Where do you buy craft supplies from, in Dubai ?

Dear Friends, Kindly visit the updated and current post for all the art and craft supplies stores in Dubai, here :- 

https://doodlebuddies.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/where-do-you-buy-craft-supplies-from-in-dubai-part-2/

This is one of the most asked questions I receive in my blog. There are several other places too which I will address in another post.

The whole point of this post is to share information of

• where you can buy craft supplies,
• what kind of supplies can be bought from which stores
• what uses can certain products adapt to.

Let me clarify one thing in the very beginning of this post ~ I am NOT a hoarder.

Ok, so now that we have THAT out of the way, let me explain, that over the past 3 months, while the house was frequented by a regular stream of visitors, I still managed to utilize some of the shopping time with them to pick a few craft goodies for myself too.

 Carrefour at Mall Of the Emirates.

Now, I know, your probably looking for specific stuff – but let me tell you, one of the things that I like best about Carrefour, is that :-

• They pick commodities in huge quantities = which naturally means a good price for the consumer.
• They have these special sales of 10 and 20 dhs prices, ( once or twice a year) on household/domestic purpose items which come in handy for us crafters.
• Buy Christmas ornaments after New Years ! Why you ask ?  Prices ofcourse !!

There are many such things that are helpful and available at Carrefour – Do you have them ?

• The twine is excellent and, I’ve realized at times, when your looking for them ~ you cant find them.
• The freezer tape is going to be a great help, for my students, in the next art class.

Christmas Ornaments from Carrefour

While we are Muslims and do not celebrate Christmas, I generally pick scores and scores of Christmas ornaments during the Christmas season. Why ?

• They come in handy, in several ways :-
• I can use them as templates and stencils.
• I can also teach my students how to make them, hence they are inspirational pieces.
• Some can be used as napkin rings.
• Some as curtain decoration or tie backs.
• Some as fridge magnets.
• Some as book marks.
• some as toys for the pets (cats)
• While one sees ornaments here ~ I see endless creative possibilities 🙂

The next time your at Carrefour at Christmas time, think about the above possibilities while looking around for those ornaments.

DAISO

Daiso is a Japanese retailer who have been in the market selling Japanese products for over a decade now.  They host stores in Ajman, Dubai ~ Mirdiff City Center, Lamcy Plaza and else where.  You may have to look them up for a location closer to where you stay.

I love the store in Ajman coz they are probably the largest with a larger variety. Their prices were very reasonable, as in Dhs 5 for most products. However over the years they have raised it to dhs 7 for most items.

The below items were bought from Daiso.

• The hair filter can act as a stencil and with the excellent texture ~ it could be used in several other ways too.
• Ikea has a similar curtain clip too but without the loop.
• These files are hard to find. They are designed for smaller objects and I know exactly which wooden pieces are going to have smooth corners and surfaces now !!

Brands for less ( in Bur Dubai )

Yes, I know, your surprised ! I was too !  On one shopping trip with my relatives, while they shopped for clothes, I turned to the stationery shelves and was delighted to come across these lovely finds.  Who would have thought that Brands for Less would carry these items too !

• The circular cutter for only dhs 22 !!! ( My old one is Fiskars, for which I paid a fortune nearly 10 years back )
• These cones/blue cups are stands for keeping a painted item on it, so as to dry. (Needless to say, I already have different plans for them )

• These two precision cutters are great too. I would use them only for fine tuning if my dies missed out some tiny corners.
• For the price I paid, I was jumping in joy ! (well not literally )

Dubai Library Distribution :-

I have been visiting them on Sheikh Zayed Road branch and Murraqabat road branch for alittle over 7 years now and I must tell you, they’ve never  disappointed.

• My manual paper cutter/the guillotine is also bought from there.
• They have a large stock of paints and professional artist products too. (paint brushes, easels, frames, paints, varnishes, mediums, watercolors etc)
• The below shopping was done when I wanted some specific acrylic paint colors, gesso and some stencils. Naturally everything else that you see is just an add-on 🙂  (still not a hoarder)
• I had shopped at their Al Warqa outlet and was slightly disappointed that they did not carry paint brands Folkart or American Crafts.
• They are not inexpensive but then professional art materials are seldom inexpensive.
• I haven’t seen these water color pencils elsewhere, so if your looking for any, you know where to find them now 🙂

• The medium gel is great to seal art works.
• The plastic spatulas may not have been my best buy ~ I wish they had the steel ones.
• Oh and btw the blue pen writes like a dream ! I wish, I’d bought more. (perhaps another time !)

Creative Minds

Another store that Samie, had asked me visit nearly 3 months back was Creative Minds at Al Barsha. (Umm suqeim road)

On our way back from Jumeirah, we decided to pop over for a “short” visit to this store and I was totally taken aback, once I entered the doors !

Now this is what you call a crafters paradise. I don’t think, I could emphasis just how huge the store is, how well organized and  well-kept their creative tools, supplies and variety is, so its surely a “must-visit” stop for any scrapbooker, crafter, hobbyist !! They have EVERYTHING you can dream of and more !!

Nearly 10 years back when there were merely a handful of stores that carried specific products like rubber stamps for school teachers or charts for school, this store at the Beach center (ground floor) used to carry them. I think, they were called Al wasit trading then. They were quite expensive but the owner had once told me that they bought all their goods from USA directly hence it was that expensive.

I am happy to say, that the owner has opened another store which is Creative Minds !

They have a huge collection of Sharpies too.

The only draw back I noticed, are the prices. I feel, they are quite expensive but I suppose if money is not an issue, then this is one shop that has every hobbyist’s dream tools under one roof.

Although, I had just bought myself a huge load of goodies from DLD just a week back, wouldn’t it seem rather rude, leaving without any purchases, at all ?

Oh of course it would, so I picked only a few paints, stencils, and sharpies (can never have enough of them).

Sharjah ~ Bank street

• There are several problems associated with visiting and shopping at Sharjah city or outskirts.
• Travelling the distance
• Parking chaos
• Haggling with the storekeeper
• Most stores are wholesalers and don’t even want to entertain retail-customers.
• Most of these stores are haberdashery so in essence they cater to the needs of tailors, people related to the textile field etc and not crafters.

I bought these ribbons and the jute ribbon from Sharjah behind Bank street ~ where most textile and tailoring stores are located. But sometimes it just feels, like its too much of an effort for something too small 😦

And Finally this huge treasure of beads, buttons, bows, embellishments was bought from the Malaysia !! How cool is that !

Yippee ~ Well you can just say, it was my New Year gift 🙂  Afterall, a girl can only have so many buttons, ribbons and embellishments – isn’t it 🙂

Voila !! There you have it. Some stores, you probably were aware of and some, you may want to visit in the near future.

oh yeah, I would like to clarify that this post has NOT been sponsored by any one of the above mentioned stores ~ and I have not been offered any discounts or reductions on the goods I purchased from them in lieu for this post.

This post is for all my fellow crafters who are creative and are looking for the right direction and some guidance. If you found this information helpful, I would love to have your feedback. Kindly join me or subscribe to my blog using any of the following social networks :

Thank you very much for visiting me today. Have a beautiful day and be safe.

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