Encased in Resin: Hardware

You can make a LOT of interesting jewelry and crafty things with resin.  I like to buy the resin from Hobby Lobby that comes with about 8 ounces, which you can usually find near the wood crafting stuff.  There is also another kind of resin in the jewelry section at hobby lobby that is a little more straightforward for mixing, but comes in much smaller quantities.  If you are doing a highly critical project that you only have enough time to do right the first time, your safest bet will be the jewelry section resin.

If however you have a little spare time to correct for typical mistakes, the other is a better deal.

There is a LOT of things that I have put in resin.  Extra charms, metal flake, and small hardware have been fun add ins for jewelry. Near the wood crafting where they sell the resin, there are plastic molds in a variety of shapes and sizes.  All you really need to do is put some oddities in the mold, pour in the resin, let it sit, pop it out, and attach necessary pieces to make it a pendant.

A lot of times I wrap mine in wire, mostly because I find it visually interesting and it is an easy way to add a bail.  You can also let a jump ring or similar dry in the resin and then attach directly to a necklace and similar.

If your resin pendant ends up too sticky on the back due to an error in mixing or humidity, I suggest putting a piece of scrapbook paper, saran wrap, foil, or similar on the back so that it seals it in.  I most often use scrapbook paper because it adds another level of detail.  If you notice that it is mostly perfect all the way around but just has a small sticky spot somewhere, use clear nail polish and paint over it to correct the problem.

If it is mixed too incorrectly it will be horrifically sticky and there will be no salvaging it.  That is one of the benefits to the jewelry section, it is more controlled and you pretty much can't goof it.

Happy crafting!