The Bead Shop

I spent my childhood summers here and still have a couple of the neclaces. Love this place with all my heart

Called, looking for seed beads. Owner couldn’t tell me what size they were, only that she had so many. I drove down there… only a 20 min drive, but found they were teensy weensy seed beads, too small for my use, though as she said, she had a ton. The rest of the shop seemed to have an okay selection of beads. I prefer the bead fairs or gem fairs at the Orange County Fairground, but in a pinch, the store would be fine.

My mom and I got a private lesson with Mary! She is fantastic! She taught us how to make bracelets, earnings, Malala Beads. She is a great teacher very kind and patient! We made hand made gifts for Christmas! We aren’t done yet we will be back next week! ;) go see Mary she is amazing!

Excellent selection of beads and friendly service! I highly recommend The Bead Shop for your jewelry-​making needs!

Love this place. I walked in on a Wednesday with 5 kids for a birthday party and they were so sweet and accommodating! They helped the kids get bracelets started, measured and fixed! The ladies made it super easy to keep cost in check while letting the kids have creative liberty with a few charms per bracelet. They loved it so much each child ended up making 2 bracelets. Thank you, Bead Shop!

I visited the Bead Shop earlier today and had a fantastic experience. I was making a charm bracelet for a friends birthday gift and from the moment I called to inquire if they had gold chain for sale by the inch/foot.the customer service I received was exceptional.
Mary assisted me in selecting the chain, designing the layout, affixing the charms one by one and then celebrated its completion and adorableness with me. She was extremely knowledgable, helpful and very lovely. Thank you Mary!
I’ll be back!

I absolutely loved this place!!! Easily the best bead shop I’ve been to in Orange County, and I think I’ve been to most of them.
They have a huge variety of charms and beads of every kind. Lots of beads from Africa– really, lots. That was easily the best part of the store for me. They have stuff that no one else in the area seems to have. I bought a bunch of African seed beads, some really cool African wood beads, turquoise howlite tube beads and a few vintage animal fetishes. The pro

Great bead shop in Laguna beach! Our sales lady was very informative and helpful. I will go back and tell all of my friends to check out this little gem!!!

Why are bead shops synonymous with rude customer service? I worked at a bead shop for a short period of time as a teenager and I remember being just a tad rude… so, it should come as no surprise that the staff at ‘The Bead Shop’ are… rude.
My son is very ‘into’ beads and we have come here a half dozen times in the last few months. Today, as we walked in the door, he promptly starts doing the ‘pee pee dance’ (he’s five, you know what it looks like.) I ask the sales lady ‘do you have a bathroom we could use?’ and she says no but the place across the street does. Ok, I get that you are a liar, and I get that it’s because you don’t want to clean up after a bunch of tourists and surfers everyday. I get that, but he’s five, and five year olds aren’t known to be great at ‘holding it.’ I still, however, play along with your lie, even though pretty sure a ‘bathroom-​less’ retail store would be against all kinds of regulation codes, but whatever.
We hurry and sling a handful of beads in our tray and go up to pay (we walked quite a long way, so it’s not a great option to leave and come back.) We go up to pay and she takes foooooooorevvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeer to count a handful of fifteen cent beads. Then she answers a phone call. From her friend. All of this while KNOWING that my kid desperately needs to use the loo and you are lying when you tell me you don’t have a bathroom but you can’t at least hurry it up?!
There’s more than one bead store in this town.

I was inclined to give 2 stars, simply for the customer service (or lack of and friendliness whatsoever), but who can downgrade a bead store on the beach! That alone is worth going back to (especially when you’re from Colorado)! Kind of musty, but quaint. Nice antiques, but cup system is a little weird.

I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO FIND POINTED BACK RHINESTONES IN ORANGE COUNTY. I searched high and low all over Orange County. Even the craft stores like Michael’s & Joanne’s does not carry these. If there’s someone out there who does know, I would love to know!
I own a ton of clothes that are blinged out. Especially Sky Brand. I never knew how hard it was to locate these particular type of rhinestones until I actually went on a search to replace missing pieces. Yeah, they’re readily available online but unless you know your rhinestone sizes, good friggin luck. I was getting extremely frustrated until I gave The Bead Shop a call. They said they did carry some and since they were 1 of 2 stores to say they did, off I went. Boy, was I glad I did!
Their pointed back rhinestone selection isn’t massive or even small. It’s tiny! But luckily, they carried the most basic, popular size and colors that I was mostly able to get what I needed. Big thanks to the nice lady helping me out to find the right sizes.
This is one super organized store and really cute inside.
Parking for the store is underneath the building they’re in (understand this means the store, not all day parking for you to run around Laguna). 3 spots but personally I find the 3^rd spot more a motorcycle spot than a full size car space.
Minimum $ 10 to charge on a card so if you’re not needing or buying many beads, bring cash.
What else is awesome? You can come in and make your own bead designs which they’ll help you out with if needed.
Big thanks to The Bead Shop for making this gal a Happy Camper!

This shop is small and full of single beads. My boyfriend and I were looking to buy something fun to remember our adventures of the day. However, upon looking through the store, the older woman sitting behind the counter enjoyed glaring at us as we looked through the assorted bead baskets. We were trying to choose two beads, one for each of us. After my boyfriend picked up the bead he wanted and we went to decide on mine, the woman came out from behind the counter, took the bead from him without a word, and then dropped it right back into the basket from which it came. He asked what she was doing and she promptly and rudely accused him of attempting to steal the bead.
In addition to this we had asked the woman about the demographic that the store caters to, solely out of curiosity. The response consisted of bragging about the expensive beads that they had in stock and explaining that the only customers that were of value to the store were some the many that came in and «bought thousands of dollars of beads» at one time. In response to the question «what type of beads do people like to buy the most» she answered «it depends on how much money they have.»
This bead store is not about art and fun and community, it is not about friendliness. I have never been so disrespected in a store and recommend avoiding The Bead Shop.

Celebrated my birthday party with a few girlfriends by taking a bracelet making class at TBS. The instructor did the «heavy lifting» of finding some of the right beads and making sure each of our bracelets were properly wired and assembled while we enjoyed selecting & stringing beads and having fun together.
This review is one star short of 5 stars only because the back room where we started the class was extremely poorly lit. When the store closed we moved our work table into the shop where the lighting was perfect. Also, I was really hoping to be able to do a memory wire bracelet but as of this writing that is not a material offered at the store.
The folks that own and work in the store have real knowledge of the merchandise and interest in the projects of their customers.
Beads range in price from really inexpensive to fabulously original, antique and unique. There’s something for everyone here!
Thank you for a happily memorable event!

Love, love, love this store! I’ve been going to The Bead Shop in Laguna Beach since the time it was across the street a couple blocks away. It has always been a haven of unique beads, findings and exotic goodies! Peggy bought the store several years ago – after it moved closer to the downtown area – and has kept it unique, fun & funky. Peggy is a GEM among gems! The Bead Shop is a friendly store with an environment conducive to the sharing of ideas and a ready resource for the basic parts needed to make just about every kind of necklace, bracelet, or earrings, as well as great pieces to turn out something truly one of a kind.

This is the best bead store on the planet! They carry every bead you could ever want from every part of the world. They have plastic «kid beads» to gorgeous semi-​precious stones. And the nicest, most helpful owners you could ask for! If you enjoy beading or have been wanting to learn how to make jewelry, this is your spot. It’s perfect for the expert or the novice.

Best bead store EVER! You can find pretty much any kind of bead imaginable here. The prices are really good, though I can never ever get out of here for under $ 40 because there’s SO MUCH here that I just can’t pass up. The owner is really nice and there’s even a shop cat. I’ve been going here since, and I can’t believe I’m admitting this here, 9^th grade when I went to find letter beads to make Duran Duran earrings. This will always be my favorite bead store!

I have something to get off my chest, and that is I’m a drop out.
Not a high school or college drop out, but a boy scout drop out. Since I was only a scout for a few months I never got the chance to make my own clothes, learn to sew, or do any arts and crafts.
My girlfriend was an only child and was raised primarily by her dad. She also never got the chance to make her own jewelery or do any other girlie things.
Well this past weekend my GF and I were walking around Laguna Beach and we came across The Bead Shop. The inside of this shop is so colorful, every wall is covered with different types of necklace’s, anklets, bracelets, and any other type of jewelery you can make with beads. The middle of this shop consists of many tables that have thousands of different beads, gems, rocks, and stones on them in little cups so you can create your own piece of jewelry. My GF and I thought it would be fun if we each made a bracelet to remind us of our trip to Laguna. Since we really have no experience at this (because I’m a drop out and my GF is kind of a tom boy) it took us about an hour to make a small bracelet. In all honesty the hour we spent in this shop might have been the best hour of our whole trip to Laguna. We laughed at each others creations, we gave each other suggestions, and we even talked with some of the locals who were coming in and out of the shop. We really had a blast.
Some beads cost more then others, they can range from ten cents a bead to four dollars a bead. For both of our hand made bracelet’s we paid eighteen dollars. I know that sounds like a lot but for the amount of fun we had together in that shop it was totally worth it. It is defiantly not something I would do every week but I know I would like to come back one day when we have kids and let them make their own stuff. This place reminds me of those credit card commercials
An hour of parking at a meter– $ 4 dollars
Cost of bracelet’s– $ 18 dollars
Creating something with the person you love– Priceless