Beauty and the Beast Epic Diamond Painting Completed!

Whew, this diampnd painting is HUGE! When I opened the package and unrolled it, my husband was like WHOA!! The thing is 2/3 of my height! 

I guess I should've done the centimeter into inches conversion before I ordered haha

I do not recommend choosing a giant one for your first foray into this hobby, 

but hey, I got it done with only a couple of issues. 

Here's a few things I learned along the way, the hard way, cause that's how I roll 😂🤣

1. Bigger might be better, but bigger is also more difficult, more time consuming, and more exhausting.

2. Start from the top and work your way down if it's taller than about 10". Trust me.

3. Washi tape is your friend! Please for the love of all that is holy, put washi tape along the sticky edge that extends past the drill area. And DO NOT buy the 'special' diamond painting tape that has suddenly appeared. Go to the Dollar Tree or the Michaels dollar spot and buy a roll of washi for $1

4. LIGHT! LIGHT! LIGHT! Get thee a light pad. They are super cheap. I bought a large one for $22, and an A4 size for $15.99, both from Amazon.

Here's an A4 Dimmable Light Pad

5. Cheap reading glasses might be your friend. I have terrible eyesight. I tried bifocals and they don't work for me, but slipping a pair of cheap readers over my glasses is awesome!

6. Storage....there's all kinds of storage stuff out there directed towards diamond painting. Like any other hobby, there's TONS AND TONS of unnecessary carp that gets thrown at ya. Seriously folks, you don't really need this stuff. All ya really NEED to diamond paint is the kit (which comes with the tools you need), good lighting, a comfy spot to work, and little plastic baggies (some kits even come with the baggies). THAT'S IT. Yeah, the other stuff can be fun to have, but really, don't let the You Tubers and Instagramers make you feel like you need to buy a  bunch of extra stuff. 

7. Square vs Round drills. This is definitely a personal preference. I do think that for your first couple, a painting that is done in rounds is MUCH easier. And if it's a 'partial' drill (this just means that the ENTIRE canvas isn't covered with drills), all the better. The point is to try it out without overwhelming yourself and hating life.

This sweet Minnie Mouse is a Diamond Dotz kit.

SUPER adorable, has iridescent drills, and would be called a 

round partial drill. Totally a great place to start. This one is about 2/3 finished.

Here's a Mickey Mouse, also from Diamond Dotz. 

He's also a round partial drill.

I bought both of these at Hobby Lobby with a coupon.

8. Not all companies are created equal. Misshapen, dented, oily drills. Drills with little hang tabs on 'em. Canvases with lots of air bubbles or hard to read symbols. That $4 kit off a cheap website may be more trouble and headaches than it's worth. 

9. You WILL end up with a TON of the little trays. I wish that there was an option to buy the kit WITHOUT the tools for a lesser price. Heck, even like $5 off a $25 kit would be great, because I don't need 5 bazillion little green trays HAHA!!!! 

10. Weird pixels. Diamond painting charts are totally computer generated. Often they started out as cross stitch charts. Sometimes you'll get a painting finished and think there's a color in a weird place. It probably is! For example, in the Beauty & the Beast one I did, the red kind of leaked out of Belle's bow. I simply popped the offending drills out and popped a new color in their place. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

See, at the right edge of the bow, there's some pink outside of the outline.

I took 'em out and put a more appropriate color in there.

Here's a close up. This is a square full drill diamond painting.

The ENTIRE canvas is covered.

Here it is completed. I cannot wait to get this framed and on the wall!