I’ve been doing diamond painting for a while now, and one thing I always notice after finishing a kit is just how many leftover drills there are.
At first I used to think about throwing them away, but now I honestly keep almost all of them. Some colors are just too nice to waste, especially from some of the newer kits I’ve worked on recently.
A few of the kits I bought from FEELOOK Art came with resin drills, and the sparkle on them is noticeably better than a lot of acrylic drills I’ve used before. Because of that, I’ve started organizing leftover colors into small containers instead of tossing them out.
I still don’t really know what I’ll eventually do with all of them though Maybe future DIY projects or custom details someday.
Curious what everyone else here does with leftover drills. Do you save them, sort them by color, reuse them, or just get rid of them after finishing a project?
Welcome to LC! I haven’t tried diamond painting but I bet most people here would keep the extras and create their own custom designs. That’s definitely what I do with embroidery / cross stitch kits. They usually also come with a generous amount of floss and I always save them for new projects.
I haven’t done this craft, but I have bought a small container of the drills to use for miniatures. They make great rivets and boltheads in minis, as well as stuff like eyes and other textures. Usually they are painted over along with the rest of whatever they are stuck to.
I don’t do diamond art because I lack the patience. However, as a confirmed craft supply hoarder, I’d 100% keep them and use them for my own designs. I believe there are sites online where you can create your own diamond art designs. @curiousfae has made some gorgeous custom designs. Like this one:
I haven’t done a lot of diamond art kits, but I have saved all the spare dots & at least once subbed in leftovers for a color I didn’t like in a later kit.
I’m not patient enough for diamond art, but my 14-year-old son is very much into it. He has been saving the extra drills (I honestly only now learned they’re called this lol) in case he loses any for future projects, which sometimes happens in a house full of people with ADHD and a cat who likes to knock over things
The extra drills have come in handy at least once. We accidentally ruined a diamond art canvas, but my good friend said she could salvage it. So we gave the extra drills to her to fill it in, since it was already half full, but salvaging it might ruin some of the already placed drills.
I have wondered about creating my own design and using whatever leftover drills he has if he doesn’t want them anymore, but I have too many projects I want to do more lol
But if you ever decide you don’t want the leftovers anymore, you might find someone to share them with in the sharing and caring “give-along”
I was honestly worried I was just hoarding these pieces for no reason, but your comments make me feel so much better. Using them for mixed media or mosaic ornaments is absolutely brilliant. I am definitely going to organize my leftovers now and use some of those gorgeous special drills I saved up for future DIYs. If anyone has pictures of projects they’ve made with leftover drills, I would absolutely love to see them!
Maybe future DIY projects or custom details someday.
