Diamond Painting: The Craft My Girls Are Obsessed With
Have you heard of diamond painting before?
It was new to me until my sister-in-law’s kids introduced it to my girls a few months ago and Ella used some gift cards to buy herself one of the many diamond painting kits available online.
Of course, once Ella’s diamond painting kit came, my other girls were dying to try their hands at it too, so I ordered a couple of different sets.
Now, almost every day, you can find at least one of my girls, if not two or three of them, quietly working on these at the kitchen table or around the coffee table while they listen to their audiobooks or while I read to them at bedtime.
They are a GREAT winter activity for both kids and adults, and I’m a big fan.
Here are a couple of reasons I love diamond painting kits:
- They come with everything you need. No extra things to go out and buy, no hoping you have glue that isn’t dried out, etc.
- They last for HOURS. My girls have been working on theirs for easily 5+ hours so far and they’re probably less than 1/4 done. These are not one of those projects where it buys you 12 minutes of quiet to look at your magazine and then they’re ready for the next thing.
- They’re so affordable! I’ve looked at dozens of options on Amazon and they’re almost all under $15 and many are under $10!
- Diamond Painting is low mess. I mean, yes, you may get a few diamond crystals rolling around, but there’s no paint, no glue, nothing that’s going to be a big hassle to clean up.
If diamond painting is new to you, here’s how it works:
- Your diamond painting kit comes with a design that is sticky. There is a clear plastic sheet over it to keep it from drying out or other things from sticking to it and you pull it up bit by bit as you add diamonds.
- There is a pen/stylus tool and you put a little bit of the included gum/mud in the tip. Then you press the tip to the top of the correct diamond and it’ll pick up the diamond.
- Press the diamond into the correct labeled spot on the canvas. It will be covered in tiny letters or numbers that let you know what goes color of diamond goes where. Because the canvas is adhesive, the diamond will stick in place.
- Repeat 1000+ times until your diamond painting is complete!
- BONUS: These book style diamond painting books are from an Australian publisher and not easy to find in the US (plus the book style makes them HUGE to store and taking the lid off shoots the diamonds everywhere. If you want a better storage system, I highly recommend a little box like this (they’re less than $4 each!).
There are literally every kind of designs available that you can imagine. Landscapes, Disney scenes, animals and about a million other options.
My girls are almost 6, 8, and 10 and they can all do diamond painting without help (although admittedly, Star’s – she’s almost 6 – are not QUITE as neat as her sisters), but if you think a full diamond painting kit is beyond what your child can handle or something that size will be overwhelming to them, you can also order kid diamond painting kits with many smaller projects.
After I mentioned my girls’ love for diamond painting on Instagram, several people sent me messages asking what we do with them when they’re finished or saying that they love diamond painting themselves but they are running out of space.
I’m a person who puts the puzzle back in the box the same day I finish it, and we don’t keep our Kiwi Co projects for more than a week, so it won’t surprise you to know that we aren’t saving these for long-term home decor. They’re all about the experience for us, not a priceless heirloom to keep forever.
Diamond painting isn’t just for kids, either – they’re really fun as an adult too! Of course, I basically consider them the perfect accompaniment to my latest audiobook. And these would make a perfect Valentine’s Day gift too.
Have you done any diamond painting? Or have any questions about it? I’m happy to answer!
If you liked this post about diamond painting, you might like these posts too:
- An incredible (and affordable!) watercolor class for kids
- Querkles: The coolest color by numbers ever!
- All the cross stitch supplies Ella uses
Photos by Heather Mildenstein
Can you share the where you’ve found the “book style” paintings above? I’ve only found ones that have all the diamonds in little bags and these look perfect for the littles!
These ones are from an Australian publisher called Hinkle.
Also, while storage with this style is handy, it’s very hard to pop the top off without it shooting diamonds everywhere, plus it makes it hard to keep track of which diamond is which color. I think the idea is better than the execution, sadly.
It’s a brand called Crystal Creations – they’re the only ones I’ve seen that do them in a book style.
Yes, please, where did you find the book style kit shown in your blog? I have looked and cannot find those. I think they would be so much easier for children.
This is a brand called Crystal Creations which Amazon doesn’t sell. I’d say they look cooler than they actually are – when you take the top off, the force sends diamonds spraying all over the place.
My children love these, but we don’t really have a good storing option to allow them to work on the same project over the course of however long it takes.
Our solution has been diamond art stickers. They take less time, but then they can put the sticker on their notebook or water bottle for a while. The stickers usually come in sets. Anyhow, they have also made the storage solution easier.