What Tools Do You Actually Need for Paint by Numbers?
Most paint by numbers accessory lists include things already in your box. Here is what actually comes with a kit, what is worth buying separately, the order to buy it in, and what you can safely skip.
Search for paint by numbers accessories and you will find long lists of things you supposedly need. Most of them you already have in the box. This guide separates what arrives with your kit from what is genuinely worth buying separately, in the order we would buy them — and it is honest about the ones you can skip.
Current prices for everything mentioned here are on the product pages in tools and accessories.
First: what is already in your kit
Before buying anything, check what you have. Every Creative Vibes paint by numbers kit includes:
- The pre-printed numbered canvas
- A complete set of acrylic paints matched to the canvas
- Brushes in several sizes
- A reference sheet and colour card
Nothing on the rest of this page is required to finish a kit. These are upgrades that make the process more comfortable, not missing pieces.
The one upgrade worth making first
A fine detail brush set
If you buy one accessory, buy this. The brushes included with a kit are perfectly good for skies, fields and large blocks of colour. They start to struggle in the smallest numbered sections, where a slightly splayed tip means you paint over the line and then spend time correcting it.
A nine-piece fine tip set makes those sections quick instead of fiddly. This is the accessory people wish they had bought before starting, rather than halfway through.
If you prefer a single tool over a set, the double-ended metal detail brush does the same job.
The second thing to buy
A paint holder tray
A standard kit comes with a lot of numbered pots. Loose on a table, they get knocked, mixed up and hunted for. A three-tier pot organiser keeps them in numerical order and angled so you can read the labels without picking each one up.
This sounds trivial. In practice it removes the most common small irritation of a painting session, and it is the reason people describe a setup as feeling "sorted".
Worth it for specific problems
White number remover pen
Printed numbers showing through pale colours is the single most asked-about issue, particularly with creams, light greys and pale skies. A second thin coat usually solves it. When it does not, a white acrylic paint pen covers the number cleanly without flooding the area with more paint.
Buy it if your design has large areas of pale colour. Skip it for dark or highly saturated designs.
Extra acrylic paint sets
Three situations call for extra paint: a pot has dried out, you have run low on a colour that dominates the canvas, or you want to mix custom shades rather than stick to the supplied palette.
The 24-colour set covers a rescue. The 48-colour set makes more sense if you are painting regularly and want a standing palette. Neither is worth buying pre-emptively with a first kit.
Paint mixer and protector
The mixer and protector becomes relevant once you have started mixing your own shades, or want to seal a finished canvas. Not a beginner purchase.
Comfort, not necessity
These solve real annoyances but none of them affect the finished painting:
- Water-resistant apron. Acrylic does not come out of fabric once dry. Worth it if you paint in your normal clothes.
- Anti-smudge painting glove. Stops the side of your hand lifting or smearing paint you have already laid down. Most useful on large canvases, and if you are left-handed working left to right.
- Roll-up brush bag. Only worth it once you own brushes worth protecting. Pointless with a single kit.
What you do not need to buy
Worth saying plainly, because plenty of lists will tell you otherwise.
You do not need an easel — a flat table is better for paint by numbers, since gravity works against you on a tilted canvas. You do not need palettes, because the paint arrives pre-mixed in numbered pots. You do not need brush cleaner or solvent; acrylic rinses out with water if you do it before it dries. You do not need special lighting, though daylight genuinely helps you read faint numbers.
A sensible order to buy in
- Nothing. Finish your first kit with what came in the box.
- Detail brushes — if you enjoyed it and want a second kit.
- Paint holder tray — once painting has become a regular habit.
- Everything else — only when a specific problem makes you want it.
One practical note: free delivery applies above a minimum order value, so adding an accessory to a kit order often works out cheaper overall than ordering the two separately.
Where to find them
Everything above is in tools and accessories, where you will also find current prices. All of it works with any brand of kit — these are standard acrylic supplies, not proprietary parts.
New to this? Start with our beginner's guide to your first kit, or read the comparison of paint by numbers, diamond painting, dot painting and punch needle. Then browse the kits themselves.
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