What is it? What do I need? Where do I get one?
If you asked me about 5D Diamond Painting 3 months ago I would have had no idea what you were talking about. Thanks to my bargain shopping skills for our upcoming Disney cruise I stumbled across this craft by accident. If you have never heard of it you can thank me later! It is certainly gaining in popularity in the US. This is a craft for both the young and old. Anyone can do it! In fact I gifted a diamond painting to everyone in my family including my 7 yr old, husband and parents this past Christmas. The results are in as many of them have finished their first. We all love them!
For me Diamond Painting it is a gratifying and an enjoyable way to unwind. When I did a search to see what it was all about I couldn’t believe how many Youtube videos there are about 5D diamond Painting. How did I not know about this already? Just Google diamond painting and you will find everything you need. It’s wildely popular in other countries as well.
Warning! Once you start you won’t stop! This is a hobby many people including myself find gratifying and relaxing. In fact many people that suffer from anxiety disorders find diamond painting to help with anxiety.
I can foresee having Diamond Painting girls nights once my friends start theirs. It is a perfect hobby wher eyou can just sit around and catch up with friends over a cup coffee or wine and work on our paintings at the same time.
So this Donald Duck was my first Diamond Painting and I am getting ready to start a big one next! Here are a few my family is working on. I will update this post with more pictures when we finish them.
What is Diamond Painting?
DP for short or 5 D Diamond painting is the process of applying drills(Diamonds) to a canvas art work of your choice. From what I read it started in China. Think of it as paint by number but with drills and a color/symbol legend. The canvas has an adhesive( you work in sections) and comes with a special pen to pick up the drills apply to the canvas. The wax piece it comes with helps to pick up the drills and adhere to the pen.
Many diamond paintings come from China. Most are measured in Centemeters. The smallest range from about 20cmx25( about an 8×10) to giant canvas over 3 feet tall. The bigger the more clarity and detail in a painting. Remember the bigger the more clarity in the end result.
The diamonds are refered to as drills. There are sqare and round drills. When you order a painting you can usually choose either round or square. Square cover more surface than the round. My first DP was round but I am moving on to square next with my larger size paintings.
There are also 2 types of Diamond Painting types. Full drill and partial drill. Full drill means diamonds are applied on the entire canvas surface. Partial Drill is only a section of the canvas the drills(diamonds) are applied. You can tell I have learned about in the few months I have known about this.
Where do I get a Diamond Painting?
You will find Diamond paintings in most craft stores and online for an average price starting around $20 and are mostly generic pictures but let me let you in on a little secret!
To find amazing diamond paintings and thousands of them no less you need to shop elsewhere. Although I do not know the licensing practices of the suppliers you can find paintings from Disney, famous artists to Harry Potter here. There are thousands of painting from animals to nature paintings and even custom photo paintings. The secret is to shop at AliExpress.com which are mainly China based suppliers and stores. It’s my prefered place to shop and I have a couple of favorite stores that provide quality canvases and drills. By ordering from here you can purchase Diamond paitings for sometimes less than $5 which makes it an inexpensive craft. Some of my favorite Ali Express stores so far are HOMEFUN, HUACAN, and YolandaZH.
Many people like the quality of Ever Moment store as well but they are a but I have yet try them and tend to be a bit more expensive but worth the price.
You can also find them on Amazon to order from as well as well as visiting your local craft store.
See my tips on ordering from Aliexpress.com below!
What else do I need?
A Diamond Painting kit basically has everything you need, the canvas, drills , tray, wax and pen. There are a few extras that helps make life easier and are fairly inexpensive. I would wait until you know you want to keep doing them before you invest.
- Drill storage container or baggies- you can use little zip locks at first but you will want to some sort of storage container eventually. I like the containers thatt look like tic tac containers. They are easy to open with one hand and I just tape the drill number to the container.
- Light-up pad- these are great to put under the canvas to light up the letters and symbols especially when you are working with dark colors or don’t have good light in your room. They are about $10 each. I am currently waiting for mine to arrive.
- Washi tape- used to put around the edges because somethimes the adhive applied overlaps on the outside and you sleeves and fuzz get cought on it. Eventually you will most likely be cutting it off for framing.
- Folding Tray or desk- I like to use a lap tray when sitting on the couch.
Tips on ordering from Aliexpress.com
A few tips from ordering from Aliexpress.com. All the shipments come from China so be prepared to wait for your order to arrive. Many I have recieved in under 2 weeks which was impressive but its not unreasonable to take a month or longer especially if its a holiday in China.
- When searching explore your options. Many stores will have the same paintings and if you scroll down the bottom of a listing it will show you more you may be intersted in.
- Remember to Heart your favorites because its hard to go back and find them at times.
- Follow your favorite stores so you can go back easily to search thier inventory.
- Be Prepared to wait since all orders come from China- it can take up to a month or longer at times so think ahead espeically if you are doing a holiday painting or gift for someone.
- Many offer free shipping but when possible ship it epacket- you will get it faster and its only a few cents or dollars extra.
- Look at how many people purchased the item. If no one ordered it and its a store I am unfamilar with I think twice or find another store that has orders and reviews.
- Always read reviews and look at pictures others have posted to determine if the diamond painting is to your liking. I like to get an idea of how other people feel the quality is before I purchse from any store.
- Be patient waiting for your shipment- you can track in online.
So there you have it! What do you think? Is this something you want to try? Hopefully I provided you everything you need to know to get started on your first Diamond Paiting. There are tons of videos and facebook groups to join too. I love seeing what others are working on plus some have some great tips. Plus there are some nice ideas on social media about finishing them off and framing.
Here is my next and first big project I hope to start this week! I would love to see your Diamond paitings so post below or on my facebook page or tag me on instagram!
This is such a informative post, thank you for taking the time to make it! I love diamond painting and have been doing it for 8 months now, Aliexpress is definitely the place to shop, however Huacan have had lots of problems with square drills popping, so I’d keep away from those. If you want a painting from them right now order round. Another tip I’d give is to join a diamond painting group on Facebook, they’re so helpful and you learn tips very quickly. I love looking at Disney fanart photos etc. And making them into a custom by messaging the seller on AliExpress, I pretty much only buy customs now as they’re usually cheaper than pre-made kits, the seller will even do this for you if you find a photo they already make! Xx
Thank you. Glad it helped. It took me a while to figure it all out when I started.
There is also another problem that may arise with some sellers, i.e, missing beads. Most of the sellers now use the machine to weight the beads, however, the accuracy is not that precise. For some colors with little weight, it will just skip it and causing the missing beads issue. If you see sellers with a high price, it means that they use human beings to process the beads and pack them into the package. This is costly.
For the missing beads, it will also cause another problem. Due to the process of making beads, the colors may be slightly different while you request the missing beads. At the time you receive the beads, you may disappoint at the color. So it will be important to avoid the problem of the missing beads.
Well, communicating the problem of the missing beads with the aliexpress sellers is also a headache issue. Most of them reply like a robot or just don’t even reply. And most of them will not send the missing beads by using the epacket… So it is right to choose a good seller.
I agree on missing beads, I have not had any issues so far but I have heard others have. I read reviews on the sellers before i buy, if people complain about missing beads I stay away. I think the best solution is first contact them but also maybe choose similar to what you may have on hand. Most of the time you can’t tell that the color is off.