Resin Trinket Dishes

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Every once in a while I decide to pull out my resin crafting stuff and make something, and I have been wanting to make a couple of different projects for a while. I thought Mother's Day and Teacher Appreciation Week would be the perfect time to try out a few new projects, although I am super behind in posting so I am sharing them really late. But, better late than never I guess, maybe they will give you ideas for next year. 

Probably the biggest reason I don't do more resin projects is because my girls always want to make stuff and since resin is a material that you need to make sure you are working safely with, with all of the proper safety gear and precautions, having lots of extra little hands around while doing it stresses me out. My teenage daughter loves it and she is old enough to be careful and I trust her with it, but my younger girls make me a little crazy. 

I have had these little trinket dish molds for a while, they came in a set of 3 from Micheals, and this isn't the first time I made them, just the first time I am sharing them here. In fact the black dish is one I made a few months ago, which is why there are 2 square dishes in the pictures. 

I thought they would be fun to make either for Mother's Day for mom to have something to put rings or other small items in on her nightstand, or for Teacher Appreciation Week to hold small school supplies like paper clips or push pins. Kids can pick glitters, inks, flowers, etc. to add in to the dishes even if they aren't the ones actually mixing and pouring the resin. 

I used a variety of different add ins to make this set of dishes, each one trying out something different. The pink heart is made with pink glitter and pink alcohol ink mixed into the resin. 

The round dish uses clear resin with dried flowers added to the mold. 

For the gold square dish I used gold mica powder and a tiny bit of glitter for some extra sparkle. Then at the end I added a little bit of clear resin to fill it all the way up. This gave a sort of ombre look with the more saturated color on the edges, fading to a more transparent color on the bottom of the dish. 

The black square dish was a little bit of a fail to be honest. It still turned out kind of cool, just not quite what I had envisioned. It is made by mixing fine black glitter into the resin before pouring it into the mold. I thought it would make a super sparkly black dish, but I may have mixed too much glitter in because it kind of just turned black. You can see a little bit of sparkle if you look in just the right light, but mostly it is just black. 

Despite my concerns with making resin crafts with kids around, I do think they are really fun to try out. You can make some pretty cool projects and completely customize them with the things that you add in. It is always fun to see how the different colors and mix-ins turn out, even if sometimes it isn't exactly the way you imagined, like a solid black dish. 

How to make Resin Trinket Dishes

You will need:

• Clear Casting Resin
• Resin Dish Molds
• Variety of Mix-ins: Glitter, Dried Flowers, Mica Powder, Alcohol Ink, or Other Small Mix-Ins
• Supplies for Mixing Resin- cups for mixing, stir sticks, etc. 
• Disposable Gloves, and any other safety gear you need 

Instructions:

*When working with resin make sure you are working in a well ventilated area. Always use gloves and any other necessary safety gear. Also be sure to protect your work surface. I like to use a silicone mat to protect my workspace, any resin drips will peel right off once it is dry. 

Mix up your resin following the directions of the resin you are using, typically equal parts of A and B. Be sure to follow the directions exactly so that the resin hardens correctly. 

Add glitter, mica powder, or ink if desired. I usually use small condiment cups to mix the different colors. 

Pour the resin in molds.

Add flowers or other things you would like to add.

Let cure for the instructed time (usually 24-48 hours)

Remove from the mold.