Loved them, however, they are now closed. They had excellent customer service, and great quality inventory.

Hope they come back :( I loved all the unique beads and tools found here. I will be joining their email list read more

Brea Bead Works - Business is closed for now :( - Arts & Crafts Near Me - Brea, California

love this store. It is my 2nd time visiting this store but my first purchase. Sonia was very friendly, patient, and helpful. She helped me picked my aquamarine and moonstones that I need to extend my bracelet. She doesn't push the sale and gave me plenty of my space to pick the right stones. The moonstones have high flash! It is worth it to pick the right stones in person read more

Brea Bead Works - Moonstones I picked today only $0.50 each - Arts & Crafts Near Me - Brea, California

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Really helpful staff and great products! I love the selection of findings in many different metal finishes. The beads are high quality and nicely curated. A class was going on while I was there and it looked really fun. I think I'll take one soon! read more

Josie was so nice and helpful! I came in looking for quality supplies to make mala beads, and found everything I needed and a whole store full of things I will definitely be back for! Great selection, very patient and friendly staff. I'll be recommending this location to all my crafty friends and I'm sure I'll be back soon! read more

Lady who work there is Very kind and excellent service. I strongly recommend this place. 5 stars!!

Love going here and love the people here. They are kind and go out of their way to make you feel welcome. The classes are fun and you learn so much, plus you meet such nice people. read more

Wendy and Scott have an incredible selection of beads from all around the world and are always very friendly and helpful.They offer a variety of jewelry workshops all week, and you can also rent out studio space for your own projects. They are located across from the mall and there is plenty of parking in their plaza. Great family store, the perfect place for all your bead needs! Bead Works! --- Warning, this is Brea Bead Works, not Brea Bread Works! I made a mistake of planning my whole week around walking to get some fresh bread on a weekend morning and nearly killed myself once I got close and realized there were no soft loaves, just hard beads. Oh the despair. BEADDDD WWOOORRRKKSS!!!! (shakes fist) read more

I might agree with the overpriced comments... on the other hand you can go to Michael's or Joann's and not support local entrepenuers. You can Also spend more in gas going downtown if you'd like, but the overpriced amount is not like $100, it's closer to $1 or 2. They have things that other stores don't have for sure. The classes tell you what other costs will have to come up so I don't understand the complaints on that. Also, yes you have to buy tools, they are typical jewelry tools, most people who make jewelry will have them. Yes I had to buy them for my first class, but oh well. I really appreciate Wendy as an instructor and an owner. I will continue to take classes. The staff is friendly and helpful. If you register for a class you get coupons and 10% off anything you buy off your class list there. Just their willingness to help is enough to keep me taking classes. read more

I love this place. My lady and I wanted to make our own wedding rings for our wedding and learned about precious metal clay.. we looked and looked for places in southern California to buy it as we needed it in a hurry.. we heard through someone at Micheal's that Brea Bead Works carried it and went over there to get some.. Jenifer, the woman who helped me, was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable and got me started with a couple products.. We soon figured out that we couldn't really fire the rings in our ceramic kiln and that we could leave our rings with the ladies at the store to fire for a very reasonable price... they helped us with every step of the process and went out of their way to help us get things done on time for our wedding. we found out that there are jewelry classes here too that we plan to take. they are open 7 days a week too! wow! read more

I accidentally stumbled upon this shop and boy am I glad I did. This bead store is one of the best that I have found in Orange County thus far. They have a great selection of beads, findings, & chain. I really love how bright and open this store is, there is plenty of room to shop without bumping into people. They also have a great class schedule offering classes featuring many different jewelry making techniques. read more

I visited this store the other day- I am new to beading and have been to just 3 other ' bead' shops. This shop was big and spacious. Large selection of beads and findings. I was looking for something specific that the other bead stores did not have- and I found it here! The prices for beads were about the same compared to other bead shops I've been too. The employees were very friendly and welcoming. I will definately go back in the future! read more

This place is small with a limited selection of merchandise. There is a large space for classes next door. I was baffled by the pricing. Some things were fair (compared to the San Gabriel Bead Co). Other items, I could not figure out how they justified the price. Some items were outrageously expensive compared to other bead stores. There wasn't much variety. One positive was that the worker I encountered was friendly. This place is acceptable, as long as you know the general market prices of the items you are looking for and can discern if it is a reasonable price to pay. read more

I visited this store yesterday for the first time. I'm making my own bridal jewelry and recently fell in love with Swarovski pearls and crystals. I found the selection in this store to be really great. They had so many varieties of colored Swarovski pearls, but I did find that they were out of many colors of the crystals. And, I thought their pricing on those items was pretty high; almost double what I've paid for the same items in the Bay Area. But the store I shop in San Jose didn't have some of the colors I found, so I went ahead and purchased more than I really need, so I have some left over. The store was nicely laid out. Spacious enough so you're not knocking anything off of shelves and I liked they way they had open stock beads in baskets. They have a great selection. The only thing I wasn't thrilled about was that I wasn't greeted at all by any of the workers. I'm an outsider in this area, so to speak, and I definitely felt like an outsider in this store. The cashier was friendly enough but I feel like if I needed any help, I was pretty much on my own. read more

I just started making jewelry for fun and found Brea Bead Works online. Turns out I've been driving past it all my life, it's right next to the Brea Mall. This place is great. It's freakin huge and really nice. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They have a nice selection of focal beads, pendants, and gemstone beads. A lot of findings and crystal beads. A wall full of seed beads but not the greatest selection. Also, they have a studio and you can sign up for a whole bunch of different workshops. read more

Love this place. My friend told me about if for years and I heisted on going till a few months ago cause it was so far. So worth the drive. This place is not majorly OVER PRICED if you want quality. If you want quantity, go to Michael's. Your also paying for the time somebody took to find, scout, test out, and research on finding you good quality products. This is a mom and pop store, they do not have the buying power of your mega retailer. So that's why your paying a few dollars more, so be it if you want to have the benefit of having a store like this around. You know your getting quantity hand picked products by a person who knows what they are doing, rather then somebody just pointing in a catalogue to fill store shelves. If your going to the jewelry district, good luck that you are getting what they are telling you what they are selling. You really need to know what you are buying and doing. I have a diploma from GIA, and I've been metal smithing for over 15 years, sotra know what I'm talking about. Making Jewelry is an expensive hobby. I understand that I have to invest in my own tools, that I have to pay for a kit and class. I tend to choose the cheaper kits cause I'm here to learning the technique. You can learn a lot of things off youtube and books, but you don't get the expertise of the teacher and the little tricks that they came up with. That's why I go to these classes. These little tricks, can be freaking life savers and worth their weight for the class fees. I also understand I'm not gong to walk out of class with a perfect piece but rather then an appreciation of the hard work of the artisans that they put into a piece. read more

Have always found unique items and a lovely selection here. Store staff are super helpful and knowledge. Nice selection of classes for all types of beading and wire/metal work. Happy to support a locally owned store. read more

This place is a small place near the mall and I have come here several times but the place is small and it doesn't have a huge selection. The staffers are knoledgeable but I was sold a product that didn't do what it said it would do and thinking back was a product that wouldn't have accomplishe my goals so in a sense I feel cheated because the staffer said it was what I needed and it would do what she described. Anyhow I will go back just to see what they have and see what new creations I can accomplish when that time comes around. I did feel pressure into buying the gadget and I don't like feeling this way when I shop. read more

Beware of the classes you take here. You won't get a credit or refund if the instructor doesn't finish teaching the item. The type of instructor will make or break your class, but the owners, Scott and Wendy, don't really want to be bothered or care about the quality of instruction or even the service. They seem nice upfront, but they are also rude and outright nasty if you have a problem. I took a class involving drilling holes in a stone to make a pendant, and Wendy made repeated comments about how expensive the drill bit was (she said they cost one dollar), and was upset when watching the students use it. If someone was too slow and let the drill continue to spin on the stone, it would blunt the tip. So she stood there hovering and complaining, clearly upset and angry. It was awkward to try and drill my piece in front of her, and sure enough, I didn't drlll down far enough so my wire didn't fit through the back of the hole. The hole wasn't wide enough in the back. I would've had to let the drill continue spinning downwards to make it wider, and I was trying hard not to blunt the one dollar tip. BTW, the cost of the class itself was $70, with a lot of additional money that I paid for the supplies, so you can imagine my frustration. I've also had experiences where there is a misunderstanding, and the owners were unbelievably nasty. I took an art clay silver class, and there was a flat crystal stone that I was going to use. I ended up choosing a different one, and gave it back to Scott. He didn't switch it out in the register, because it was the same price. I didn't know the price of either one offhand. So when I checked out, I said that I didn't end up with the stone and explained how I gave it back. Both he and his wife Wendy, along with the art clay instructor at the time- Cindy, gave me such attitude it was unbelievable. I was stunned at how rude they were, and how they didn't believe me. It was a night class, so everyone wanted to go home, and they didn't want to be bothered, so instead of giving their customer the benefit of the doubt, they weren't willing to see that I didn't have the pink stone, or believe me at all. They were convinced that they were right and that I was wrong. It was a horrible experience that went on for several conversational exchanges or more. They were raising their voices and refusing to listen to any explanation. The arguing, disdain, and nastiness was what I received in return for trying to communicate. Finally, Scott remembered that he had exchanged it without putting it thru the register. So it was his fault for not putting the correct item on my tab. He left the stone on there instead of taking it off and putting the right one on! There was NO apology for the confusion or the rudeness. Wait, there's more from this lovely interaction!! I also had another item on my tab (the magnifying lenses) for another class that I was signed up for. They didn't want to give me the class discount for it because the main store was closed and they couldn't check to see if I was really registered for it. They didn't want to believe me on that either. I had signed up for several classes and spent so much money on the classes and supplies. Wendy complained and yelled across the store at me that I shouldn't receive the discount, that I had to wait for the class. I should mention that they were out of stock for some time on it, which is why I wanted to get it before my next class the following week. Unbelievable. I should also mention that a few of the instructors commented on how they raise their prices on their beads, so the discount really isn't much of a discount when you buy them for a class. So buy your beads elsewhere because you are not getting a deal. I have truly never seen a business with such horribly rude staff and owners. I used to enjoy taking bead classes, and now I can't stand the thought of it. I can't believe they have been in business so long. PLEASE, please do yourself a favor, and take classes elsewhere. Don't get burned like I did, and end up hating the thought of jewelry making because of these people. read more

Watch when they check you out. The gentleman who rang me up just assumed that both my items were the same price. They were not and I was over charged. read more

Wendy and Scott were the owners a couple of years ago. Yvette and her husband are the new owners. As far as the materials and tools the store has a good selection for a relatively small store. They have entry level or better quality tools available. The area that can be problematic is in the classes. Some of the instructors are good and gauge the length of time the project will take to learn, with longer classes being more expensive. There are open classes for completing soldering and metal work. The biggest problem I have had is with Kat Clark. She is very knowledgable, but her classes are filled with a clique of women that have been with her for years. It can be very uncomfortable to take those classes, and even after taking many classes, and spending a ton of money with her, you are still not "a minion" (as they have named themselves.) I won't go into great detail about some of the insults and blaming that goes on in her class. Unfortunately there are not a lot of other metal working classes. There is some down in Laguna, in emeritus classes, but I haven't tracked that down yet. read more

Very nice local business, glad to support them. Had to get two pointed back rhinestones and didn't want to get a whole pack of them, luckily this store has them available by singles. The lady who helped me was extremely helpful and friendly, I felt like I was talking to my aunt. I asked her what kind of glue I needed to use, and she recommended one they kept in stock so I got it. She let me know how to use it as well, I followed her instructions and it worked just as she had said. I will return here for anything I need in terms of beads/craft as it seemed they have a large selection of various jewelry-making items. read more

Very under-rated store. It has great products, nice employees, and holds jewelry lessons.

My favorite place ever. I have taken classes here and have learned several different aspects of jewelry making. Wendy and Scott..such great people. Ladies that work there are more then curtious they are helpful and no pressure. I go in for one thing, seriously, and leave with several must haves. It's addictive. Love Brea Bead Works. Their stones are gorgeous!! read more

This is one of my favorite places! I have only ever experienced good customer service and the people who work here are kind and helpful. It's up to you to label the prices on what you buy, so there isn't ever any confusion when you check out. No problems with that ever. I haven't taken any classes here but I've been a long term customer and never had a bad experience. Sad to see all the bad reviews so I thought I'd chime in. read more

I liked the place enough to keep going back and buying their beads though they are way overpriced. I felt that the staff have always been helpful and honest. so i brought in a piece of jewelry that I wanted them to solder. The chain started to "unravel" and I was told that I pulled on it too hard (I only wore it once for like an hr and was extremely gentle). The lady said that it was the way the chain was made... so I said that I wish I knew of the risks before they said they were able to do the job. Her response was that they're not professionals who know the chain...they just soldered it and that she did her job right. I was flabbergasted by her response! NOT PROFESSIONALS?! then why do you take these jobs?... whatever. My friends and I wont be going back to a store where the people who are suppose to know what they're doing don't consider themselves professionals. read more

I agree with other yelpers, this place is overpriced. Your best bet is going downtown to the jewelry district, specifically Maple street. With that said, I recently took a soldering class and boy was I ripped off. FIrst off, beware that there is no refund policy when and if you register for a class. The class fee was $65 dollars and then after I registered had to buy a kit that I was told would be and additional $70 but was charged $81. I was told it would contain the pieces of a bracelet that we would solder in class. This outrageously OVERPRICED "kit" literally contained three small disks, about 15 jump rings , and about an inch of wire. Later I received an email of a list of numerous tools and items i would need for the class. YOu would think that with almost a $200 charge they would supply their students with the necessary tools but NO! In my opinion it was just another way for this store to profit off of their customers! Needless to say I was very upset and after learning that my friend was taking the same exact class in Santa Monica at Moxi Beads, I was super bummed. I called to express my frustrations with all the "hidden" requirements the lady on the phone literally laughed at me for not having the tools they requested. After writing a letter to the owner, I did get an apology and they accommodated me with their supplies, which was nice, still they should supply tools! Though the instructor was nice, the class was just ok. I really feel I could have just learned what was taught on you tube. To make things worst, because they class was running late, they made it seem like they were going to shine and tumble the piece for us, when I should have been able to take it home with me that night. What I'm left with is an ugly $200 solder jump ring bracelet. In my humble and honest opinion, go elsewhere! This place is more then overpriced, it rips you off!!! read more

This bead store is awesome!! The lady that helped me today spent at least 30 minutes helping me pick out colors for a bracelet I am making for Mother's Day. She really was good with colors and took the time to show me what was needed. I have taken classes from this store in the past and it was always so fun and educational. Love Brea Bead Works. Worth the drive to get there from Riverside!! read more

Extreeeemely overpriced. Oh. My. Gosh. They do, however, have a nice selection of very cool beads and sometimes I can't resist paying the silly prices. Employees are very friendly and helpful. I must say, they used to have an even better selection of their glass bead strands, but maybe they are in the process of restocking, so, benefit of the doubt here. I can't help but notice that it seems they break up what I have seen sold as sets at other places, and sell them individually here, at very marked up prices. I guess they fool you into thinking that you are buying one special bead, as opposed to a strand, where your brain thinks if there are a bunch of them, they aren't as special. Therefore, you'll pay more. Their silver filled findings are almost the same price as sterling. read more

I am not a crafty person, nor do I make jewelry. But I have visited this store several times with bracelets and necklaces with broken clasps or elastic. Every time they have been VERY helpful and resolved my problem. read more

Came here to purchase some beads to make a reminder keychain for child to use during the school to remind him where to go after school. The asian lady was super helpful and even offered to bead everything for us so that I wouldn't have to. It does get a bit pricey as for the most part you are paying per bead. But it's totally worth it as you're not stuck with a mega pack of beads and trinkets. read more

I've acquired some family high-quality costume jewelry. Some of it in need of repair. Tall Mouse was my first choice - they had little inventory and sent me to Brea Bead Works. This is a lovely space with lots of well displayed options. I was enthusiastically greeted and both ladies (Wendy and ?) got involved in helping with decisions about what to fix and what to repurpose. They were able to find the supplies I needed and give me followable instructions on how to proceed. If you've got a beading project, this is the go to place. read more

I noticed this bead shop while getting some coffee with some friends nearby. Their selection is not huge, but it's good enough to pick up a few items that you might need. Prices are okay, but I have found items cheaper elsewhere. Staff is nice, not too pushy. They also offer classes. read more

This place rocks! It's a mid-size bead store. The merchandise is good quality and worth getting. The customer service is very good and the place has a warm cozy feeling. They offer great classes as well as studio rental time so you have the option to work on your own stuff as well. Nice :-) read more