Casting Doubts

posted by Diana

It's a week of fails on DIYDuet, apparently...

and time to show you what I was making when I looked all hilarious/terrifying, depending on your point of view.

This isn't the fail I'm talking about... the goggles and respirator worked quite well, actually!

The last time I worked with resin, the fumes from the chemical reaction burned my eyes, nose, and throat... so I thought it wise to order a couple of things to prevent future tissue damage. The crazy goggles and respirator did the trick--I escaped this craft experiment unscathed. 

I decided to embed flowers again, but this time chose a silicon cake pop baking dish as my mold. I used the same Castin' Craft brand resin and catalyst as before, but switched up my mixing method with disposable gloves, Popsicle sticks, and tiny, disposable mixing cups. Last time all I had were kitchen gloves, a singular Popsicle stick, and a couple of Solo cups that I kept reusing for each resin batch... and I think mixing batches with those tools like I did hindered the final product. 

This time, I collected flowers on my way home from work. Weeds, really. I fought bugs for weeds that I thought were pretty and gave my car a minor ant infestation. The things I do for crafts...

My favorites last time were dandelion puffs, so I made sure to daintily pick and transport a few of those. I also grabbed clover blossoms and some wildflowers because I thought the colors were pretty. 

I mixed about 4-5 drops of catalyst per ounce of resin and stirred each batch for the full 30 or so seconds the instructions recommended. Unfortunately, I went against the instructions and tried this experiment on a humid/rainy day. Resin doesn't cure out so well in a humid environment... but I didn't think to check the weather ahead of time. Whoops! Still, I pressed on.

I coated the mold with a layer of resin, put in my flower or puff, and filled the rest of the half-sphere. I continued working this way for about nine pieces. Then I attached the top half of the cake pop mold.

The reason I purchased a silicon cake pop mold is because I thought my resin might cast into a sphere. I knew the mold wasn't airtight, but I was hoping the resin solution wouldn't leak out the edges too much. I used a funnel to fill the rest of the mold. To pour the resin in the upper half, I had to snip the hole to fit my funnel in.

And here's the result.

Some resin pieces emerged attached, but some escaped the mold with only a little bit of a seam. And none of them are spheres. I couldn't get the mold full enough!

I didn't attempt to fill in the upper sphere on some of my resin pieces (mostly because I was getting way too hot in that respirator), but the half pieces are the ones that turned out the best. Weirdly, the clover blossoms lost all of their color... so I have a few dried clover blossoms waiting in the wings for next time.

Even though the clover blossoms have the best craftsmanship, I'm most excited about these puffs. Really, this experiment was only a half-fail. I think if I got a Dremel tool, I could sand and polish these pieces to where the resin exterior is smooth and unclouded. I won't be attempting to use the top of the cake pop mold again except as a cover, but the bottom half is worth the investment for future half-sphere molds. I'll keep you posted on the Dremel experiment!

Happy making!