Craft Room Barb Is Back… And She Brought the Hobby Lobby Bag
Previously on Bead Dynasty…
I did something questionable.
Not Amazon Halloween bead kit with one completely useless green bead questionable.
Possibly worse.
I gave Craft Room Barb an allowance, sent her across the border with access to a Hobby Lobby and uttered two words that may haunt me forever:
“You pick.”
No shopping list.
No colour palette.
No links.
No carefully written instructions.
Just money, Barb and the bead aisle.
Then I waited.
Well, people...
Barb is back.
And there is currently a Hobby Lobby bag sitting in my craft room.
Coffee has been poured.
The bag is in hand.
It's time to find out what kind of situation we're in.
The Eagle Has Landed
While Barb was away, everything inside this bag existed only in my imagination.
Maybe she bought beautiful glass beads.
Maybe she found fantastic charms.
Maybe she chose colours I would never have picked for myself.
Maybe after spending enough time in my craft room asking “What is that for?”, she has secretly absorbed years of bead knowledge and is about to reveal herself as some sort of bracelet-making savant.
Or...
Maybe there's something in this bag that's going to make me look at her and ask:
“Barb. What is that for?”
Honestly, that possibility seems more on brand.
The Rules Were Dangerously Simple
For anyone just joining this questionable experiment, Barb was given a budget and complete creative control over some of my September bracelet-making supplies.
I didn't tell her what to buy.
And now that the bag is here, that's actually the part of this experiment I'm most interested in.
As makers, we develop habits without even realizing it.
We gravitate toward certain colours. We know which beads work together. We have favourite materials. We walk into a craft store and automatically head toward the things that look like us.
Hand the shopping over to someone else and suddenly those safety rails disappear.
Whatever Barb has brought home, I'm going to have to look at it with fresh eyes and figure out what I can make from her choices.
And that may be the genuinely useful lesson hiding underneath all this nonsense:
Sometimes the easiest way to shake up your creativity is to let somebody else choose the supplies.
Do I necessarily recommend handing your craft budget to your friend and setting her loose in another country?
Let's see what's in the bag before I answer that.
So... What Did Barb Buy?
The Officially Unofficial Barb Rating System
5/5 — BARB!
Apparently you've been paying attention all these years.
4/5 — Well played, Barb.
I can definitely work with this.
3/5 — Okay...
I see possibilities.
2/5 — Barb, we're going to need to talk.
1/5 — What is that for?
Seems fair.
Insert suspenseful music…
Barb's First Find
A pound of alphabet beads!
Barb’s First Find: ONE POUND of Words
First out of the mysterious Hobby Lobby bag: alphabet beads.
Not a little package of alphabet beads, either.
One. Whole. Pound.
Okay, Barb. I see you.
This is actually an incredibly useful choice because I make a ridiculous number of word bracelets—names, little sayings, friendship bracelets and whatever collection of letters happens to be trending at the moment. Letter beads are one of those supplies that I can genuinely never have too many of.
And apparently Barb has been paying attention.
Perhaps we should briefly remember the ILYSM bracelet situation, which proved that Craft Room Barb may not always understand what the letters are saying... but she certainly knows I use a lot of them.
At $13.99 for a full pound, there's also enough here that I shouldn't be digging through the bottom of a tiny package desperately searching for another E anytime soon.
After the alphabet disasters we've experienced previously on Bead Dynasty, this feels downright luxurious.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
I know. First item out of the bag and I'm already giving her a five.
Barb understood the assignment.
And now I'm slightly concerned that this experiment is going to backfire and she's going to become unbearably smug about it.
Next Out of the Bag...
Next out of the bag is a $8.99 bead mix in six colour families—white, pink, yellow, green, blue and purple—with different shapes and sizes in each color.
Barb’s Second Find: The Happy Little Rainbow Situation
And then there are the smiley faces.
Apparently Barb decided September needed to be happier. 😂
At first glance, this isn't necessarily a box I would have grabbed for myself. But THAT is precisely why we sent Barb shopping instead of me.
There are rounds, little hearts, flowers, chunky shapes and those smiley-face beads, which means this isn't really one bracelet kit. It's a box of little accent beads that can be mixed with supplies I already have.
And that immediately gives me ideas.
A smiley bead tucked into a word bracelet. A little heart as a focal. Monochromatic bracelets using several shapes from the same colour section. Or pulling one colour from this box and combining it with heishi beads already in the craft room.
That is exactly what I wanted this experiment to do: put something on my desk that makes me think beyond what I would normally buy.
And for $8.99, there's quite a bit to play with.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
I'm holding back one star simply because I need to actually make something with these before Barb gets full credit. 😂
But two items into the bag and I have yet to say “What is that for?”
Frankly, this is becoming concerning.
And Then Barb Did This...
And there it is.
The moment we all knew was coming.
I reached into the Hobby Lobby bag, pulled these out and had only one question:
“Barb. What is this?”
Apparently these are beads.
More specifically, a 650-piece assortment of very bright, very colourful, very oddly shaped beads that I can honestly say I have never bought, used or possibly even noticed before.
Barb has officially left my comfort zone.
My immediate reaction was somewhere between What on earth am I supposed to do with these? and Okay... wait a minute.
Because upon further inspection, I can see it.
Kiddy bracelets.
Bright colours. Funny shapes. Some transparent, some opaque. They're chunky, cheerful and just strange enough that kids will probably think they're fabulous.
Are they useful?
Hmmmm.
Let's not get carried away.
Are they usable?
Absolutely.
And really, isn't that the whole point of the Barb Experiment?
If I'd gone into Hobby Lobby myself, these would never have made it into my cart. I probably wouldn't have given them a second glance. But now they're sitting in my craft room, which means I have to stop looking at them as something I wouldn't buy and start asking:
What can I make with them?
That little shift is exactly what I was hoping would happen when I handed someone else the shopping decisions.
I'm already thinking these could be mixed with some of my brighter beads, maybe a few alphabet beads from Barb's rather sensible first purchase, and turned into fun word bracelets for the younger crowd.
So while my first reaction was most definitely “What is that for?”, I'm not writing them off.
In fact, I think these weird little things may have just issued me a challenge.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Useful? Jury's still out.
Usable? Definitely.
Something I would have bought myself?
Not a chance.
Which, strangely enough, might make this one of Barb's most successful choices so far.
Barb’s Next Find: Back in My Comfort Zone
After the mystery beads, I reached into the bag again and pulled out something that immediately made sense.
Blue heishi beads.
Okay, Barb. We're back on solid ground.
These are exactly the type of beads I've been working with lately, and this beautiful turquoise-blue is ridiculously easy to build around. Add some of those alphabet beads Barb already bought, a few contrasting heishi colours from my stash, maybe a focal bead or charm, and we've got ourselves a bracelet.
What I particularly like about this choice is that Barb didn't buy a complete colour assortment. She picked one colour.
That means I still get to do the creative part—deciding what to pair it with and where the bracelet goes from here.
And for anyone experimenting with heishi bracelets, this is actually a great way to build your bead stash without buying enormous kits. Start with a few individual strands in colours you genuinely like, then mix them with letter beads, focal beads and supplies you already own. You don't need 47 colours sitting on the desk before you can make something interesting.
Would I have picked these myself?
Absolutely.
Which means after those last mystery beads, Barb has successfully brought my blood pressure back down.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Useful? Yes.
Versatile? Definitely.
Already mentally turned into about six different bracelets?
Also yes.
And perhaps most importantly...
I know what these are for.
Barb's recovering nicely from the Mystery Bead Incident.
Barb’s Next Find: Apparently We Have a Colour Palette
Next out of the bag: aqua pearl beads.
And now I'm starting to wonder if Barb had a plan.
These came out right after the turquoise heishi beads, and while they're completely different in style, they're close enough in colour that my brain immediately starts trying to put them together.
The heishi beads are casual and fun. These aqua pearls bring in some shine and a slightly more grown-up feel.
And that is something worth remembering when you're making bracelets: beads don't have to be the same style to belong in the same bracelet. Mixing finishes and textures—matte heishi beside glossy pearls, for example—can make a fairly simple colour palette much more interesting.
Would I use an entire bracelet of bright aqua pearls?
Probably not.
Would I use them as accents with heishi, glass beads, silver spacers or even some of those new alphabet beads?
Absolutely.
They're also only $2.99, which makes them a pretty inexpensive way to add a different finish to the bead stash.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
I'm taking away one star only because these are going to need the right supporting cast. They're not necessarily something I would have gone looking for on their own.
But paired with the turquoise heishi beads Barb just pulled off?
Hmm.
Craft Room Barb may have had a vision.
And frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about discovering that.
Wait for It… More Turquoise
I reached into the bag again.
And...
Turquoise.
Okay, Barb. We may have identified a theme.
But before I accuse her of simply buying every turquoise bead she encountered, these deserve a closer look because they're actually quite interesting.
They're a flattened, almost tablet-shaped bead, in a mix of bright turquoise, softer aqua-green and creamy neutral. That shape is what caught my attention first. Most of the bracelets I make rely heavily on round beads, heishi discs and the occasional focal bead, so these would add a completely different silhouette.
And once again, Barb has handed me something I probably wouldn't have picked for myself.
Unlike our earlier Mystery Beads, though, I don't have to think very hard about how I'd use these.
They'd make a great bracelet on their own, but I'm much more tempted to mix them with round beads. Using different bead shapes is an easy way to add interest to a bracelet without needing a complicated colour palette. Even two or three colours can look completely different when you start mixing shapes, sizes and finishes.
And conveniently...
I now appear to own approximately 47 varieties of turquoise beads.
Thanks, Barb.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
Interesting shape? Absolutely.
Colours I'll use? Definitely.
Something I probably would have walked straight past?
Yep.
Another shade of turquoise?
Lord love a duck, Barb. 🤣
Well, Well, Well… Barb Found the Clearance Rack
And suddenly we've taken a turn.
Out of the bag comes this strand of beautiful, irregular stone beads in the softest mix of blues, greens and barely-there pinks.
My first thought?
These are really pretty.
My second?
BARB FOUND THE CLEARANCE SECTION.
Originally $7.99.
Reduced to $1.99.
Okay, now we're talking.
These are quite different from the bright, playful beads we've seen so far. They're irregular in shape, each one is a little different, and the colours are soft and almost earthy.
And I love that.
This is another good example of why mixing bead shapes can make a bracelet interesting without requiring a lot of extras. When the beads themselves have natural variation in shape, colour and pattern, you don't necessarily need to pile on charms, spacers and embellishments. Sometimes the beads can do the work.
I could easily see these becoming a more grown-up bracelet—perhaps mixed with glass beads, a few subtle metallic accents, or even kept fairly simple and allowed to be the star.
Would I have noticed these?
Possibly.
Would I have noticed them with a giant $1.99 clearance sticker attached?
You bet your sweet bippy I would have.
😂
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Interesting.
Usable.
Different from what we've already seen.
And seventy-five percent off?
Barb, you beautiful bargain-hunting little beast.
This may be my favourite surprise from the bag so far.
Intervention Averted
Originally $14.99. Reduced to $3.49.
Just when I was beginning to think Barb had spent the entire Hobby Lobby trip standing in front of the turquoise section...
Plot twist.
Out came these.
Warm amber, bronze and smoky tones, rectangular glass beads with gorgeous flashes of blue and purple when the light hits them.
And once again, there's that beautiful orange clearance sticker.
Originally $14.99. Reduced to $3.49.
Apparently Barb wasn't just bead shopping.
Barb was bargain hunting.
And I have to say, these are gorgeous.
They're much more sophisticated than some of the other beads in the bag, and that iridescent finish changes depending on how the light catches them. That gives me all kinds of possibilities for fall bracelets without screaming PUMPKIN! LEAF! IT'S FALL! at everyone.
This is actually a useful little bracelet-making trick: your seasonal colour palette doesn't have to be literal. Fall doesn't have to mean orange beads and leaf charms. Amber, bronze, smoky brown and even flashes of deep blue can give you that warm autumn feeling in a much subtler way.
These could be beautiful paired with warm neutrals, bronze or gold accents, smoky glass beads—or possibly kept fairly simple because there's already so much happening inside the glass.
Would I have picked them?
You know what?
I very well might have.
Especially for $3.49.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Beautiful? Yep.
Interesting? Definitely.
Perfect timing for September?
Absolutely.
Turquoise?
NO.
Five stars, Barb. Five glorious, non-turquoise stars. 🤣
Next out of the bag: matte black glass seed beads.
The Quiet Overachiever
Lots and LOTS of matte black glass seed beads.
And I love them.
They're simple. They're neutral. They're not particularly flashy. But these are exactly the kind of beads that quietly earn their keep in a bead stash because I can use them with almost anything.
Bright colours? Black works.
Pastels? Black gives them some edge.
Halloween? Obviously.
Word bracelets? Absolutely.
Those amber clearance beads Barb just found? Yep.
And dare I say it...
Turquoise?
The matte finish is what really sells these for me. Instead of a shiny black bead that can sometimes compete with everything around it, these have a softer finish that makes them a fantastic supporting bead.
And there are so many of them.
That's another thing I've learned when buying beads: the most exciting bead in the store isn't always the most useful one in your stash. Having a good supply of basic colors and finishes gives you something to build around when you bring home those fabulous focal beads that you had absolutely no plan for.
Not that anyone around here ever does that.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Useful? Extremely.
Versatile? Ridiculously.
Will I use them?
Until Barb is back at Hobby Lobby buying me another strand.
Five stars.
And Then Barb Got Artsy…
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Next out of the bag were these beauties.
And I immediately loved them.
They're round glass beads with a metallic silver and black base, splattered with little flashes of blue and red — almost like somebody took a paintbrush to them and decided more mess was exactly what they needed.
Obviously, I approve.
These are the kind of beads that do most of the design work for you. Every bead is slightly different, so even a very simple bracelet is going to have movement and interest without needing a pile of extra embellishments.
And here's another useful little bracelet-making tip: when you've got a bead with this much pattern, don't fight it. Pair it with simpler beads that pull out one of the colours already there.
Black would be fantastic.
Silver would work.
Deep blue.
Red.
And wouldn't you know it...
Barb just bought me approximately eleven miles of matte black glass beads.
Suddenly that purchase is looking even smarter.
I can already picture these with the matte black beads and maybe a couple of silver accents. Simple, slightly edgy and completely different from the bright friendship bracelets I've been making lately.
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Would I buy them? Yep.
Will I use them? Yep.
Do I already have a bracelet forming in my head?
Also yep.
And I'm beginning to see the real benefit of handing someone else your bead-shopping money. Barb isn't just bringing home beads I wouldn't necessarily choose — she's making me see combinations I wouldn't have planned.
Which was the whole point of this ridiculous experiment.
Damn it, Barb.
You're getting dangerously good at this.
And Finally… Barb’s Favorite
She bought 2 strands!
We've reached the bottom of the Hobby Lobby bag.
And apparently Barb saved her pièce de résistance for last.
These little gold rhinestone-covered... balls of enthusiasm.
😂
Barb LOVED these.
Not just Oh, those are kind of pretty loved them.
She liked them enough to buy two strands.
So naturally, when she showed them to me, I smiled and did what any good friend would do.
I did not tell her they were absolutely not my favourite beads in the bag.
🤣
Because here's the thing: they're not ugly. They're sparkly, colourful, very gold and definitely have personality. They're just... a lot.
And they're very much not something I would have chosen for myself.
Which makes them absolutely perfect for this experiment.
The whole reason I handed Barb an allowance and sent her into Hobby Lobby with the instruction “You pick” was to see what would happen when somebody else chose my September bracelet supplies.
If everything she brought home was exactly what I would have bought myself, there wouldn't have been much point.
These?
These are the point.
Now I have to figure out how to use them in a way that still looks and feels like something I would make.
And that's actually a really useful creative exercise. When you're working with a bead that's outside your usual style, don't immediately try to build the whole design around it. Treat it as an accent first. Pull one colour from it. Pair it with quieter beads. Give the eye somewhere to rest.
These have gold, turquoise, green, red, blue and little hits of other colours—which means I have options.
And somewhere in this ridiculous Hobby Lobby haul, Barb has probably already bought me the beads to go with them.
Although if anyone suggests pairing them with turquoise, we're going to have words.
😂
The Barb Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Would I have bought them?
Nope.
Are they Barb's favourite?
Apparently twice over.
Can I make something with them?
Absolutely.
Do I know what yet?
Not a frigging clue.
But perhaps that's exactly how this challenge should end.
So... Did Barb Understand the Assignment?
I handed Craft Room Barb an allowance, sent her into Hobby Lobby in another country and gave her complete control over my September bracelet supplies.
This is a woman whose most frequently uttered sentence in my craft room is:
“What is that for?”
I expected chaos.
Instead, she brought back staples I'll use constantly, colours I love, beads I never would have noticed, some fantastic clearance finds, enough turquoise to establish a small sovereign nation, and a few things that are going to force me to get creative.
And that was the experiment.
It wasn't really about whether Barb could shop exactly like me.
It was about what happens when you let somebody else interrupt your usual creative choices.
We all gravitate toward the same colours, shapes and styles because we know what to do with them. Handing the decisions to someone else takes that safety net away. Suddenly you're looking at a bead you never would have purchased and asking a much more interesting question than Do I like this?
You're asking:
What could I do with this?
And that might be the biggest surprise in the Hobby Lobby bag.
So, did Barb pass?
Oh, absolutely.
Will I give her another allowance?
Let's not get carried away. She just got home.
But yes, the answer is yes. I most certainly would!
But first, I've got bracelets to make.
And apparently two entire strands of Barb's favourite sparkly gold balls to deal with.
One Last Mystery Item…
Just when I thought the Hobby Lobby Experiment was officially over, I looked at the receipt.
Beads.
Beads.
More beads.
Clearance beads.
A reusable bag.
More beads.
Candy — $1.99.
Wait.
Candy?
I emptied that bag.
There was no candy in that bag.
Wait! What???!?!
What candy did I apparently buy Barb?
Was this payment for services rendered?
A little snack to keep her strength up while wandering the bead aisles?
A congratulatory bonus because she absolutely nailed the assignment?
Or did Bargain Barb simply decide that after exercising that much restraint in Hobby Lobby, she deserved herself a treat?
I have no idea.
But I'm not even mad about it.
Considering I handed this woman money, sent her unsupervised into Hobby Lobby and somehow ended up with an incredibly useful, wonderfully weird, surprisingly thoughtful pile of beads...
Barb earned the $1.99 candy.
Whatever the heck it was.
We’ll just call it the candy that never made it to Canada!
And finally, a huge thank you to my absolutely wonderful friend, Craft Room Barb, for taking the time to play along with this slightly ridiculous little experiment. I absolutely adore her—and the fact that nothing involving Barb ever goes quite as expected just makes it better. ❤️ And apparently, we’re not finished yet! Our next adventure is already planned: same budget, but this time we’re heading to Michaels here in Canada to see just how far that money gets us. Something tells me Craft Room Barb and I may have accidentally started a whole series of adventures!
And Then Comes the Real Challenge...
Because buying the beads was only Barb's part of this experiment.
Now comes mine.
I actually have to make something with them.
Whatever happens next, September's bracelet-making plans have officially been influenced by Craft Room Barb.
And I have a feeling we're not finished with this story yet.
Because eventually these Hobby Lobby finds need to leave their packages, hit the craft desk and become something.
Which means there will undoubtedly be another episode of Bead Dynasty.
For now, though, I'm going through this bag.
One bead at a time.
Coffee in hand.
And Barb nearby in case I need to ask...
“What is that for?”
To be continued...
