastic lid that is bendable. Also, I've realized that I won't be buying so many storage containers when it comes to my beads. I was cleaning out the fridge the other day and [this may sound gross to some of you] I found 3 of those circular plastic containers you would buy at the stores minus the fact that they're not stackable, full of dead wax worms. My fiance likes to go fishing, especially ice fishing, and buys lots of wax worms that are kept in these containers. So, I emptied them out and cleaned the containers really good. Also, another good idea for storage would be souffle cups. As for me, I'm acutally getting sick of storage containers that have dividers in them so you can sort out all your different beads. It sucks when you have small seed beads or small beads in general because they pass through. Now my bead boxes are all mixed up. How annoying!!!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
Tess, I agree with you on the divided boxes, they just make a mess if you aren't super careful and since I don't have a designated beading place where I can leave my stuff out, I end up with a disaster! I use all sorts of things to keep my beads in too, from empty pill bottles to these cool little containers my mom gets from her dental office that snap together. One good investment I did buy was my watertight locking plastic boxes (meant for the kitchen, they have a piece on all four sides that snaps down to seal them super tight) that I got at Costco (20 with lids for like 20 bucks). They are assorted sizes and clear so I keep wire stuff in one, findings in one, random beads in one, etc. Depending on what I am working with, I can grab one or two small boxes and not have to dig thru everything. Makes life a little easier.
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
That's so true about containers with dividers that don't actually end in a screw lid or some kind of sealing mechanism. The seed beads always go through the dividers! So I buy the stackable clear containers (they are one dollar for a set of 5 at my dollar store!) that actually screw into each other. It's impossible for the beads to mix! My stacks are getting pretty tall though, with now 3 towers of 10 containers stacked up in each hehehe. I keep the extra lids in the closet in case I want to transport just one or two of the stacked containers with me on a trip, then I screw on a spare lid to just those containers that I'm taking with me and pack them in my bag. Other containers that I've used are metal tins (like the cookie tins!), cream containers (if you buy hand cream or face cream in screwable containers, preferably transparent ones!), and actually urine storage containers, LOL! I think my mom suspected a urinary tract infection a couple of years ago and picked up a bunch from the lab to take urine samples, but then she got better and didn't do the tests. LOL!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
LMAO!!! Urine containers?!!! Ewww..... LOL!!!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
They come sterile, you have to break the seal to get into them. The ones we use are clear with a screw on lid, perfect for beads. I have paper clips on my desk at work in one, but never thought to take it home! I have also used empty vaccutainers for beads (the ones they shoot blood into at the lab when you get blood drawn). We had a batch that had passed the expiration date and they worked great. The lids are super tight to keep the blood in so no chance of beads getting out!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
OMG! I thought I was alone in using lab/medical equipment for beads!!!! I also use those small glass vials with the screw-on lids. They look fragile, but I've dropped them so many times and they don't break! They were designed to take abuse I guess. LOL!!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
I use those glass bottles from the lab too, sometimes. They are scintillation vials, meant to store radioactive samples, so no wonder they are strong! I've been here for over four years and no one uses them anymore, so every now and then I grab a few.
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
, Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 17:48 @ LisaI like the Bead Box in Pointe-Claire. Being a beginner, they were super helpful. I also met some experienced beaders who gave me some great tips...but I was blown away with the selection. I recommend them for beads montreal.
Oh yeah...I tried one of their workshops...I'm hooked.
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
You dont know the meaning of expensive beads! Just come & look at the UKS shops! The cheapist uk site i could find is jillybeads.co.uk, which is good for seed beads. As for storage, I find empty tictac cartons work really well for small beads!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
That's actually a good idea to use tictac containers to store seed beads. I've done this before when travelling with beads if I knew I'd be in a waiting room for a while and wanted something to do (eg, at the dentist). But for keeping them in storage at home, I didn't really like it as much because the containers aren't perfectly clear, they are tinted (like the orange-flavoured tictacs are in orange containers). So all blue or purple beads look black. It distorts the colors of the beads inside and they all end up looking ugly to me, so I don't want to use them. LOL! Plus, they're not stackable. I love my stackable containers!! But yeah, for travelling with beads, tictac containers are awesome. Good tip!
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
I get most of my beads from JoAnn Fabrics. Sometimes they have some packs of beads on sale for 75 cents.
Where to buy inexpensive beads??
, Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 08:10 @ AllegraHi Allegra,
Whenever you have a chance to go to Butterfly effect again, can you please check out the price of 3mm round plastic pearl(about how many grams per container) for me and see if they have any size 9 seed beads? If they have all the color and the 3mm size that I wanted, I might make a jump from Montreal to refill my supply.
Thanks a bunch
Trang