Adventures in all things food: Resin Bracelets with Dried Flowers

My daughter turned 6 this week, so I thought it was time to do a little more crafting for her. This project for Resin Bracelets with Dried Flowers is not appropriate for young children on their own, but she is in love with the finished product and has already asked me to make more for her and her friends.

Resin is not a medium I have used before, but it was pretty simple to work with. Of course, you will need some safety gear first. I suggest a good pair of eye protection (doesn't every crafter need pink safety glasses?), and gloves for working with the resin.

I also like to cover my work space with wax paper to catch any drips or spills.

Resin Bracelets with Dried Flowers

You Will Need:

Resin Jewelry Plastic Resusable Mold
Castin’ Craft mold release
An assortment of dried flowers and leaves
Envirotex Clear Resin Epoxy
popsicle sticks
2 mixing containers
toothpicks
fine sandpaper

Start by prepping the plastic reusable mold. Give the inside a quick spray with mold release. Allow this to dry for 20 minutes, or as directed on the package.

To fill the bracelet, I got a whole variety of dried flowers and some small leaves to work with. Make sure your flowers are completely dry, any moisture in the resin will prevent it from setting properly.

For this project, I had everything ready before mixing my resin. Different brands call for different proportions, but this clear EnviroTex was a 1:1 ratio of resin and hardener. It needs to be mixed really well to set properly.

I mixed for 2 minutes, scraping the sides as I went.

Then I poured the mixture into my 2nd container and mixed again. Most of the problems people mentioned online were due to under mixing the epoxy. Don't worry, there was still plenty of time to make my bracelet.

Be careful when mixing. Mix too vigorously and you can add air bubbles to the resin. Mix gently, but well. A toothpick works well to pop air bubbles or bring them up to the surface. Then gently blow on the surface to pop the bubbles.

I poured a small amount of resin into my prepared mold. Then I started adding the dried flowers and leaves. I used my stirring stick and toothpick to push pieces into place. I wanted my leaves and buds to be evenly distributed around the mold.

After I was happy with my design, I left the resin in a dry place to dry. Mine started to become tacky after a few hours. I let it cure for a full 24 hours though before trying to unmold it.

My mold was slightly pliable, but it still took a little work to remove the finished bracelet from the mold.

My daughter was thrilled with the result. She already has some new ideas for things to put into her bracelets. We may even fill some with the paper beads she has been making!

I hope you enjoyed our little Resin Bracelet craft. Be sure to come back next month for the next #TBCCrafters craft post. They will be posted on the first Friday of each month.

Have you ever worked with resin? What do you suggest I try next?

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