Diamond Art, A Girl’s Best Friend

I have recently discovered a new hobby that is helping me deal with my stress while producing amazing, beautiful art. I can’t get enough. Diamond painting is the most fun I’ve had in years. My home and office will both be decorated with gorgeous diamond art featuring turkeys, pumpkins, ravens, cardinals, snowmen, and other holiday themes. I've enjoyed ghosts, black cats, and witches so far this year.

Diamond painting appeared on my radar accidentally. I thought I was ordering a vase as a gift for my sister’s birthday. When it arrived, I was dismayed to find a diamond painting of a vase, not the actual vase. I gave it to my sister, anyway, and she absolutely loved it. In fact, she gushed about how much fun she had and encouraged me to try one.

The craft has been in the back of my mind since my sister’s birthday. A few months ago, when I was on weekend trip with my family, I discovered a two-pack of diamond art at Target while searching for an indoor activity to do with my granddaughter, Madison. Keeping my sister’s enthusiasm in mind, I bought it.

When I showed the kit to Madison, she bounced up and down with energy only a nine-year-old can exhibit.

“Nana, I can show you how to diamond paint. It’s so much fun!” She cleared the placemats from the kitchen table and sat down. “This is a good place to do our projects. They can be messy.”

Madison and I had two glorious afternoons of artistic fun while the temperatures reached over one hundred degrees outside. We spent hours at the kitchen table together carefully placing each plastic jewel in its proper spot on the canvas while the rest of the family napped or watched movies.

We each have a beautiful canvas to display as a reminder of our special time together, and I have the precious memory of my sweet girl joyfully teaching me how to do something she loves.

Diamond painting is fairly simple. It’s like painting by number and bedazzling got together and had a baby. The jewels, called drills by everyone but me, are separated by size and color into individual bags. Each bag is marked by a number, letter, or symbol, which corresponds to that same mark on the canvas. The object is to place the jewel in the appropriate spot.

The kits each come with a small strip of wax and an applicator pen. You dip the tip of the pen into the wax and then touch it to a jewel, which sticks to the wax. Then, you place each jewel onto the canvas in a spot marked with the same symbol printed on the bag in use. The canvas is self-adhesive, so there’s no need for glue. It is wise to have tweezers handy for misplaced jewels as they are easily dropped.

Thankfully, each kit I’ve completed thus far has contained extra jewels of each color. I have yet to work on a diamond painting without dropping some of the jewels, which are never seen again. Some people use setting spray to make sure the finished pieces stay pristine and no jewels come loose. I have not yet taken that step, but I will probably invest in some spray soon.

I discovered diamond painting at the perfect time in my life. I’m under an overwhelming amount of stress both at home and at work. Having reached a certain age, I’m no longer able to deal with my stress the way I handled it in my youth—staying up all night with my friends, eating junk food, and consuming adult beverages. Instead, I now unwind with a diamond painting for an hour or two after work while my husband watches his TV shows.

Placing each tiny piece of colored plastic in its perfectly plotted home gives me the same satisfaction as building something such as a birdhouse or bookshelf—without the sawdust. Watching the art shimmer in the light and take on a life of its own as I fill in the blank spaces is like revealing a pearl in an oyster.

I’ve occasionally lost myself in a diamond painting, much like when I read an excellent book. I recently worked on a project until three in the morning. I only stopped then because I finished my project.  

The satisfaction that suffuses me when I finish a diamond painting is akin to what I feel when I finish writing a book. Seeing the finished canvas, sporting a myriad of colorful jewels catching the last rays of sunlight streaming through my window, brings me quiet joy and satisfaction.

Diamond paintings are readily available from a variety of vendors. I have purchased them from Target, Amazon, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Temu, and the TikTok Shop. I expect to see them at my local Dollar General soon. With prices ranging from $5.00 to $40.00, there’s a diamond painting for everyone’s budget.

I’ve worked with canvases, bookmarks, and suncatchers, but diamond paintings are also available in other mediums such as coasters and 3D objects like gingerbread houses. They are on my list of things to do.

Diamond painting is an insanely popular hobby, and I look forward to completing many more projects. My home décor will never be the same.

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Thank you for reading Ozarks Maven! If you’ve enjoyed my little seeds of wisdom and joy, please join me again next week for more Ozarks Maven.