Resin-ating

posted by Diana

I took a break last week from talking about flowers... but this week I'm back at it. I feel like I'm turning into my Grandma, which isn't a bad thing.

Here's the before...

And the after...

I bought this beautiful dandelion necklace from the Etsy shop UralNature. It took almost three weeks for my necklace to arrive from Russia, but it was worth the wait. That necklace is every bit as lovely as the seller's photograph. But, because I couldn't just be content with buying and wearing that itty-bitty trapped piece of nature, I had to learn how to create similar pieces myself.

So, I bought these molds from Etsy seller ResinSun, and hit up the craft store for some polyester resin and catalyst. I was going to just dive in and try them out, but those handmade molds are pricey. They'll be worth the price in the long run because I love a spherical pedant, but I didn't want to ruin them my second time ever working with resin.

So, I bought this baking pan. It's for bite-size candies and baked goods, but I thought it would work nicely as a trial mold. It cost about $6 with a coupon at Joann. (Sidenote: Joann lets you use more than one coupon per transaction... and hasn't reported an epic data security breach. Step up your game, Michael's!)

Castin' Craft Resin and Catalyst

I felt super cute when I was gathering my flowers and dandelions and dreaming of all of the beautiful things I would make. That feeling ended when I unscrewed the cap to the resin. The container had the metal seal intact, but the resin fumes were still seeping out. They were horrible! I had decided to forego gloves (because protecting your hands is for sissies), but I changed my mind when I smelled the resin stank.

It smelled so toxic! I was glad I had decided to work outside. Before the next time I work with resin, I'm definitely buying proper safety goggles, more gloves, and a mask. Even though my patio is well-ventilated, I still felt like I was singeing my nose hairs the entire time I was outside. Now that my resin pieces are mostly cured, they still have a (less overwhelming) fumey smell. That smell dissipates with time, but I'm ready for it to be gone now.

The cup I used with very scientific measurements, complete with popsicle stick for stirring.

I mixed my resin and my catalyst in a disposable, plastic cup. I marked the inside of the cup at 1oz so I could get two squares filled per batch. My baking dish mold squares hold about 1/2oz of fluid each and are 5/8in tall, so I put in about 5 drops of catalyst per oz as per the directions on the bottle. Some batches have a drop or two more of the catalyst than others, but varying the catalyst by only a few drops didn't seem to make a difference in my finished product.

What did matter was mixing the resin and catalyst completely. The directions on the resin container say to stir the mixture for about 60 seconds. The resin batches I stirred the most set up and cured out better than the batches I was lazier about mixing.

The first pour! It's ever-so-slightly overflowing, which is not ideal. 

To make these resin pieces, I poured a bit of mixed resin and catalyst into the mold, stuck in the flower of choice, and then covered the rest of it with resin. Putting in the flowers got progressively more difficult as my gloves got stickier and stickier. I tried using tweezers, which helped a little... until they got sticky as well. Then I had to daintily and gingerly wrestle dandelion puffs into place with sticky gloves and gooey tweezers. It worked out okay, but next time I'll make more of an effort to be neater and have multiple pairs of gloves on hand (Ha! That wasn't even intentional.)

Also, next time I make these, I won't fill my squares as much. I actually didn't intend to fill the molds as much as I did, but I didn't have much control over my pouring speed at first. I expected the resin to have a thicker consistency once it was mixed with the catalyst, but it hadn't solidified at all in that short mixing time.

More squares filled in.

I thought having full molds would work in my favor since resin shrinks a bit when it cures. However, the squares I didn't fill as much faired better than the fuller squares.

All done and taped up. The waiting game begins.

The first time I cast resin was back in high school... the pieces cured out completely, except for the backs. No matter how long I waited, the backs of my pieces were still sticky. The backs had been exposed to the open air the entire time my pieces were curing... and everything I read said open air exposure might be the issue.

This time, I taped packing tape over the backs. Taping was both a good and bad idea. Since some of my squares were too full, the tape stuck to the wet resin in those squares. The resin that wasn't touching the tape cured out wonderfully. Unfortunately, the resin that was touching the tape is still sticky. If my molds weren't quite so full, I think all of the squares would have cured just fine.

I should have left a few uncovered to see how they cured in the open air, but I was afraid bugs were going to get stuck in them and die.

All popped out.

I let my resin pieces sit about 24 hours before I tried popping them out of the molds. (I poked them a lot during that time because I'm not very patient). The resin pieces came out easily even though some of the pieces were still a bit sticky. I didn't use mold release (because I didn't feel like buying it) and the baking pan seems like it's in great condition to practice in again.

I honestly probably should have left the sticky ones in the mold for another day or so...again--patience is a virtue. That I do not possess. Anyway, I'm hoping that most of my squares will completely cure. If they don't, have (a) backup plan(s). If the squares end up being just a little tacky, I can paint over them with clear nail polish or varnish to fix that. If the squares are too sticky for comfort, I'll try to cover the backs with fabric or incorporate them into a larger resin project.

All of these have sticky backs.

The one that cured out the best. Sadly, I think it's the ugliest one...

My favorites are the dandelions. Here's a dandelion explosion.

This dandelion puff stayed mostly intact.

I'm so excited these turned out (mostly) well! This was a great learning experience. I think I'll have this whole resin process down in no time and be able to use my cute molds soon.

Frozen dandelion wishes. This is either the saddest or most hopeful thing I've ever made.

Happy making!