Beetles in Resin Jewelry!

Beetles in Resin Jewelry, paperweights or even for a prank!
Real beetles and bugs!

First off...you need to acquire some dead bugs.
We found this big brown beetle and the iridescent dung beetle in our swimming pool.

I found tons of black sugarcane beetles dead...zapped by our bug zapper...all over the back patio.

As well as:

Silicone cake pop mold (not to use with food)--the bottom half without a "stick hole"

(Like this one: Rbenxia 20 Silicone Tray Pop Cake)

Clear polyester casting resin

Beetles

Plastic cup

Popsicle stick or 2

Plastic wrap

Baking sheet or board to work on

Tweezers

Casting Resin is pretty forgiving...the directions are pretty vague.
It has 2 parts...the resin and the catalyst.

I put about 1/2 cup in the plastic cup and about 15 drops of catalyst...stir with the popsicle stick.

Then it is ready to pour!

Work in an extremely well ventilated area...this has a powerful odor!
Pour a small amount in each of the cake pop molds

(make sure this is designated as a "non-food" mold from here on)

Pour in about a quarter of an inch or so.
This way your beetles will be entirely encased.

Cover with cling wrap and let it gel for a few minutes.
About 10 minutes...until it's gelled a little.

Now you will need your little victims...

Using tweezers, or just your fingers..
place the beetles (or velvet ant) in the gel.

Try to get it right in the center.

Now mix up about the same amount more of resin.

Slowly pour over the rest of the bugs...try not to create any air bubbles.

Once they are encased,
cover with cling wrap again...

and let them set for hours...I let them sit for a couple days...until they no longer smelled like resin.

Once you pop them out of the mold they might be a little cloudy looking...

Quickly buff them in a soft, lint-free cloth...

And they will shine and glow clear!

Perfect at this point for knick-knacks, paper weights or other pranks!

Set them in a place that an unsuspecting person will see them!

Maybe in the fridge, kitchen counters, floor or other strange places!

But let's go another step forward and make creepy jewelry!
You'll need a drill and a small bit

Jump rings

A chain long enough for a necklace or bracelet

As well as some jewelry pliers

and a board to drill into.

Carefully drill a hole in the side of the resin, close to the back.

So it drills through at a shallow angle for the jump ring to fit on.

Now use some pliers and jump rings and put
them right through the hole you drilled.

Put them on a chain and you are ready to rock the creepy bug jewelry!

Resin casting is a lot of fun!
This was my first try...and now my mind is

full of other fun things to cast in resin!

Check out my blog Doodlecraft for more awesome projects and lots of fun!

Please vote for me in the Crafting and Pranks contests too! I'll be your best friend! ;)