A Step-By-Step Guide For Two Resin Art Projects

Project #1: Resin Flower Coasters

Even if you’ve never worked with resin before, you’ll be able to make these custom coasters. This project can be completed in about an hour, but the coasters need to cure for up to 48 hours.

For this project, you’ll need a resin mixture, round silicone molds, dried flowers, wax paper, a respirator, nitrile gloves, safety glasses, rubbing alcohol, plastic cups, wooden stir sticks, tweezers, and clear rubber spacers.

Note: it’s important that you’re working in a well-ventilated area. The outdoors is always best, but an open garage works too!

Step 1: Set Up Your Workspace
Before you begin your project, you’ll want to prep and protect your workspace. Start by laying down wax or craft paper to protect your surface from any spilled resin. You’ll also want to double-check that you have the correct safety gear on hand. Grab your nitrile gloves, safety glasses, and respirator before you start working with the art resin.

Step 2: Prep Your Silicone Molds
Next, take the silicone molds and thoroughly wipe them down with rubbing alcohol. Let them dry completely before you do anything with the resin. This will help keep little particles like dust away from your coasters as they’re curing.

Step 3: Mix The Resin
For this project, you’ll want to use a clear resin mixture. The Alumilite Amazing Deep Pour and Turning Epoxy Art Resin Kits are a great choice! Mix one part resin with one part hardener into a cup, stirring slowly until all the bubbles are gone. If you’re lost, you can always refer back to the instructions on your resin kit.

Step 4: Pour Into The Molds
Next, start slowly pouring the resin mixture into the silicone molds. Only fill the molds about 1/3 of the way. Let the resin mixture sit for 15 minutes so it can reach the right consistency.

Step 5: Arrange The Dried Flowers
Time to add the flowers! Using a variety of small dried and pressed flowers usually works best, but you can use any size you’d like. Make them all one color or variations of the same shade, or create a mixture of whatever flowers you choose. Once you’ve selected your flowers, use tweezers to place them on top of the resin. They should stick to the resin while staying on top. Once you’re finished, let the mold sit for 4 hours.

Step 6: Add Another Layer Of Resin
Lastly, you’ll want to mix a second batch of resin and hardener to pour over the flowers until your molds are almost filled. Then you just let the molds cure for around 24 to 48 hours. When they’re done, remove the coasters from the molds and attach clear rubber spacers to the bottom. This will stop them from sliding around on whatever surface you’re using them on.

And you’re done! Now you have a set of adorable and colorful resin coasters that you made all on your own. These would make a perfect gift, or you can enjoy your creation in your home.

Project #2: Resin Geodes

The second project we’re going to teach you how to make is a unique one – resin geodes! This type of art is created by placing a variety of crystals and crushed glass in tinted resin. The result is a recreation of the natural rock formation. With resin geodes, there’s plenty of room for expressing creativity. You can add various pigments to customize the color palette of your project, and you can even add glitter and other embellishments.

First, we’ll go over the supplies you’ll need. You’ll want an 18” x 18” wood panel, clear fire glass in ¼” pieces or smaller (find these online or in stores that have outdoor fire table supplies), crushed glass in gold and silver (find at craft stores), resin tint (various shades of white and one or two accent colors), fine gold glitter, a gold metallic paint marker, a white acrylic paint pen, a 2” wide paint brush, ArtResin epoxy resin, nitrile gloves, a mixing cup (with measurement lines), a stir stick, small plastic cups, craft sticks, a plastic zip lock back, plastic stands, painter’s tape, a level, a handheld torch, and a clean plastic tote.

Step 1: Prep the Wood Panel
The first step is to paint your wood panel white. When it’s dry, tape off the back with painter’s tape. This will stop any resin drips and give you a clean finish around your panel. Place the panel on plastic stands so it’s raised off your work surface, and use the level to make it horizontal.

Step 2: Create A Design
Using photos of natural geodes as a reference, start creating a design with the crystals while wearing gloves. Start with the largest crystals and play around with the shape until you have an abstract pattern that you like. The crystals make up a huge part of the project, so don’t be afraid to use a lot of them! Combine a mixture of sizes and tones to add dimension to your piece. When you’re done, use the gold-toned fire glass to outline the crystal shape, and use the paintbrush to make adjustments.

Step 3: Mix The Resin
Next, mix a small batch of resin (about 50 ml) for adhering the crystals to the panel. Drizzle the mixture over the crystal pattern, making sure each piece is exposed to a little bit of resin. Be careful not to flood the crystals! Pouring in one constant motion rather than starting and stopping again is best. If you notice the resin seeping out from under the crystals, use a gloved hand to wipe away the excess.

Step 4: Prepare Tinted Resin
Use any leftover resin as the first layer that’s closest to the glass crystals, or prepare more tinted resin if necessary. The first shade is a transition between the crystals and the rest of your piece, so they should match in color. If you used gold glass, use a gold-tinted resin, a silver-tinted resin next to silver glass, and so on. Pour a thin line of tinted resin along the edges of the crystals. Let a little bit of resin drizzle off the side of the panel, too.

Step 5: Mix Resin For The Main Body
For the main body resin, you’ll want to choose 2-3 shades of white and 1-2 accent colors. Shades of white can be sparkly, shimmery, and opaque, and colors such as navy blue, turquoise green, and gold will complement each other well, but you can choose whatever colors you’d like!

Step 6: Pour The Resin Mixture
Pour each color next to the other for a symmetrical look, or create abstract lines for a modern twist! Start by slowly pouring the shimmery white resin in a thin line along the line you made previously. Then take the sparkly white resin and create a line along the interior edges of your crystal design. Use the same sparkly white to pour a line next to the shimmery white one you made earlier. It’s okay if there’s space between the two layers – you can use a popsicle stick to fill it in. For your next layer, use the opaque white against the sparkly white areas.

Assess your piece to determine where you’d like to add the colorful resin. Make sure to leave a gap between the white lines and the colored ones, so the color doesn’t overpower it. Take your second color and pour it next to the first one, leaving a small gap. They’ll level out on their own!

Step 7: Make Adjustments
Torch out any bubbles and place the plastic tote on top of your project so it can cure overnight. Around 24 hours later, remove any loose crystals by turning the panel over. If a lot of them fall out, you can reapply them with more resin.

Step 8: Add Embellishments And Glitter
Use a white paint pen to draw in lines for dimension, and a gold paint pen to create a guideline for the glitter embellishments. Make a 2 oz. batch of resin and add a generous amount of glitter to it. Let it sit for a few minutes to thicken up, and then scrape the resin into a plastic bag. Cut a small hole into the corner and squeeze the resin out of the bag in a thin line, following the guideline you made.

Cover your project again and let it cure for another 24 hours, and then you’re done!