It can be all rainbows and unicorns when making pendants with resin. Okay, maybe not the unicorns. Wouldn’t that be cool? But, you can make rainbows in your resin pendants by varying resin layers with colors.
Here’s how:
Resin supply list
Jewelry resin
Stirring stick
Mixing cups
Silicone pendant mold that stands on an edge
Transparent epoxy pigments
Pearl Powder
Jewelry bail
Jewelry adhesive
Step 1: Mix resin
Mix 1/2 ounce of Resin Obsession super clear resin. This epoxy is perfect for this project because it releases bubbles easily. That’s a must when you’re using tall molds like here. Resin bubbles need to rise to the surface without much effort.
Step 2: Add colors
Use Resin Obsession transparent resin pigments to color your clear epoxy. Then add a teensy bit of the Resin Obsession pearl powder. That will give a beautiful, shimmering effect.
💡 Pro tip: A few of these powders go a long way. Start with less than what you think you need. You can always add more.
Step 3: Pour into the pendant molds
Pour colored resin into the molds, but only fill part way. Because these molds have a narrow opening, your resin will probably drip on the sides.
But hang tight. The resin will eventually make its way to the bottom of the mold. Fill each resin mold a third to halfway full.
💡 Pro tip: You can use a toothpick to remove any remaining resin drips from the inside of the mold before pouring the next layer.
Step 4: Pour the second layer
To get a fluid look when making your pendants, pour the next layer of resin while the first layer is still liquid. This will let it blend a bit and have a wavy line junction where the two layers meet.
If you want distinct layers for your pendants, let one layer fully cure before pouring the next layer.
You can add a third color if you like.
Let your resin cure.
Step 5: Demold
Demold your resin pendants the next day after the resin fully cures. It can be a bit tedious to demold these. Add soapy water between the charm and the mold to help with this.
Like shown here:
Step 6: Sand to make even
Sometimes when making pendants, the resin cures with an edge. You can sand the resin with wet/dry sandpaper.
Step 7: Add jewelry hardware
Use a pen to mark where to drill. Then, use a flex shaft or Dremel tool to drill your resin. Then, add a screw eye to the hole.
If you don’t have a drill, you can add glue-on bails with E-6000.
💡 Pro tip: If you’re drilling, you want the hole you drill to be smaller than the screw eye. This will ensure it grabs into the side of the hole when placed in the resin charm. Then, use a dot of mixed resin or E6000 in the hole for a permanent hold.
Add 20 gauge jump rings to the bail and hang them on a necklace.
I love making resin pendants in a range of colors. They look so dreamy.
The pearl powder adds shimmer to the colored resin. You can’t get the same effect with transparent resin only.
Of all the rainbow resin pendants, this one is my favorite. I like it even better in the direct sunshine.
Confused about how to make resin jewelry?
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Wow these are amazing! Inlike the round one but they all look pretty darn cool!
Whenever I pour one color over another color the two color merge into one. Do you think it is the resin or the colorant that I am using? I love the fluidity of your colors.
If you don’t want the colors to blend, let them cure first. You will have more distinct layers and the colors won’t blend at the seams.
Hope Katherine won’t mind me butting in but there are other potential issues and solutions.
First, and fairly obvious is that the upper layers need to be poured very gently so as to sit on top of the lower layers. Try pouring using a stick such that you pour onto the stick, the resin runs down it, and hits the surface of the already poured resin with minimal force. When making Irish coffee they pour the cream onto/over a spoon. 😉
The second issue is density/viscosity. If you pour a denser liquid on top of a less dense one, it’s going to want to sink (and mix while doing so).
What resins and pigments you use can be an issue. I suspect that Katherine’s choice of products is “fortunate” if not actually “by design”. If you are using other products that could be your problem.
A really important point to note however is that Katherine mixes all of her clear resin as a single batch before splitting it into small portions to add pigment. This means that at the very least her mix of resin and harder is consistent throughout the entire project. Mixing individual portions of resin and hardener would be less reliable.
One final note: this technique is going to work more reliably using small moulds with a small surface area (less area/weight to break through). Making Irish coffee is difficult enough in a wine glass. Making it in a bath tub would be extremely difficult… but I’m up for trying. 😉
I like the four sided crystal. I think I may have to get that mould.
Thank you for the tutorial and the video to unmold them. I destroyed my first mold trying to get the resin trinket out.
Oh no!
What grit wet/dry do you use to sand?
Start with 400, then work your way down to 1000 or higher.
En el lugar en el que vivo no encuentro moldes (vivo en Isla de Pascua) .
Cómo puedo confeccionar los moldes para mis resinas? Qué será más conveniente?
Saludos y gracias
Hi,
I want to make these clear and then add a bit of color to the clear to give it the effect of the color swirling or drifting around in the clear. Like what coffee looks like when you add creamer. I have seen them somewhere with a tutorial but of course can’t find it now. If anyone can help I would really appreciate it. TIA.
Hi Karen, it sounds like you are trying to create a smoke effect. This post in our forum will tell you more: https://www.resinobsession.com/forums/topic/how-can-i-achieve-this-cloudy-smoke-effect/