A Better Place To Bead

I have always been fond of beading, and I still love coming back to this place even after finish school here. The ladies here are always super sweet– if you ever have a question about how best to approach picking a color scheme for a beading project, need some help fixing up/​reinforcing your favorite jewelry piece, or perhaps just wanted to pop in to pick up a one of a kind hand-​made set of earrings for someone, it is impossible to go wrong at A Better Place to Bead with the guidance of these ladies.
My favorite part has to be the fact that there are multiple spacious seats at a few beading worktable in the center of the store. If you have time to sprawl out and work on your project, this really is one of the best ways to spend a relaxing afternoon. Flathead/​needlenose pliers are provided along with nail clippers for precise cutting of all your strings and/​or head/​eye pins. The felt place mats are also a wonderful touch to make sure your beads don’t keep rolling away from ya! With all kinds of beads (glass, metal, stone, pearls, semi-​precious stones, etc), chains (plated and full gold/​silver, etc), charms, clasps, bails… pretty much anything you could need, this place has it all. I highly recommend coming here if you’re of the craft sort! =]

A Better Place to Bead is a really good bead store with lots of nice beads, though I didn’t see any that jumped out at me as ***amazingly unusual and stunning*** (the kinds of beads I find on etsy). I found what I was looking for, though: an assortment of quality beads (unlike, say, Michael’s would offer) in many colours and styles, plus the beading basics… seed beads, jump rings, and so on.
There’s a decent assortment of cords and the store has samples of their various cords on rings so you can really see & feel what’s available — the samples are very helpful.
There’s some jewelry for sale and some hung up to inspire, which is nice. Good selection of tools. I noticed that customers can bring a project in to work on right in the store, use the tools at the space provided — really terrific if you’re interested in doing that.
The pricing on craft wire is way too high (Michael’s has a better assortment for less than half the price… I wish small biz would make more of an effort to stay competitive with the box stores AND with online sellers). I am delighted to see hemp twine at A better Place to bead! Other types of cord I like to see in the nicer bead boutiques are raw silk cord in LOTS of colours AND sari silk ribbon (again, like I find on etsy). I’ve never found sari silk ribbon in any IRL shop or store, only online.
The woman working, by the way, was sweet and helpful.

I love this shop. They have some great and unique finds. They have free beading classes and the employees are super sweet and helpful. This is my favorite bead shop. Oh and be sure to look at the beads in the cases… I have purchased some of my best beads here.

I really like this place. It is hidden with some other shops downstairs. The prices are reasonable. I love their satin cord — best price I’ve seen — 45 cents per yard! I also got and like the earring stand/​holder which wasn’t the best quality, but for about $ 6 it worked for what I needed. It is not a very big store, but it has a lot of beads, findings, displays, and lots of other supplies. I would recommend this place to you.

i’m so glad i found this shop! it’s pretty hidden, and if they didn’t have a sign upstairs (outside), i’d probably never see them! it’s a cozy place with every single thing you need to make accessories and more. i don’t know if the lady who’s always there is the owner, but she’s wonderful and so helpful and accommodating. i’ve been there twice and i will go there from now on for all my beading and such, needs. so glad they exist. and their prices are very reasonable! yay!

I recently spent 3 months in Davis and this was my favorite place. I was just learning, got lots of technical help from the owner and the selection of beads was excellent and well organized. I have since returned home to a larger community which should have more options but really, nothing compares to the Davis shop.

A Better Place to Bead needs a BETTER ATTITUDE. Snooty snooty girls behind the counter. I have been in twice and even stood at the counter once and not so much as a nod or blink of acknowledgement. Can I leave a negative star?

I always love coming in here and looking through all the beads. Pretty~~ Oooh and aaah. I say I’m only going to go in for 15 mins to get some more supplies, but I always end up staying for over an hour. Hehe, oops! I just can’t help it!
Great selection of beads and reasonable prices. The workers are very helpful if you have questions.

I blame my friend.
Usually, I blame myself, but for this I blame my friend.
You see, in my current state of ex-​recovery, I’ve been trying out new things to keep myself occupied and therefor out of trouble (ie, going back to an ex, that kind of usual BS) So, since I am always on the lookout for a cool necklace or bracelet but failing to find one with my tastes, my friend Mel told me about this little place and initiated me into the sisterhood of making your own jewelry.
This is a great place for beads and I have to say, the best in the area (including Sacramento) in regards to stock and pricing. What I like here, is that if you are not interested in purchasing beads in bulk, you have the option of buying them individual, which is better for me since I’m not good enough to buy in bulk yet.
I ended up purchasing a strand of green aventurite stones, a strand of moss agate and tigerseye beads. I’m not much for fake stuff, so the fact that this store labels all their items made my search much easier.
They also have table open so that if you are in the store and on a mission, you are welcome to bead away at your heart’s content. Just be done by 5:30 :)

BEADS EVERYWHERE!!! Great place for those who like to make their own bracelets/​necklaces. Every type of bead is place in its own cup and the price is neatly marked. They even have tables for you to piece together your masterpieces and offer a large selection of strings. The pricing is great! The only thing I’m kind of wary of is the fact that they sucked me in for an hour or two just picking out beads!!!
Have a bit of free time on your hands? OK with spending a few hours picking out beads? This place is surely for you.

Unilocal! I don’t get to go here much anymore because I moved to the Bay Area last year!!!
But when I do get around to visiting, I always stop here to pick up some materials before I venture home. The pricing is moderate in comparison to other places, but the selection is amazing since they expanded about a year ago. The staff is always friendly and willing to help you, and they offer classes if you want to become more bead-​savvy.
Don’t try stopping by on Sundays, because they are closed.

I love this place! :] It’s awesome! The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, always willing to help out. Makes me sad though, because every time I come here, I end up spending more… and more… and more.
(internal voice: STOP, FARRAH. …But this is only 10 cents more!)
yeah, okay, anyway. They have a card thing and if you spend a certain amount, you get something equivalent to a $ 5 gift certificate, I think.
I signed up for a class, but there weren’t enough people to fill the class, so I had store credit for basically over half a year because I didn’t have the time to go there to pick it up, but they still had me in their records, so I got it back with no problem.
The beading table closes at 5:30 p.m.; the store closes at 6 p.m. They hold classes ($ 10) from 6 – 9 p.m. on Tuesday nights; the price sometimes includes some of the supplies. Call in advance to register!

sigh… where do i begin with this place.
I LOVEEEEEEEEEEE THIS PLACE. during my time in college, it was my haven, if i didn’t want anyone to find me, escape my college relationship turmoil, procrastinate from school and kill a few hours, it would be here.
the people
the people that work here are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice. they are really talented and they have an actual interest in beading and creating beautiful works of jewelry. super helpful, they teach you the basics and are very patient and knowledgeable.
the setting
this place is absolutely organized. you can find everything soooooo easily here, and its very easy to navigate. the system of organization of all the beads is very intuitive. they have tiny muffin pans to use so that you can place your beads in by price, also trays where you can organize the design patterns for necklaces or bracelets. there are tables where they provide you with the basic tools to start beading. if you have any questions, i always asked the owner lady, she is SO awesome!
the goods
they have TONS of beads. they have your regular conventiional beads you would find at joann’s and michaels, but they also have natural stones, metalwork, glass, plastic, clay. in the glass cases, you can find their more pricier beads but they are SOOOOO worth it. i found some AWESOME skull beads made out of peach pits. how unique and amazing is that? they got tons of crystal beads all sparkling, and the silver and gold clasps and hooks and studs for earrings and necklaces and bracelets.
the services
they host some classes time to time which i haven’t been to, but they are so sweet i’m certain they are helpful and will bring your creativity to a new level.
my appriciation and taste of jewelry changed vastly as i started coming to this place regularly. your own creativity is the only thing that limits the exquisite jewelry that you can hash out.
i’ve made some crazy earrings here during my big earring phase, and i get soooo many compliments on all of them, and they are absolutely one of a kind. you would think that jewelry making is super complex and tedious, but the workers there are so helpful, and teach you the basics, and also help you out with some of the more advanced stuff. if you have and idea for your next project, they will help you work with what they have in inventory to make your idea a reality.
making your own jewelry is SOOOO much cheaper than what you pay in most department stores, it makes you realize you get ripped the heck off!!!
def a great gift idea, great to bring kids for little afternoon projects, i’ve seen dates here, i’ve seen a guy trying to make something for his gf (totally sweet).
tends to get busier during the weekends, this is where the locals come (locals i mean the people at actually LIVE in davis voluntarily, non students/​transplants)