I will admit it: I’m having too much fun with AliExpress. I’ve ordered super cheap cell phone cases, pretty earrings, inexpensive knock-off Perler beads for the little man (not as good as the real ones, but better than the ones from Ikea), and more. I thought that you all may be interested in one of my recent crafty purchases:

3D Diamond Peacock

This is listed as 3D Diamond Embroidery, and cost about US$15.75. It is, essentially, a thick canvas coated with plastic and printed with a design. Over sections of the design numbered circles are printed, and those areas are covered with a thin adhesive.

Fill-in area on canvas

You also get a whole pile of little “diamonds” that look a lot like Swarovski hot-fix crystals sans adhesive, a cool little tray, and a pair of tweasers.

Lots of “diamonds”

The design is huge (approx. 50cm x 75cm), and the printing is very good. The diamonds all look very nice; I haven’t come across any duds yet. The whole kit is really well put together. The tray they send has even been engineered to flip the diamonds the right way around when you give it a little shake. Very cool!

Working on the project is simple: pull up the protective cover on the area you are working on, grab a diamond and stick it on the right spot and give it a little push to ensure it has stuck. The baggies of diamonds are numbered and the colour key is printed right on the margin of the design. (To help me keep things sorted, I’ve bought some resealable mini-ziploc bags from the dollar store.)

Peacock head and diamond tray

All in all, this is a fun project for a really good price. I may never finish it, and even if I did I have no idea where I would display it, but I have really enjoyed working on something totally different.

If you’d like to take a look at these kits yourself, here is a link for AliExpress. (Not affiliated, etc., etc.) Do be aware, copyright infringements abound. Use your common sense and only order what you are comfortable with.