How To Store Your Diamond Painting Beads
The Best Ways to Store Your Diamonds
If you are an experienced diamond painter, you know the ultimate frustration when it comes to this hobby: you are going along, using your tool to stick your diamonds onto their corresponding numbered sections on the canvas. You are completely in the zone, when all of a sudden your phone goes off, or your cat knocks something over in the next room, or a car backfires outside – and the resulting sound startles you so that your hand slips or your knee jerks, and the next thing you know, all of your diamond gems have spilled to the floor. The colors are all mixed up and it is going to take forever for you to get down on your hands and knees and individually pick up each separate gem. If you are new to the world of diamond painting, trust us – this experience is definitely going to happen to you at some point, too. How do you prevent this kind of frustration? One of the best ways is to store your gems in separate containers so that, even if you are startled, only the gems you are working with in that particular moment will spill, instead of all of them. Read on to learn about some of the best options for storing your diamonds and preventing disaster.
Storage Containers
Many diamond painting companies that make diamond painting kits also make handy dandy storage containers. These containers most often come with 28 different storage compartments, which give you the option to store pretty much every color you will ever need, no matter how nuanced. Some products are made of higher quality plastic, so if they do slip and fall to the floor, they will not become warped and/or scratched. There are also storage containers that can break apart into smaller collections of containers, so you do not have to carry around all 28 compartments at once if you are working on a painting with only four colors (most break out into seven storage strips with four slots apiece). These containers are useful in that they are specifically designed for storing the gemstones used in diamond painting, so they are the exact right size and shape. Often, these containers also come with the option to individually label each storage section, so that you can keep track of which color gem goes in which section, even if you used all the gems in that section for your last painting. These products can be helpful when it comes to more nuanced diamond painting gem storage, although there are also some free options for storage as described below.
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Free Storage Options
If extra diamond painting tools are not in your budget, or if you are a fan of reducing, reusing, and recycling, there are also plenty of free diamond painting storage options for gems. One of the easiest options is a simple egg carton – it is already divided into twelve, or potentially 24, sections, it is cheap or free, and it is a great way to be sustainable and re-purpose an object that would normally be thrown away. One of the things you will have to watch out for with egg cartons is how tightly you can seal it – if it is a Styrofoam egg carton, it is typically able to be sealed more easily, but cardboard egg cartons often have gaps around their edges where gems could slip out if the carton were to fall. Additionally, some egg cartons come with small holes in the bottom of the different egg slots, so you will want to check and make sure your carton is not perforated before you attempt to store your gems inside.
Another storage option that is typically cheaper and does not have some of the limitations described above with the egg cartons is the use of Tic Tac boxes. If you have always felt a little guilty for throwing these tiny containers away and contributing to the increase of plastic waste on our planet, worry no longer! Tic Tac boxes are the ideal diamond painting gem storage container. They are easily seal-able, unlike the egg cartons, and are already designed to hold tiny individual objects such as mints or diamond painting gems. Also, you can remove the label from Tic Tac boxes, or write over the existing label to designate specific boxes for specific colors – another aspect of storage that is not really an option with the egg cartons. The only drawback to the Tic Tac boxes is there is not really a way to transport all the boxes together at once, the way you will be able to carry around a bunch of different colors at the same time if you have them sorted into an egg carton. So, when it comes to the cheaper/free options for storing your diamond painting gems, be sure to assess the benefits and challenges of the different options and decide which one will be most productive for you and your diamond painting storage needs.
Storing your gems is an important aspect of diamond painting – an aspect whose importance painters will not really understand until they are scrambling around on the floor with tiny gemstones digging into their knees as they attempt to clean up a giant gemstone mess. There are diamond painting storage options you can buy from diamond painting companies, which allow for handy dandy gemstone storage and labeling. Or, if you are interested in more sustainable options, you can re-purpose other kinds of storage containers, such as egg cartons or Tic Tac boxes. Whatever you end up choosing, simple, uncomplicated storage of your diamond painting gems will enhance your diamond painting experience and remove an additional obstacle from your completion of a beautiful, sparkling diamond painting. Look into the different options available and find a good storage system for your diamond gems today so you can focus on what is actually important – getting that awesome painting done and framed up on your wall!