Craftsmen with golden hands or ordinary people can try to make unique jewelry at home. Today we will talk about brooches made of epoxy resin. We reveal the secrets of a simple and unique job.
This material will help to realize the original idea. As a result, it should turn out quite stylish and beautiful, and most importantly, the thing is made with your own hands.
Brooches made of epoxy resin, decorated with dried flowers, beads, mosaic brooches, always cheer up and give the image a certain charm.
To make such a charm yourself, you will need inspiration and a few necessary tools.
Manufacturing instructions
We turn to a small master class on making interesting jewelry. Let’s try together to make a brooch made of wood and epoxy resin in a simple form. As a result, you should get a wonderful herbarium brooch.
We go to the store, buy resin and basic materials. When everything is bought, we begin an exciting activity.
First you need to prepare working tools:
- epoxy resin and hardener for it;
- wooden mixing stick;
- disposable plastic cup;
- medical gloves;
- wooden billet;
- acrylic paints and brush;
- PVA glue;
- dry flower;
- toothpick;
- a lid or jar, which you will close the workpiece with at the end.
We turn to the manufacturing process itself. The resin must be mixed in accordance with the instructions. It is indicated on the package. It should be noted that each resin has different values.
It must be remembered that when you mix resin with a hardener, these are the proportions that determine whether the product will harden in the future. If you do not top up the hardener, the epoxy may remain sticky and not grip, if you pour over the hardener, the product will become too brittle.
In addition, with an excess of hardener, chemical “boiling” of the resin may occur with the formation of small bubbles in the volume.
It should be known that it is necessary to mix the composition slowly. It is worth paying attention to the final consistency. At the very beginning, the resin will be too liquid, but do not be afraid. After about half an hour, degassing should occur, bubbles will come out of the resin, and it will begin to thicken.
At this stage, it is worth saying that if the resin is thicker, then the bubbles will come out of it more difficult, it is necessary to take this into account when working with the material.
The best epoxy option for making a brooch is the consistency of fresh honey. The resin will be viscous, but not so thick. This will greatly facilitate the work.
On any products, be it brooches or other wood blanks, it is best to apply resin in a thick layer to the base. There is a high probability that later the resin will drain higher.
After the resin is mixed, it is necessary to wait for some time, then you will see that the resin has become runny and not as thick as at first.
As soon as the resin was mixed, it was set aside. We take a wooden billet in our hands. You can buy it in any store for creativity. In our case, this is a very small blank.
We begin to sand the workpiece with sandpaper from all sides. Grind until a smooth surface appears. Then we cover the workpiece with paint. Color of your choice. But it is necessary to apply three coats of paint. Then the color on our brooch will be saturated. We paint over all sides and even the edges. The product should look juicy and beautiful.
You can do this: cut off a small piece of sponge for washing dishes, dip it in paint, then remove the excess on a sheet of paper and walk along the edge of the product.
Attention! It is very important that all layers of paint are well dried, otherwise the epoxy, upon contact with the paint, will begin to become cloudy.
We are waiting for all the paint to dry. Now you can start laying out the composition of dried flowers. There is also an important point here – the flowers should be well dried.
It must be remembered that some flowers, coming into contact with the resin, can change color or even become transparent.
We lay out the flowers, and then glue them to the workpiece with a brush and PVA glue. This must be done so that later our composition does not surface when we fill it with resin. We are waiting for some time for everything to dry properly.
While we were carrying out all the actions with the workpiece, the resin had already dried. Now you can start filling. Carefully fill the mold with epoxy resin, drip a small drop and stretch it over the workpiece with a toothpick. Especially carefully we walk along the edges so that the resin does not spread later.
You can fill the workpiece with resin on a board, on a sponge for washing dishes, on a tray – choose what is convenient for you. The main thing is to look where the resin will drain if something goes wrong.
After pouring, we leave the brooch to dry. At the end, we glue a small pin with ordinary glue. Our brooch with dried flowers is ready and you can use it for its intended purpose. Congratulations, you made the brooch yourself from jewelry resin.
Nuances
The resin is still glass from the brooch. What needs to be done? The most important thing is not to panic and calm down. Now we will fix everything.
Take a cotton pad, moisten it with alcohol and wipe the place where the resin flowed out and where it got. If after that you notice that the resin starts to drain anyway, then you can leave everything as it is. After drying, you need to remove all excess epoxy resin with sandpaper. If everything turned out not at all as we would like, then you can try to fill the blank again.
Option without a wooden base
Let’s try to make a small brooch on a pin with hanging ornaments. To do this, we do not need a wooden billet.
We buy a metal pin with small ears for various pendants in the store. At the end, we will attach several beads on the fishing line and specially made leaves filled with jewelry resin to the ears.
To get these leaves, you need to do the following.
Find some real leaves of small size, wash them and put them to dry. While the leaves are drying, make a mold material from starch and silicone sealant. The proportion should be taken 50:50. It is necessary to knead the dough and roll a few cakes, press the leaves there, then remove them to get the desired impression.
After 30 minutes, pour the resin into the blanks and leave to dry. We are waiting for the composition to harden.
When the resin dries, it is necessary to cover the product with something from dust. Otherwise, the dust may settle on the surface and dry out together with the resin.
When the leaves are dry, we attach them to the ears of our pin. That’s all, the product is ready.
You need to be prepared that due to the thoroughness and “jewelry” work in the manufacture of brooches, you will have to repeat some unsuccessful stages. Only getting your own practical experience will lead to good luck.
