Crafts DIY

Lace for Your Jewelry: Resin Pendant Tutorial

11/15/2018

Resin can be a fun hobby or business for the crafty miseducated diva in all of us. The possibilities are endless, allow your creativity to run wild and create pieces that are quite unique and fun. With some initial prepping steps, you can suspend just about any material in resin.

In this basic tutorial I will be casting jewelry pieces with resin, but you can use resin for whatever else you would like to make like paperweights, coasters, soap dishes and many other things. There are even many different types of resin that can be used, for different types of desired uses.

I myself use a two part casting resin that is pretty user friendly. I am a novice at resin, just learning as I go and getting better each time. Its fun and I thought I would share some basic tips and give crafty divas something new to try…cause like me I know with all this creativity you have inside of you, you always want to try something new. So this is something for you gals who are aching for a new creative outlet.

I chose to cast fabric for the purpose of this tutorial. I have played with sprinkles, glitter, and candy before. So I thought I would try something new, so here goes….

resin

Supplies

  • Easy Cast Resin
  • 2 Plastic Cups
  • 2 Stir Sticks
  • Wax Paper
  • Paper Towels
  • Resin Molds
  • Fabric of choice
  • Mask
  • Gloves
  • Timer

Before hand I prepped my pieces of fabric by cutting them a little smaller than mold shape, and sealed them off with mod podge, or you can use an acrylic sealer if desired.

Instructions

    1. Take a plastic cup and pour in 1 oz. of resin, then pour in 1oz. of the hardener in the same cup, so you end up with 2 oz. total. (Easy Cast has a ratio of 1:1)

    2. Take one of the stir sticks and gently mix the concoction, make sure not to whip as it causes air bubbles. Scrape the sides periodically and mix well for 2 minutes. The mixture will look cloudy at first but this will clear up after resin and hardener are mixed together thoroughly.

    3. Take this mixture and gently pour into your other clean plastic cup. Stir gently again for 1 minute this time. The mixture at this point should be clearer than before.

    4. Set mixture aside for 5 minutes, so the resin can self-degas. Take this time to clean up a bit and get your mold and fabric piece(s) ready.

    5. When ready, pour a little bit of resin into each mold, about a quarter full.

    6. Then place cut fabric, right side down into resin. You can use a toothpick to position and press fabric. This will also help remove any air pockets trapped underneath the fabric that can caused some bubbles.

    7. Then this is where you will need to practice some patience…let the piece(s) rest overnight or for several hours until cured. You can check if it is cured with a toothpick, this way no fingerprints will be left behind.

What I covered in this tutorial are the basics, but you can get more creative by adding different layers. Below are photos of some layer pieces I created, I hope you find them inspiring.

After your pendants are cured, you can jazz them up by drilling holes, adding jump rings, gluing on bails, posts, brooch settings, what ever you like, let your imagination run wild, its all up to you! Your end result will be beautiful and unique pieces.

A great source of reference and inspiration of mine is a book that I turned to when first approaching resin after multiple searches on Google, a book called “The Art of Resin Jewelry” by Sherri Haab. In this book she goes over in detail all different types of techniques with resin, like the so fun and yummy candy jewelry.

Athina’s Creations

See more in my shop here.

Originally published on 12/08/2009.

You Might Also Like

15 Comments

  • Reply HellinKiller 12/09/2009 at 5:22 am

    On your flicker there’s a picture of you with a black kitty cat and it’s identical to my kitty cat! Even to the strange expression and pink collar. Random, but exciting! :3

  • Reply athinalabella 12/09/2009 at 1:14 pm

    I love my Chloe. She followed my brother home, 3 weeks after our Angora Ashley of 13 years passed on. 🙁 She is lively and a crazy cool cat. We love her and the joy she brings back to the home. I <3 cats. Bombays are sooo fun. She plays fetch is very curious. 🙂 I also have a tabby tortoise cat called Jazzy she is about 10 years old. <3

  • Reply HellinKiller 12/10/2009 at 3:17 am

    Awww, I love my Bean Sidhe (Banshee), too. She hasn’t grown since she was sixth months old and likes to sit on my shoulders when I cook or do my make-up. Her sister is a couple months younger and twice as big. I love tortis, too. Ah, man. Cats are great.
    [img]https://www.miseducated.com/wp-content/upload/1260433055-389641271_1347926206_0.jpg[/img]

  • Reply athinalabella 12/12/2009 at 2:53 am

    What a cutie!!! Meow! 😉

  • Reply amberrenee 12/12/2009 at 2:59 am

    eeee!!! such a doll! cats are amazing, i agree! they make my world go round. 😉

    p.s. i’m thinking about the possibility cute acrylic pet id tags, athina!

  • Reply athinalabella 12/12/2009 at 12:23 pm

    LOL. Hmmmm….I can make it happen…with sugar on top of course. 😉

  • Reply Margaret Rosales 03/28/2011 at 12:27 am

    Hello, I LOVE this lace look for my resin pendants. I would have never thought of it. I’m just starting out and I can’t wait to try this idea, thanks to you. YAY!!!
    Thanks a bunch,
    Maggie

  • Reply Maggie Maty 03/29/2011 at 1:30 am

    Can you tell me the steps to get the letter beads and lace look that is shown on this page. (in the heart pendant).
    Thanks,
    Maggie

  • Reply Amber Renée 03/30/2011 at 11:18 am

    “What I covered in this tutorial are the basics, but you can get more creative by adding different layers. Below are photos of some layer pieces I created, I hope you find them inspiring.”

    I believe it’s all achieved by layering.. so adding more layers and waiting a night before another, play around with layers!

  • Reply beadinggem 05/05/2013 at 9:52 am

    What a lovely result! Will work for keepsake lace too.

  • Reply Lauren 05/25/2013 at 3:19 pm

    Thank you so much for posting this! I was trying to come up with a unique idea for jewelry for my bridesmaids. I have to get my wedding dress fitted and they are going to chop off so much BC I’m so short, and I asked them to set aside the extra fabric for me so I can wrap my bouquet, and now make these for the girls. Thanks again!! Can’t wait to get started!

  • Reply Babette 06/16/2013 at 11:51 am

    Here’s a SIMPLE TIP to rid yourself of the tiny bubbles. Gently blow closely on the resin that is setting with a straw … the carbon dioxide of your breath will pop those bubbles. Come back a few times to do this as more and more will gradually come to the surface.

  • Reply Christy 04/25/2016 at 3:49 am

    I know this post is old, but I have a question. Do you let the Mod Podge dry before putting the lace in the resin? Thank you.

    • Reply Amber Renee 04/25/2016 at 10:28 am

      It’s ok! I leave comments on the old posts because of this reason.

      Yes, you let it dry first. You also mod podge pictures and paper items and let them dry if you want to put them in resin!

  • Reply Photo Pendants ideas - DIY Crafty Projects 02/16/2018 at 11:49 am

    […] Lace for Your Jewelry: Resin Pendant Tutorial […]

  • Leave a Reply