“She is like a wildflower. Beautiful, fierce and free.”
Flowers…the beauty of the world…
The ones that inspired this fun little hobby that my daughter and I have
After receiving several requests, we are going to be sharing here what you need and how you can also create pretty resin-coated jewelry with pressed flowers.
My daughter and I have found this is a fun way to spend time together, and we want to encourage you to take on this hobby with a loved one!
Although the process requires attention to detail, patience, etc. It is a relatively easy process and a fun way to bond with your girls…or boys for that matter
From picking out the flowers that you are going to use for your piece, to choosing how to arrange them, to waiting for things to dry; this is an activity that will provide lots of quality time for you to spend with one or more children, a girlfriend, your mom, grandma, etc. It will also encourage you to go out in nature and admire the beautiful work of our Creator. No flower is like any other and it is an amazing thing to experience and observe from up close.
Without further ado, let’s jump right in. First things first, the materials. (I will be sharing items here from my Amazon storefront. I may get a small commission if you purchase through the links and we thank you kindly for it. BTW, when you click the links within this post, you will be taken to Amazon. I recommend adding the items to your cart and once you are done reading this tutorial, you can head to Amazon to make some shopping decisions!)
What you will need:
- Pressed dried flowers. We mostly get our from our garden, but if you are in the middle of winter and the creating bug has bitten you, then you can get these pretty ones! —- I am working on a tutorial to show you how you can make your own flower press, but that will come in a different post. For now, just a thick encyclopedia or dictionary would do the trick! Just place your flowers in between two pieces of paper and put them inside of the book for a long while. Around a week or so.
- Clear Epoxy Resin Kit. There are so many options out there. All the sizes, all the prizes, etc. If you are trying this for the first time, I suggest starting small and keep costs low. Try this kit. A small bottle will go a long way as you will need a tiny amount for each piece. The one I used asks for an equal amount of Resin and hardener, so if you decide to go with something different pay close attention to the amounts required.
- A protective mat to put on your workspace. Resin is very sticky so make sure you cover the table or desk you will be working on. I love the size and thickness of this mat.
- Tools, cups, and molds to work with. You will need lots of craft sticks š get these at the dollar store or buy in bulk through Amazon. You will probably use one per project. You will need cups for mixing the solution, suction pipettes for transferring little amounts of product from the cup to your jewelry piece, some tweezers to handle your delicate flowers, and if you want you can get awesome casting molds, that will make your life easier. You guys, the possibilities are seriously endless and you could spend lots and lots of $$$$ buying all the fun stuff!—— This right here is a basic set of tools that has everything you need to start. And these are our favorite casting molds thus far š They are SO fun to use! As far as tweezers go, I like these ones.
- Jewelry. I suggest going to Hobby Lobby, Joann Fabrics, Michales, or any other local craft store near to you where you know they sell jewelry materials and have fun with it! You just need items that are hollow so you can fill them up with your pretty flowers. Like these Loop earrings that I found at JoAnn Fabrics:
What you do:
Step 1: Place your resin safe mat on the desired surface.
Step 2: Gather your resin, hardener, a mixing cup, and a craft stick, and proceed to mix your solution as described in the directions of the product you bought. I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to mix the solutions exactly how the directions tell you to do it. Mix well with your craft stick and allow the product to sit for a bit so most of the bubbles disappear. Make sure your cup is dry and free of any debris by the way!
Step 3: Gather the desired flowers and Jewelry. We usually pick the jewelry piece and start playing with the flowers. Just start adding flowers to the empty part of your jewelry piece to visualize how it will look like. It is a good idea to do this while the solution sits for just a few minutes.
Step 4: Once you are happy and have decided on your design, place your flowers right where you want them to go and use a pipette to start very slowly adding your resin+hardener mix to your piece. A little bit goes a LONG way, so do it little by little. Allow one drop at a time to sort of slowly spread through the inside of your piece and add one or two more drops until you have covered the entire surface. Make sure you do not overfill your jewelry piece otherwise you will have lots to trim afterward. (If you are using a casting mold, do the same exact process, the only inside of the mold). Remove any bubbles with one of your tools by gently pushing the bubbles against the edge. In our opinion though, a few bubbles add character to the piece, so we like to leave some.
Step 5: Leave your product in a safe place where no little siblings or pets can touch it and wait for at least 12 hours for your piece to fully dry. We like to wait full 24 hours before moving the piece. Drying time for a piece inside a casting mold does need full 24 hours. Look at the pretty puzzle piece necklace charm we made:
Step 6: Touch gently to make sure everything is 100% dry and inspect your piece. Does it need a little bit more epoxy? Then add it and repeat drying time. Do you need to trim the edges? Do so, with small and sharp scissors. (the set of tweezers that I linked above includes excellent scissors!
Step 7: Carefully lift your piece from underneath your mat or push it out of your casting mold. and finish your piece by adding a cord, a chain, or any other pieces that will complete your piece. For example, we found these cute earring loops at Walmart and needed to add the “fishhook” part so you can hang them on your ears š I bought these in bulk here but you can buy a set of 4 or 5 at a craft store.
Here is a link to a video so you can see all the steps that way they make more sense: Just click here
Also, here is a PDF with the materials and the process for you, in case you would like to print it.
A couple of notes:
- Your piece will be clear on one side and a little “foggy” in the back. This is 100% normal.
- Some flowers might turn white and it is hard to identify which ones will do that, so you just have to experiment and have fun with the fun but unpredictable process š We used some dyes to “paint” some but most of them did keep their beautiful color. We used fabric dye.
- The best way to clean your mat and tools is with VINEGAR! I tried hot water, alcohol, polish remover, etc and nothing did it as vinegar did.
- I would use latex gloves if sticky solutions bothered you and wanted to care a little extra your hands.
- The epoxy that I bought is odorless, but if you purchase a different one, you might want to consider wearing a mask.
- Use this tutorial for any piece that you want to adorn with pretty flowers and cover with epoxy for long-lasting beauty!
- If you loved the pieces but don’t have the time to make them, please message us. We would LOVE to create a fun piece of jewelry for you!
- Check out https://www.instagram.com/lasflores_jewerly/ on Instagram as we will be sharing there more about this fun hobby.
And there you have it, folks. I hope you and your loved one have lots of fun creating these! If you follow my tutorial and share on FB, IG, Pinterest, etc, Please remember to give us a shout-out and share our website so others can also make these, and you help spread the love š
Oh- please don’t forget to leave us a comment below if you liked this tutorial and if you have any questions.
Thanks for posting this!! We are SO excited to experiment with this!! Thanks for all the details and links and inspiration!!
It is my pleasure, Sarah! Thanks for reading š