Best Bead Buys for Bead Crafters

It's been fairly recently that I got interested in bead craft projects. Before this past year, I thought of beading as only jewelry-making, and figured there was just more than enough beautiful jewelry out their without my needing to try to compete. However, once I got looking at bead crafts and supplies, I found that there was much more to beading. Bead projects can be used to make jewelry, but beading is equally useful and attractive as an adornment for household items and decorative accessories, and this avenue of beading served as not only a profitable, less crowded outlet for bead crafts, but an ideal solution for economical hand made gifts as well.

My discovery of creative home bead crafts like wine glass charms, napkin rings and more spurred me on to find the best deals on beads and bead supplies. Following are my favorite bead retailers.

Wal Mart
Wal Mart is my third favorite place to buy beads and bead supplies. The bead stock is somewhat limited, but has been steadily expanding and is now a local, convenient option when I get the urge to create with beads on a budget. Since I've begun beading my young daughter has gotten the beading bug, too, and wants the pretty, shiny, glass beads like Mom. Wal Mart has been a good place to shop for inexpensive plastic and glass bead supplies for the two of us. With a Wal Mart around every corner these days, it is the closest, most convenient place for me to go.

My rating for Wal Mart's bead department and value for the money: good.

Fire Mountain Gems
2006-2007 Jewelry Maker's Catalog

Fire Mountain Gems is my second favorite place to buy beads and bead supplies, and is the most expensive. Fire Mountain Gems doesn't necessarily lose points for that, it's their higher-quality product that makes it so, however, I am just beginning to get into bead crafting, and I am usually looking for more of a deal. That being said, I certainly do not consider Fire Mountain Gems to be overpriced, and for a quality to value ratio, Fire Mountain Gems is my number one bead source. The bead selection from Fire Mountain Gems is endless, with everything from funky to elegant and everywhere in between.

Fire Mountain Gems offers an "assortable" option for bulk purchasing, allowing consumers to mix and match many bead types and colors to get a discounted price on different kinds of beads.

One drawback of this catalog - Fire Mountain Gems does not guarantee the pricing to be accurate. Prices of the beads and supplies fluctuates up and down over the life of the catalog's offerings, so for the most accurate pricing you have to visit their website at www.firemountiangems.com/pricelist. On the other hand, points are awarded for a wealth of ideas displayed in the catalog with access to bead craft designs and jewelry on the Fire Mountain Gems website.

Fire Mountain Gems also gets my vote for the being most comprehensive bead supplier. In addition to an endless bead selection, every kind and color of wire, clasps, crimps, accessories, tools, as well as a wide selection of charms are offered by Fire Mountain Gems.

My rating for Fire Mountain Gems bead quality and selection: excellent.

Oriental Trading Company
Catalog and online store.

Oriental Trading company is my number one resource for bead craft supplies. Oriental Trading has only recently begun to carry a reliable source of bead supplies, but they have quickly turned beading into one of their niche markets and catalogs.

Oriental Trading offers a very good selection of beads, particularly for novice crafters. This is another place I turn to to purchase beads both for myself and my daughter. Oriental Trading's prices on beads, supplies and tools are very good. More experienced bead and jewelry crafters would probably prefer the quality of Fire Mountain Gems, but for my household accessorizing and gift giving, I tend to need a lot of beads per project, and so the economical prices at Oriental Trading can't be beat for a still good quality product.

Another reason I highly recommend Oriental Trading is for their selection of bulk packages of charms. For jewelry making, again, Fire Mountain Gems' charms are better quality, but I use the beads and charms I buy more often for home crafts such as wine glass charms and napkins rings, when I am making several of one beaded item. I shop for sets of attractive coordinating charms for cheap money, and Oriental Trading is the only reliable bead source for them. Most Oriental Trading charm sets cost under six dollars for units containing twelve to fifty pieces.

Oriental Trading has a somewhat limited supply of bead accessories in the way of wire and tools, but the essentials for most any project are there, and certainly enough to sustain a moderate bead hobby. What's more, the price and value are very good.

I also give credit to Oriental Trading's various bead catalogs for offering creative bead projects and jewelry designs, even more so because the projects are as much (or more) about home crafts as they are about jewelry. Each catalog has several examples, and the website offers instructions as well as bead technique tutorials.

My rating for Oriental Trading Company's overall bead quality and selection: excellent, but know what your priority is.

Bead crafting has proven a creative outlet for my crafting hobby over the past year, and these suppliers have been the best and most complete resources available for my bead crafting needs. I would recommend them as a source of good quality products at reasonable prices for any novice or veteran bead crafter, recognizing that each has its own unique shopping benefits, and bead hobbyists should know what they hope to receive for the beading dollars they spend.