Resin Thumbtacks

Hi everyone, Stephanie from Crafting in the Rain here. Did you know you can use a silicone candy mold to cast resin? I just tried it and made these resin thumbtacks!

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own resin thumbtacks:

• EasyCast
• Mixing cups (large and small)
• Stir sticks
• Silicone candy mold (no food use after this)
• Mold Release Conditioner
• Opaque Pigments and Transparent Dyes
• Flat thumbtacks
• E6000
• Gloves and eyewear

Spray the candy mold with release spray and let dry completely. I found that a hair dryer helped speed up the process.

Be sure to follow all instructions and safety recommendations inside the box.

While wearing gloves and eye protection, measure 1.5 ounces each of EasyCast resin and hardener. A marked measuring cup makes this really easy.

Stir for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom while stirring.

Pour resin into a second mixing cup and stir with a clean stick for an additional minute.

Divide the resin into 4 small cups (or however many colors of tacks you want to make.)

Mix in 1 drop of dye. I used opaque white, opaque yellow, opaque blue and transparent red. I also added a bit of glitter to the red cup. Stir until the color is consistent through each mixture.

I found that a bit of white resin mixed in with the yellow resin made it a little more opaque. And the translucent red looked best with two drops of color mixed in instead of one.

Just mix in the color gradually, as too much dye in a small amount of resin can compromise the curing process.

Pour resin into the candy molds so they are just filled. Experiment with layering in different colors and giving a little swirl with a toothpick.

After about 10 minutes, exhale over the surface of the mold to remove the air bubbles that have risen to the top.

After 24 hours, pop the shapes out of the mold. Apply a small amount of E6000 to the top of a thumbtack and glue it to the back of the resin pieces.

Resin thumbtacks will be ready to use in 12 hours.

They’re perfect for adding color to your office bulletin board, or small corkboard inside of a locker! I hope you’ll find a reason to make some resin thumbtacks yourself.