Add some autumn accessories to your wardrobe with these pretty DIY fall leaf resin purse charms. Perfect for your purse, backpack or planner.
DIY Fall Leaf Resin Purse Charms
Hi again! This is Jane from Sustain My Craft Habit, a DIY, craft and home decor blog I write with my sister Sonja. We love to create with nature and fall colours provide tons of crafting inspiration. For example, last year we made this gorgeous DIY maple leaf resin paperweight and used lots of rustic fall touches in our woodland themed Thanksgiving tablescape.
We found this great leaf mold at our local craft store and thought we’d experiment with making some fall-coloured leaf resin charms. I have to say they turned out better than I’d imagined (it’s usually the opposite!). Although I ended up putting them together into these lovely golden purse charms, they would be beautiful on their own as necklace pendants, key chains or strung together for a wall hanging such as our resin fairy garden light catchers or DIY faux seaglass wall hanging.
Materials Needed to Make DIY Fall Leaf Resin Charms
- Leaves silicone mold
- EasyCast Clear Casting Epoxy
- Acrylic craft paint in red, yellow and green
- Cups, stir sticks, straw or kitchen torch, disposable work surface, gloves
- Small gold eyelet screws
- Drill with small drill bit
- Gold key ring lobster clips
- Gold chain
- Needle nose pliers
How to Make DIY Fall Leaf Resin Charms
The First Resin Pour
Read all package instructions. Use gloves and work in a well-ventilated area on a surface protected with plastic or newspaper.
- To begin making the resin purse charms, mix equal parts of resin and hardener in a clean measuring cup. I initially used 1oz of each which ended up being way too much for this step. ½ oz of each would have been perfect.
2. Stir for 2 minutes then transfer into a second clean measuring cup. Stir with a clean stir stick for another minute.
3. Divide the resin evenly into thirds in separate cups. Add 1-2 drops of yellow acrylic paint to one, 1-2 drops of red to a second and one drop each of red and yellow to the third cup. Mix the resin and paint together thoroughly.
4. Starting with the yellow-tinted resin, carefully pour a small amount into one section of each leaf mold. Repeat with red and then orange tinted resin.
5. Drop in alternating colours to add additional depth to the resin leaves. Do not overfill the molds – you’ll want the green from the second pour to show through, particularly along the center vein of each leaf.
6. After 10-15 minutes blow off any air bubbles rising to the surface of the resin using a straw. Repeat as necessary over the next 1-2 hours.
7. Place the mold on a level surface and cover to keep dust from settling in. Leave to cure at least 12 hours before proceeding to the second resin pour.
The Second Resin Pour
8. Repeat steps 1-2 above to mix a second batch of resin (1 oz each of the resin and hardener were needed for this step).
9. Once mixed, squirt 3-4 drops of the green acrylic paint into the resin and blend together thoroughly.
10. Pour the green-tinted resin into each leaf mold, covering the previously poured layers.
11. After 10-15 minutes blow off any air bubbles rising to the surface of the resin using a straw. Repeat as necessary over the next 1-2 hours.
12. Place the mold on a level surface and cover to keep dust from settling in. Leave to cure overnight (24 hours for a soft cure, 72 hours for full cure).
Assembling the Purse Charms
13. Once completely cured, pop the resin leaves out of the silicone molds.
14. Drill a small pilot hole and then screw in a gold eyelet. Repeat with the other leaves.
15. Select three different leaves and link them together at varying heights along a gold chain (about 2.5 inches long).
16. Link the chain onto the lobster clip keychain.
I have to say that this project is one of those rare ones that turned out waaaaay better than I had even envisioned! The kids have each claimed a new purse charm (for their backpacks) and Sonja’s put in a request for hers. It’s alright because I look forward to making another set. I think they’ll be perfect gifts with the holidays coming up.
Happy fall friends!
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Jane and Sonja are sisters, moms and lifelong craft addicts both living near Toronto, Canada with their families. They share their love of creativity, nature and coastal DIY ideas on their blog Sustain My Craft Habit. They craft and decorate their homes using repurposed and upcycled items and materials found in nature.
After using the cups for resin, can they be reused? Or do you dispose of the cups and stir sticks? Can you cups that are inexpensive, for example, dollar store small paper cups?
Hi Rhonda!
Yes, I absolutely agree, that cups can get expensive and wasteful. I actually reuse them for the first mixing in the process and then use a clean cup for the second one. But I try to clean out the cup as much as possible before reusing them – to do this, I leave the bit of leftover resin in the cup to fully cure, with the stir stick inside. Usually then the next day I can wiggle the stir stick out and the cured resin comes out in one large chunk.
I would advise paper cups – many of them are coated with a wax which could affect the resin. Or else the paper will shed bits into your mixture. Have you checked on Amazon for supplies?
Kind regards,
Jane