How To Make A Resin Clownfish Pendant

If you’ve ever ogled at someone else’s resin jewelry and wished you had some, or you wanted to know how it was made, you’ve come to the right place! Not only is this a guide on how to make the pendant shown in all of the pictures, but also a complete guide for getting started making your own resin jewelry, silicone molds, and really whatever you want to make using that knowledge.

The end product can look great, and you’ve probably seen some great looking resin jewelry; but from what I could tell, there is no specific resource for resin jewelry from start to finish. A lot of people seem pretty confused about it, and there isn't a complete consensus on how you should make clear resin items. There are partial guides and probably some book on it, but I had to pull information from all over the Internet to figure out how to do this! So hopefully you will benefit from having all of the steps presented in a nice orderly fashion with everything you need to know to get started.

This is not only my first time to make silicone molds but also to use casting resin, so it probably isn't perfect. If you have any suggestions, I'll definitely check them out!

Step 1 Safety Precautions!

This step is optional… IF YOU WANT TO DIE! Okay maybe not really, but it sounds pretty awful. Here’s what the polyester resin catalyst says on the bottle:

“DANGER – CAUSES SEVERE BURNS. MAY BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED. SEE BACK PANEL.” And on the back panel: “FLAMMABLE – Keep from high heat open flame. Avoid contact with skin and mucous membranes…” How about on the resin can: "CAUTION: MAY BE HARMFUL BY BREATHING VAPORS. CONTACT WITH CASTING RESIN MAY CAUSE EYE, SKIN OR RESPIRATORY  IRRITATION. EXPOSURE MAY CAUSE NERVOUS SYSTEM DEPRESSION. COMBUSTIBLE."

I don’t know about you, but that seemed pretty convincing to me. Here's a list of the safety garb:

For Your Safety!
-A respirator - I got one for 15$ online. Make sure it has organic vapor cartridges.
-Nitrile gloves - This resin can eat away at normal latex gloves, so nitrile gloves are needed instead.
-Safety goggles -  Just in case you somehow spill this on your eyes. I wear glasses, so I tend to not use these. They are advised though.

Comments

[Ben Harden]

Here's another pendant I made with a similar method!

[Mar HK]

So, if the resin starts to dissolve the plastic cup, what about mixing it in a tin can? Would you just get too many bubbles?

[Ben Harden]

Mixing it in a tin can sounds fine! Plastic cups were just what I chose to use. The bubbles shouldn't have anything to do with what you mix the resin in.

[nmcdonald5]

I like your clown fish. Sweet. Tomorrow I will be working with the mix kind of resin for the first time like you have here in your video. I usually use a kind that comes already mixed that I get at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook section but it gets pretty expensive. Thank you also for showing how to make the mold. I never knew how and will try this. Thank you for the encouragement and taking some of the anxiety out of this.

Here's my daughter's and my website if you want to see what we've been making. :)
http://lufnoops.webs.com/apps/photos/

[Ben Harden]

Cool stuff!

[gwalker107]

Well done, sir.

[Ben Harden]

Why, thank you!