How to Resin Dried Flowers

How to put flowers in resin?

How to resinize dried flowers?

If you fall for jewelry with real flowers taken in resin, this technical sheet is for you. Many plant creations are possible with dried flowers , whether flattened or in volume, in the form of pearls, cabochons or in tubes. You can only use the petals and decorate them with gold leaf. There are many molds to make inclusions but you can also just use crimps and even just cover your plant with resin.

• What flowers used for jewelry or resin decorations?

Any plant covered or directly immersed in resin must be dry. If ever the fresh flowers were immersed in resin they would gradually rot or prevent the resin from catalyzing. You can find dried flowers ready to be used directly in the plants and stickers category, some are flat, others have kept their original shape while volume.

You can of course use flowers from your garden or a free bouquet as long as you dry them there will be no problem. Drying can be done quickly by placing plants on a bed of silica gel beads. You can hang your bouquet upside down or crush your flowers in a book for a few days.

• Flower inclusions in tubes, beads and spheres

1- With UV resin and UV led

As soon as we talk about molds for UV resin you must make sure that they are translucent white otherwise the light which allows to catalyze will not be able to pass through the material.

Dried vegetables are very light and as soon as you put resin they rise to the surface which can considerably spoil your creation. It is advisable to first put a few drops at the bottom of the mold then to insert your stem or your flower so that part is in contact with the resin and to catalyze under a lamp or in the sun to immobilize the plant. You must then fill the container to the top, this resin tip pendant tutorial will show you how to make this kind of creations.

2- With two-component epoxy resin

You can do the same thing with this epoxy resin but knowing that it takes 24 hours to catalyze it considerably lengthens the creation time.

The trick is to use an object to hold the rod in the resin without going back up. For example, hold the stem with wooden sticks on the surface of the mold to block the flower or the stem as in the tutorial to make a paperweight.

• What are the problems that can be encountered with flower inclusions?

1- Appearance of bubbles , you must bring a flame closer to the surface of the resin, the bubbles will disperse.

2- Changes in colors due to resin components, UV resin discolors flowers less than epoxy resin.

• Resin flowers without mold

You can use seams using a silicone modeling mat. Place your seam making sure that it is not convex, it is necessary that all the seam is in contact with the carpet. Place the setting, pour a little resin, place your flower then cover again with resin. Once catalyzed, the creation will have to be turned over and a casting on the other side. This technique is much more suitable for UV resin because it has a thicker consistency than epoxy resin. You can find several tutorials showing you this step by step such as this ring or this pendant.

• Resin only the vegetable

It is possible to cover a flower with resin without it being an inclusion but rather like a topping, a varnish. You can use both kinds of resins knowing that it is better to wait for the epoxy resin to thicken by waiting 2 hours after having made the mixture otherwise it will flow everywhere, the epoxy resin coating can be the one which is more suitable rather than inclusion resin like crystal.

For uv resin it is consistent enough to be able to perfectly cover your flower without sagging. It will also be necessary to do the second side whether it is with UV resin or epoxy.

Watch this video where we cover a forget-me-not with UV resin to decorate hoops.