Low on health? Well, here I am going to show you how to make a fairy in a bottle, suspended in acrylic. Perfect for legend of zelda fans, and I know my girlfriend sure loved the one I made her.

My entry to the Make-To-Learn contest and well as Game.Life 3 :)

What I made: I made a fairy in a bottle prop from legend of zelda. It doesn't have a huge function, but it could be turned into a small light or just used as a desk figure for any fans of the franchise.

How did I make it?
I used a couple of smaller tools that I use frequently for projects I do at home. I got the idea from the games and thought that it would be a wonderful homemade gift for my legend-of-zelda-nerd girlfriend. I luckily didnt have to make any adjustments to my original design as it worked out perfectly. This project was one I tackled on my own.

Where did I make it?
I worked on this at home over the last few days. This was another one of my small projects that I do to keep myself occupied during my free time.

What did I learn?
I enjoyed this build as this is the first project I've done using resin. I've greatly enjoyed the things I can do with it and intend to use it in future projects. There were not a lot of challenges in this build, however, when it came to putting the fairy inside the jar, I did need to sand the wings down a little bit to enable it to fit. If I had to do it again, I do not think I would do too much different. Perhaps putting a thin coat of resin on the fairy first to avoid any air bubbles but what was there wasn't too bad. I am proud of the project in itself, however, I don't think I could be any happier I was with it than when I handed it to my girlfriend and saw her face light up. That is what I am the proudest of.

Step 1: What You Need

What you are going to need for "ingredients":
Acrylic resin and hardener
1/8 inch craft wood
1 inch wood bead (No holes)
Small jar
Mixing container
2 colors of paint. White for the wings and a different color for the body.

Tools:
Dremel or other rotary tool with a couple of sanding bits
Krazy Glue
Scissors
Sanding block
Paint brushes.

Step 2: Design

First, take your 1 inch bead and place it on a small piece of paper. Trace your bead on and draw wings of appropriate size on. Cut the wings out of the paper and trace them on to your 1/8 inch wood.

Step 3: Shaping the Wings

Take your scissors, or if you have a cut off disk for your rotary tool, and cut along your pencil lines. Take the wings to the rotary tool with a sanding bit to shape it out to your final shape. Make sure to round the inside of the wings so they will go on to the sphere. Sand off any rough edges and make sure everything is nice and round. The bottom image is of the type of bit that I used to make the curve where it will sit on the body and the area between the wings.

Step 4: Measurements for Resin

Fill your jar up with water and pour it into a measuring cup, my jar came out to 6 ounces. Fill your jar up a little under half way with water and pour it into your mixing container. Mark your container where the water is. This is up to where you will fill the container with resin later. Pour the other half of the water into your container so you will know how much you need to fill the remainder of the jar.

Step 5: Pouring Your First Layer

Pour your resin into the mixing bowl and add your hardener. The container will tell you how much to use. Mine said to use 5 drops per oz for the first layer. Mix it thoroughly for 60 seconds and then pour it into your jar. Let it set for about half an hour before touching it.

Step 6: Painting Your Fairy!

Take your wings and paint them with white. My specific paint took several layers. Take your secondary color and paint your fairy's body. Make sure on both pieces to get even coatings.

Step 7: Assembling the Fairy

Once all of your paint has dried, get your Krazy glue, or some may choose to use hot glue and apply it to the rounded, inner part of the wings and attach it to the body. Make sure its strongly attached and not going to fall off!

Step 8: Setting the Fairy

Almost done! Now you're going to place your fairy inside the jar, on top of the mostly hardened resin. Make sure it's sitting how you like it, because that will be the way it stays. Mix up your other layer of resin, again following the instructions on the container. Pour it into your jar with the fairy and let it sit.

Step 9: Finished!!

Well, you're finished, congratz! I hope you're pleased with the way it came out as I am with both of mine. As an extra bit, you could add an LED or two with some button cell batteries to the top of the lid to make it into a small lamp.
Enjoy :)