If you have been looking for a diamond painting tutorial in American English, you have found it! Here is where I lay out step by step instructions with photos for you to learn how to make a diamond painting from a kit.
Note: Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you make a purchase. Affiliate relationships include, but are not limited to, Bluehost, Amazon Associates, Walmart.com, and Etsy.
What is diamond painting?
While we are all used to painting on canvas with acrylic paints and may even join a fun event like https://www.paintingwithatwist.com, this type of “painting” does not use paint! Diamond painting or Rhinestone Art is a trending art form where tiny (2.5 mm each) colored or clear (aka: crystal, but not made of crystal) multi-faceted shiny, sparkling resin stones (aka: diamonds, rhinestones, beads or drills) are carefully applied to a sticky canvas mat with the flat side down. The two major shapes of rhinestones are round and square, but there are also a variety of special shapes that are used in certain paintings. This art form is done one stone at a time with a special tool called a drill. It is not like a heavy electric drill, it is more like a pen.
The finished result has a 3 dimensional look although it is called 5D. It is called that because technology breaks an image down into a pattern similar to a cross stitch or embroidery pattern. The rhinestones are matched to a DMC color code and you use a Key to determine where each color goes on the canvas. 2.5mm in size.
This is a very popular art form. Many friends will get together on a craft night to spend a few hours working on their diamond kits together. These gatherings are often held at someone’s home and there is often food and beverages. There is always friendly conversation and laughter at these events. Some people call it diamond dots painting as well.
It is also presently a very popular choice for home decorating. Not everyone has 8 to 30 hours to make one, so many completed and framed designs have been purchased from diamond painting artists on Etsy.
There are two types of 5D Diamond Painting Kits, one is called a full drill, in which, every bit of the colored part of the canvas will be covered in rhinestones. Such as the wolf picture example below.
A full drill completed 5D diamond painting made from a kit by diamond painting artist Mary Day of Wisconsin, USA.
The other is called a partial drill, which has some parts of the canvas that are painted and will not be covered with rhinestones. These are best for beginners or for someone who does not have as much time to put into the project. I will be using a partial drill kit for our example today.
I have found a light box to be a necessity if you have older eyes (I am 47 years old) as the light underneath really makes the letters and numbers on the printed canvas show up so much better.
The light box can be plugged into the wall, extension cord or power strip / surge protector.
Magnifying Glass
Even though the light box is very helpful, there are times that I can’t tell the difference between a 4 and 5, especially when the colors behind them are very similar and a magnifying glass helps me to solve the problem.
A magnifying glass helps my 47 year old eyes to see the tiny letters and numbers.
Slimcase
Not all of my diamond painting canvases fit inside this large case, but when they do – I like to keep the projects I am still working on inside a protected case like this. You may not have 8 kids and 4 pets in your home to worry about bumping into your project so it may not be necessary for you.
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The Slimcase 2 is a great size to hold my current diamond painting project to protect it from my large family members.
The inside is deep enough to store the canvas with the rhinestones on it.
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The inside of the Slimcase2 is deep enough to not squish the rhinestones that are on the canvas.
5D Diamond Painting Kit with the tools
Please be sure your kit comes with the drill tool, wax, tray, canvas and resin stones. Double check to be sure you have everything before you begin your project. Some sellers will send whatever is missing for your kit, but if not, you may need to get your money refunded and find another kit to work on.
I recommend buying a kit from someone in the same country you live in for fastest shipping, you don’t want to wait a month or more to receive your kit just to save a few bucks. Especially if you are at all stressed. This is a therapeutic project that helps you to de-stress, which is why it is so addicting. You are so busy focusing on the colors and numbers that you cannot think of your problems for a time, which causes you to relax.
The photo below is what your product should look like when you take it out of the shipping package. They are most often shipped in a bubble wrap mailer. You just unroll your canvas to see the printed picture inside. The Key will be printed on the canvas so there is no need for an extra piece of paper to lose.
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An example of what a diamond painting kit looks like when you take it out of the bubble mailer.
Diamond Painting Pens
You can use the plastic pen that is included in the kit. However, some diamond painting artisans prefer to use a decorative diamond painting pen tool. They can be used with round or square diamonds. These are more comfortable to hold in your hand for long periods of time and are made with various materials such as glow in the dark clay, glitter &/or glitter clay, metallic leaf flakes or stickers. It is a way to be creative and unique and not lose your pen at the next craft party!
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A display of diamond painting pens from Etsy vendor kathybarwick.
Diamond organizer storage case
One thing that is very useful to me during the project I am working on is having an organizer. What I do before I begin my project is take an open bag of diamond beads and pour the contents into a circle shaped container. I screw the cap back on. Then I cut the number or letter off the bag and tape it to the top of the little container. This keeps my diamonds organized so I can find the right one quickly.
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A storage case of screw cap containers to hold the rhinestones organized by letter or number.
Here is a close up of what the round container looks like by itself.
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A close up of a small round container with a screw cap that goes inside the larger organizer case.
Latching Box
I am a very social person and love to get together with friends for a craft night when I can. My friends and I bring whatever craft project we are working on so someone may be knitting, someone is doing embroidery, someone is cutting quilt pieces, four of us are diamond painting, etc.
When it’s time to head out, I have everything for the current project I am working on stored in a latching box, so I can just grab it and my light box and go.
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A latching box to hold my current diamond painting project and accessories.
You may want to bring a completed diamond painting to show your friends, here is what that looks like on top of other items in the box.
1. Open your diamonds one package at a time and carefully pour them into your organizer sections, labeling each section by cutting out the letter or number on the bag and taping it to the cover of each little container.
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Resin diamond beads come in individually wrapped bags with a letter or number on it.
2. Place your canvas on your light box and turn the light box on.
3. Carefully peel back the clear plastic cover from the top of your piece of wax. Take your drill and push the metal tip into the wax. A little hole will be left there. That means the wax is now inside your drill and you are ready to pick up a diamond. (You will be able to pick up a diamond several times before you notice that they are no longer sticking to your drill tool. When this happens, it is time to get more wax on. Always re-cover the wax with the clear plastic to keep it in the best condition for use.)
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The little pink square is wax. You will poke your drill tip into it. Then the tip of your tool will be sticky enough to pick up a diamond.
4. Now look at the key on your canvas to see what diamond organizer container you need. I personally like to do several of one color at a time. If I am filling in a cat face, I might take out my “A” container and fill all the little “A”s in the cat’s ears, for example. I like that they do not have both a “B” and an “8” as that would be very confusing.
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Here is the Key to the diamond painting. It is usually on the printed canvas. Mine is off to the right side.
5. Now take the color you want to use and pour some (not all) of those into your sorting tray.
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Pour your diamonds into the tray and you are ready to diamond paint!
6. Carefully push the tip of your drill onto the shiny, curved side of one diamond. It will stick to the drill tip because of the wax.
7. Peel back the clear plastic cover on your canvas so that the area you will be working on is exposed. Keep everything else covered so your canvas will not lose its stickiness.
8. Line up the diamond with the correct number or letter on the canvas. When it looks properly aligned, push the flat side of the diamond piece onto the canvas so it is stuck there.
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Press the diamond onto the sticky canvas with the drill pen tip.
9. Continue working in that section with the same color. I like to use up the diamonds in my tray before changing colors so I will re-cover that section with the plastic and find a new area to uncover and use them there if necessary.
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Take the drill pen back to the sorting tray to get another diamond to stick on.
10. Always re-cover with plastic when you are not working in a section.
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Keep the clear plastic over the parts you are not working on for best results.
11. Once in a while, during your crafting, push down on the stones with your fingers to be sure they are attached firmly to the canvas.
12. If you are working at a section near the top, uncover with the plastic from the top.
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Peel the plastic downward when working at the top of a canvas.
13. If you are working on a section on the bottom, uncover from the bottom with the protective clear plastic.
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Peel the clear plastic upward when working at the bottom of a printed canvas.
14. If you are working on the middle, uncover from the bottom up so that your working hand will not lean against and crease the protective plastic.
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When working on the middle of a printed canvas, peel the clear plastic upward so your hand doesn’t crease it.
15. Repeat these steps until all the key coded parts of the canvas are filled in.
16. You can carefully place your completed diamond painting on a roll up mat or puzzle mat like this one…
Then keep the roll in a Roll Keeper until you frame it (as it is nice to frame them all at one time) or until you sell it on Etsy.
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The Roll Keeper from Etsy vendor TheRollKeeper is a great way to store your canvases until they are ready for framing.
17. When you are ready to frame it, realize that diamond paintings are typically made in other countries and do not typically fit in the American standard sizes of frames. You may need to get a larger frame, like an 11 x 14 inch size. You could mat the surroundings or get creative for a background.
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This 11 x 14 frame will work for my large design that is too big to fit in a 10 x 13.
18. Just open the frame from the back. Sometimes you may have to carefully lift little tabs on the sides to get it open. Decide if you want the glass on or off. I have eight children, so I want the glass on or those little diamonds may get picked off. Then carefully place your art inside and close it back up.
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Back of the 11 x 14 frame. There are little tabs that must be lifted up to take the back off.
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Very informative, thank you. I am new to this art and hope to start my first picture soon 🙂