Facet Jewelry Box Subscription Review — February 2018

Subscription: Facet Jewelry Box

Cost: $23-24.95 depending on subscription length

Code: FACET for 10% off your first box

What to Expect: “Receive materials for 2 beautiful projects, along with step-by-step instructions, how-to photos and illustrations, plus expert tips & techniques from the editors at Facet Jewelry and Bead&Button.”


 

Hey pitchforkers! Get your torches lit and your pitchforks sharpened! This box just arrived at the end of February, and their Facebook page is ablaze with angry ladies.

::pops popcorn and reads reviews::

Backstory: After going to a bead show [I’m exciting, I know], I found Facet Jewelry Box advertised in the back of the free Bead and Button magazine that I got. I signed up for the preorder on December 31st, and they said they’d let us know when the box would start.

They emailed on January 22nd to say boxes would be shipped mid February. I forgot, of course, and it showed up at my house at the end of February.

I was slightly frustrated not to get a tracking number. Apparently I hate surprise boxes 😆

 

When you go to order this box you get two choices [both cost the same and get up to $2 cheaper with a longer subscription].

I do more projects like the Quick and Easy Stringing box on my own, so I thought I’d try the Bead Stitching option.

The presentation of everything was really nice. This company does jewelery tutorials and projects kits, so this was their jump into the box world.

One that resulted in a painful belly flop.

Fun note! In the upper right corner of this picture you can see my attempt at bead embroidery. I barely finished half a bracelet before giving in to winter depression naps.

Project 1: Rondelle Pendant Necklace

Totally unappealing project for me. It made me remember I like very few bead weaving patterns. Plus, the FB group pitchforkers said it wasn’t particularly sturdy.

I’ll probably think of something else to make with these materials.

And by that I mean these items will be organized into beading boxes and forgotten about.

Project 2: Linked Bracelet

This was mostly what made me made when I opened the box and saw two bags of seed beads.

BUT I love bead weaving, from the little I’ve learned from YouTube, and hadn’t tried tubular weaving.

So, I totally complained because seed beads in a bead box is like getting black eyeliner in a beauty box. You’ve already got a million, but ugh, guess I’ll try it.

I got my supplies all set up, but that Fireline is a beast to cut so I used my thread zapper. But no matter which way, the needle head was WAY too thin, so I tried using my collapsible needle at times [they’re just really flexible and have a giant eyehole that traps the thread].

I was really excited when I finished some links. I made some off and on the chain, then was linking two with a third when I realized they looked stupid and inconsistent. Also, since I’ve never tried tubular weaving I went on YouTube and found most people use something to bead around for shape and consistency. Ugh, mine were all tight on the starter side, then uneven and loose on the other.

So I tried using a highlighter, and holy Brie wheel, Batman! My project got WAY nicer. Also, I realized I was skipping the third row, which added to the jankiness, but that if I added in an extra row of 11/0 larger beads I got a nice ring-like shape.

The ring on the right is my design, and the left two rings are the uneven ones that I followed directions to make.

So, after realizing I’d done some loops wrong and that I liked my version better, I went back and partially unstrung two to redo them. Each takes me around 30-45 minutes [I might’ve been playing Bubble Witch Saga and listening to And That’s Why We Drink simultaneously].

Basically, this bracelet will take me forever because it needs 20 links for an 8 inch bracelet, and mine wrist is 6.5″.

And I’m definitely going to get bored of this soon. See aforementioned project above…

 


Verdict: Listen, I feel like Facet really went all in on the packaging and presentation, but not so much the projects. Don’t start off your box with a seed bead project either. It just looks cheap. The villagers helped validate my feelings of disappointment when I opened this box. While their kits look on par for a similar price, this box promises twice the retail value. And unless those findings are real or coated gold and silver, I’m doubting this box’s contents would equal $24. The instructions for the link project were okay, but I could have used a better visual on what one link looked like because I messed mine up immediately.

 

Which piece would you rather make and / or wear? Let us know!

 

Disclosure: This box was purchased at a discount. There are no referral links.

  3 comments for “Facet Jewelry Box Subscription Review — February 2018

  1. March 8, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    I was thinking of picking up a monthly beading box to make up for my monthly loss of PopSugar. But I worry that my reviews would be plain and not fancy so I need to step up my game and take some more classes (I took some classes pre-Squeakers) to spur creativity. I just find something expensive I want to recreate and goto a bead store to make it (e.g., Alexis Bittar cluster earring drops a few years back).
    I digress, the box was a gorgeous presentation but totally no value for what you paid! Wow what in the world were they thinking supplying seed beads for one of the two projects!?!

    • March 20, 2018 at 1:41 pm

      Hah, thanks. The next has shipped already, so we’ll see what they do to make subscribers want to stick around / come back.

  2. jeannette hamilton
    August 4, 2018 at 12:49 pm

    I’ve paid but haven’t received my first box, how long does it take?

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