Sparkling Crystal Art kits, made to be finished

Crystal Art is the UK name for diamond painting: a printed adhesive canvas marked with a numbered chart, and hundreds of tiny resin crystals that you place one by one with a wax-tipped pen. Peel back a little of the protective film, pick up a crystal, press it onto its symbol, and the picture builds itself facet by facet. There is no glue, no water and nothing to dry, which is why it suits kitchen tables, car journeys and quiet evenings equally well.

Kits run from 18x18cm greeting cards up to 40x50cm canvases like our Harry Potter canvases, and the same technique covers Crystal Art Buddies figurines, keyrings and wooden hanging decorations. If you want to try the craft without choosing a design, a Crystal Art mystery box is the cheapest way in.

Start small. A 30x30cm canvas such as Lavender Field or Majestic Elephant takes roughly six to eight hours and uses fewer colours, so you learn the rhythm of the wax pen before committing to a bigger scene. Work in sections, keep the film over the parts you are not using, and tip surplus crystals back into their pot at the end of each sitting.

Two things make a noticeable difference: a light pad, which makes faint symbols readable in the evening, and a coat of Crystal Art Shimmer Sealer once you are finished, which locks the crystals down before framing. Everything else you need is already in the box — canvas, sorted crystals, wax pen, tray, tweezers and instructions.