2. Take clear drinking straws and cut them to length.
3. Pinch one end of the straw and take a lighter.
4. Use the lighter to melt the end together.
5. Once melted, you should have a clean edge.
6. Mix water and food coloring and drip them into the straws. Do not fill them all the way because you want the water to have the ability to move around.
7. Then, seal the other end the same way, with the lighter.
8. Mix one ounce of resin and pour it into the coaster mold and pop any bubbles with a lighter.
9. Place your filled straws into the mold and let it cure for 12 hours.
10. Mix more resin (1.5 - 2 ounces) and pour it over the straws.
11. Pop the bubbles with a lighter and allow it to cure for at least 12 hours.
12. Once cured, you can pull it out of the mold!!!
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I've been getting a lot of questions about resin and thought I'd take a a little time to share answers. Hope this helps!
This is the Silikomart mold that I have used:
This is the link to the Freshware mold that I have also used, but they now have a six cavity mold in its place. These are three inches wide, rather than the four inches that I usually use and I guess they might work. It's up to you, if you want to give it a try. Just remember that Amazon changes their items, so always be aware of that!
I love these outline stickers! I wanted to try it in a coaster this week and wanted to do the same sticker in two different ways. I did an outline and a silhouette. I think they turned out pretty cute!
You will need:
- Coaster mold
- Pigment powder (pearl white, gray & blue)
- Resin (Easy Cast or Envirotex Lite work great)
- Outline stickers (I used Starform stickers)
- Black permanent marker
- Super gloss Mod Podge
Here are some of the items I used from available from Amazon, incase you want to give it a shot:
Here is the video tutorial:
Directions:
1. Prepare your resin, according to the package directions.
2. Mix in white pigment powder. Once well mixed, add a small amount of gray and a small amount of blue. Mix a little at a time because you can always add more, but you can't remove it if you add too much color.
3. Pour resin into mold. Allow to set for at least 12 hours.
4. Take your permanent marker and color the sticker, while it is still on the sheet. Let it dry.
5. Carefully remove the sticker from the sheet and apply it to your coaster.
6. Carefully rub it down, but try not to leave any fingerprints.
7. If you are doing the outline, leave it as it is. If you are doing the silhouette, take your permanent marker and color in the stickers. I used some other smaller bird stickers and added them to look like they were flying around, getting ready to land, on the silhouette coaster.
8. Once the marker is dry, take Mod Podge super gloss and paint it over the whole coaster, not just where the stickers are. Make sure it dried COMPLETELY!
9. Once everything is totally dry, prepare more resin.
10. Pour a layer of resin over the whole coaster and let it set a minimum of 12 hours before unmolding.
That's it! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!
1. Prepare your resin according to the package directions.
2. Separate the resin into two small disposable cups and mix glitter into each.
3. Pour the resin glitter mixture into each or the molds. Note: I made enough to cover the bottom of the mold, so it would not be too thick, realizing I would have to do clear top coat.
4. Carefully place in the snowflakes.
5. Allow to sit for several hours.
6. Prepare resin according to package directions. Pour enough resin in each coaster to fully embed the snowflakes.
7. Let is sit for at least 12 hours.
That's it! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!
I always wanted to use my plastic candy molds for resin projects, but I couldn't…..or could I?
Turns out I could, but didn't know it! A world of possibilities just opened up for me! With a little Vaseline, I could use any mold I wanted! Wooohooo!
You will need:
- Plastic mold - I bought this mold at Michaels in the chocolate/candy section
- Resin - I use Easy Cast Resin
- Vaseline
- Pigment powder
Here is the video tutorial:
Directions:
1. Prepare your resin according to package directions.
2. Prepare your mold by rubbing a thin layer of Vaseline inside the cavity and I like to go over the edges to the flat part, in the event I drip or overfill.
3. Pour in resin.
4. Take different pigment powders and drop them into the resin in globs. Taking a toothpick or skewer, start to move the pigment powders around. Keep doing that until you get the look you want.
5. Allow to sit for at least 12 hours.
6. Remove from mold. Wipe off any excess Vaseline and then either brush on a thin layer or resin, or clear nail polish/topcoat.
That's it! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!
This is an easy craft for really impressive results!
You will need:
- Resin - I use Easy Cast, if you are having trouble finding them, go to www.eti-usa.com
- Jewelry mold made for resin - the one I used was from the makers of Easy Cast
- Package filling - the stringy iridescent cellophane type
Here is the video tutorial:
Here is the resin I used and some mold you might like, available from Amazon, incase you want to give it a try:
Directions:
1. Prepare your resin, according to package directions
2. Cut some of the stringy wrap into smaller pieces and put in mold
3. Pour resin into mold and take stir stick to work the cellophane wrap pieces down into the resin
4. If some of the pieces wouldn't stay down, let it sit for an hour and do final pour, otherwise just let it sit for 12 hours
5. Remove from mold and you have a pretty charm!
Now you can use it for whatever you want. You can glue a jewelry bail on it, to make it into a necklace. With the background to the pendant being clear, when you wear it, it will pick up the color of the shirt you are wearing as its background!!
Happy New Year Everyone! I hope your holidays were enjoyable and low stress! I wanted to share a craft with you that is similar to that of others I have done, but different.
I have made coasters before, but some had rougher edges, which some people did not like and I made one in part of a Red Solo Cup, but I kept trying to figure out a better way. Then! I thought of it out of the blue!
I found out by trying other things that resin will not stick to silicone, which opened up a whole world of molds to me, but I still could not figure out something that would work for the coaster. Then I remembered they have those egg shapers. The egg shapers are what you put in the frying pan and drop the egg into, so it keeps a certain shape. They are silicone and round and other shapes too! Here's the math I did to finally come up with my final solution:
silicone egg shaper + parchment paper + hot glue + resin = coaster with smooth edges
Eureka!
Here is the tutorial:
You will need:
- silicone egg shaper
- hot glue
- parchment paper
- stuff to put into your coaster - in this case, I did stones I collected from Colorado
- straw or lighter
- resin - I use Easy Cast
Directions:
First off, there are a few things I should review:
1. Hot glue does not permanently stick to parchment paper - it will peel off when cool
2. Resin does not stick to parchment paper
3. Hot glue does not permanently stick to silicone
4. Resin does not permanently stick to silicone
1. You are going to want to create a mold. The egg shaper does not have a bottom, so we have to create a bottom for it, that will not permanently stick to the bottom of the coaster. That is where the parchment paper comes in. Place the egg shaper onto the parchment paper and run hot glue around the outside perimeter of the egg shaper. Make sure you don't miss any spots, or the resin will run out. The hot glue creates a dam, preventing the resin from escaping.
2. Allow it all to cool and mix your resin. When your resin is ready, pour a thin layer in the mold. This will insure that the bottoms of the rocks will be covered when I place them in. Allow the resin to sit for a few minutes and if any bubbles come to the top, use a lighter to pop them (carefully and with adult supervision if needed) and if you feel uncomfortable using a lighter then use a drinking straw and blow on the bubbles and they should pop.
3. Place your rocks into the mold and top off with the rest of the resin. Make sure you put enough resin in to create a flat surface, especially if the items you are using are of different sizes.
4. Allow to dry overnight. Pull off the parchment paper and take it out of the mold. Allow to fully cure and you have a beautiful coaster!
5. You might have some thin areas where some of resin may have minimally seeped under your mold. Just use scissors to trim off any excess and an old nail file to clean it up if needed.
TIP: I don't know if you can see in the picture or not, but I did get very tiny bubbles in the coaster, despite being very vigilant about trying to remove them. I assume that they are from the voids in the rocks and air just coming out of them. I'm thinking next time, I might Mod Podge, or put some type of varnish on the rocks before hand to make sure they are fully sealed. Remember if you do that, to make sure whatever you are sealing them with is completely dry, or you might get cloudy results.
Think of all the things you can put into a coaster! I'm thinking I might need to make one with shells, sticks, glass, etc.
What would be really fun is if you make a coaster for every vacation you go on. If you find little items, or shells or anything when you are on your trip, you can come home, put them in a coaster and it's kind of like a memory box!
