Hello and welcome to the first Handmade Monday tutorial! I have had this idea since I started my blog, and finally I am ready to bring you the first installment! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I had an idea to make these really cute resin pendants with Sweetheart Conversation Hearts. So, let’s dive into how to make these cute resin pendants. First I want to tell you about how to make the resin in the mold, then we will talk about how to turn the resin into a pendant.
What you need to make the molded resin pendant :
Castin’ Craft Resin
red Castin’ Craft Resin Dye
a mixing cup
a mixing stick
resin molds
Castin’ Craft Mold Release
a heat gun
Sweethearts Conversation Hearts
Step one is to spray the inside of your resin molds with the mold release spray. Trust me that this will make your life so much easier, and it will result in less prying and possible scratching later on if you don’t use it. Make sure the molds are nice and wet and then set aside to dry while you work through the next couple of steps. If they aren’t dry completely when you are ready for them, simply wipe thoroughly with a dry rag.
Step two is to pick out which hearts you want to use in your jewelry. I suggest you open the box and dump out all the hearts and pick through the ones which look the best. You don’t want ones that are lightly printed or off-set printed like these:
What you are looking for are hearts that have a very dark word printed on the front that is nice and centered, like these:
Next you want to decide which ones you want to use. It would be a good idea to arrange them and check to make sure they are going to fit into your molds. Here is an example of one arrangement I made before I started mixing my resin (sadly, the camera is making the colors look way off in this photo):
The next step is to mix your resin. Follow the instructions for the type of resin you have, but I use Castin’ Craft Easy Cast, and it mixes at at one to one ratio. After you mix your resin for the amount of time the instructions indicate, mix in one very small drop of Castin’ Craft Resin Dye. It will be a nice, light pinkish red color.
Ok, now, the fun part starts: Using your mixing stick, spread a very small amount into the bottom on the mold
and then press the candies on top of this thin layer and wiggle them around. They need to be face down because the face down part will actually be the front when you pop it out of the mold.
You really want to make sure that no giant air bubbles get caught between the resin mold bottom and the candy, so you may want to carefully lift up the mold and check for air bubbles. Now you are ready to pour the resin into the mold to cover the candy. Slowly and carefully pour the resin into the mold to cover the candy and bring the resin up level with the mold edge.
After you have filled all the molds you want to fill with candy and resin, use your heat gun and from about 6-10 inches away, sweep the hot air back and forth over the molds so all the bubbles which have formed will pop, leaving you with a nice smooth surface. Be careful not to hold the heat gun too close to the wet resin, or it might cause it to blow out of the mold, and that will just result in more work later.
Ok, the last thing you are going to do for about 24 hours is set something over the top of the molds so that no fuzz, pet hair, dust, etc., can settle on the mold. My favorite thing to use is an empty game box. It seems to work just perfect for me. Just be careful to set it on a nice level surface, and then, after waiting about 24 hours you will be ready to move on to the next big step.
Alright! It’s 24 hours later and your resin has dried in the mold. You’ll need to carefully pop each molded resin piece out. You may need to use a little elbow grease on this part. Once the molded pieces are all popped out, you’ll need a few more tools to finish this project up, and they are:
a dremel-type tool with a sanding attachment and a drill attachment
gel type super glue
small eyelets that your preferred chain will fit through the eye of, and of course you are going to need one of your molded pieces popped out and ready to sand
First, you’ll need the dremel tool with the sanding attachment. Turn it on and carefully go around the edges of the resin pendant and smooth it down so it is all even and very level all the way around the mold. This will make a bit of a mess and cause a lot of resin dust to fly about, so be careful to avoid breathing it in or getting it in your eyes.
Once you’ve smoothed the whole thing out, it’s time to put the drill attachment on and drill a very small hole into the top of pendant. The drill be size will be determined by the size of the eyelet you choose. They should be almost identical in size. Try to drill the hole either into, or behind the candy pieces so the eyelet will not be visible from the front of the necklace.
Next, take an eyelet and make sure it fits into the hole (that it is deep enough, mainly). If it fits tightly, you may just be able to screw it in to secure it. If the eyelet is a bit loose, then you should put a small dab of super glue on to the eyelet and then put it into the hole.
Make sure the eyelet is turned in the right way to run a chain through and hang correctly on the neck. Let the super glue dry for about 15 minutes, string your necklace onto a chain or a nice pink ribbon, and then your necklace is ready to wear!
I hope you liked today’s tutorial. I would love to hear from you if you make one for yourself, and I’d especially love to see what you make! I’d also love to hear anything you have to say about working with resin- why do you or do you not work with resin? What makes resin so overwhelming to some people? What is one of the worst resin pouring mishaps you have made? Leave a comment on the blog and I will select at random a winner one week from today and they will receive the pendant I made in this tutorial!
Sunday Afternoon Housewife 