If you haven’t heard of Diamond Painting yet, it’s your lucky day! Diamond Painting is a combination of cross-stitch and paint-by-numbers. “You use an applicator to apply hundreds of sparkling resin rhinestones, one-by-one, on an adhesive color-coded canvas painting,” The end result is a vivid, shimmering work of art and we are going to show you how to being diamond painting. Ready? Let’s go!
Pandemic Equals New Hobbies...
We first heard of diamond painting at the beginning of the pandemic. Cheryl Burke had posted an instragram story about her love of the art and I became instantly intrigued. Face it, the pandemic brought about so many new hobbies, I thought why not start another one. As I wondered how to begin diamond painting, I started doing my research and found Amazon had affordable prices on kits. I thought it would be worth it to give it a try.
Our first painting was chosen by the girls, Elsa in Frozen 2. At first it might seem intimidating with so many diamonds to add to the canvas but once we started working on it, we all found it to be a relaxing activity.
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Our latest diamond painting is this Hocus Pocus inspired one. We are hoping to have it done by Halloween this year so when it’s completed we will post it on our Instagram. We used this kit we found on Amazon to house the diamonds. The extra diamond pens make it easy for the whole family to join in and do the painting together. I would highly recommend getting an extra accessory kit especially if you plan on doing more than one diamond painting.
How to Begin Diamond Painting
First purchase your Diamond Painting. We bought our first one on Amazon since we found them most affordable. There are so many different sets to choose from. From Disney to holidays, animals to landscapes, your sure to find something for the whole family. The kits usually come with a printed canvas with numbers, letters and symbols, diamond applicator (pen), wax and tray. Remove all of the items from the package to begin.
Browse Diamond Painting kits here.
2. Sort Out Materials
Find a place to set up your diamond painting where it won’t be disturbed by small toddlers or pets. The diamonds are super tiny and can cause a choking hazard. (Plus it is mighty time consuming to pick up fallen loose diamonds and re-organize them if they get mixed)
Roll out your canvas. Do not peel off the entire plastic covering. We found its best to just lift up the portion your are working on then cover it up again so the sticky canvas stays sticky for your diamonds.
If you bought the extra painting tools and accessories kit, take out all pieces and organize diamonds in the container labeled to match the corresponding chart printed on the canvas. The chart is labeled with a number that corresponds to a symbol. You will match the corresponding color of diamonds to the symbols and place them on the canvas accordingly.
3.Pick A Color to Start With
Choose a color. We like to start at the bottom of the canvas and work our way to the top because peeling the plastic back is easier and you are not touching unwanted sticky parts of the canvas. Keep it covered when your not working on it.
Pour a small amount into one of the provided trays and give it a little shake from front to back to get most of the diamonds to lay with the flat side down on the tray. You will be picking them up with the rounded side up with the diamond painting pen.
4. Prepare Your Pen
With the little pink square of wax your kit comes with, press your diamond painting pen into it so a circle or square of wax sticks to the bottom of the pen. You can also purchase nice resin diamond painting pens that have multiple tips so you can place more than one diamond at a time.
5. Begin Painting
Using the pen and the tray of diamonds, pick up the diamonds and place them on the correct symbol that matches the color and number diamond from the chart. The pen will stick to the diamonds when it is pressed on them. Then once the diamond is on the pen, place then down on the canvas.
When your pen has run out of wax, reapply as you did earlier.
You might also find using a good light overhead will help you see the symbols better. We often do this activity at night so we use the UBeesize 12’’ led Ring Light with Tripod Stand and Phone Holder to help us see.
6. Don't Give Up and Have Fun!
Repeat the above process and keep going until all the diamond spaces are filled on your canvas. We like to frame our finished pieces and hang them in the kids rooms for them to enjoy. This is a great activity to do with kids. With multiple pens and trays you can easily give each person a color to do and work on it at the same time.
Don’t forget to check out our instagram for the finished Hocus Pocus Diamond Painting soon!