How to make resin beads - DIY beads with resin

Use your leftover resin to make resin beads

Originally published January 2014. Updated September 2019.

I hate wasting resin. Even if it’s only a little bit, I still like to find a use for it. My latest resin experiment involved making my own resin beads.

I had approximately 10 cc left of mixed Castin’ Craft Easy Cast Epoxy resin.

Color and pour the resin

Add colorant as desired to the resin. For these beads, I used Castin’ Craft liquid transparent dye in red and green.

Mix the color into resin.

Pour the colored resin onto a piece of wax paper. Spread it out to a rectangle shape using a stir stix or toothpick. Cover and allow to partially cure.

Shape the resin

When the resin is partially cured (about 8 to 10 hours for Easy Cast), peel it off the wax paper. The resin surface will be sticky, but formed. **Since the resin is still not completely cured at this point, you will need to wear safety gloves.

Use a pair or utility scissors (not meant for food use) to cut the semi cured resin into rectangle shapes.

Your resin strip should be a nice, even shape after trimming.

Start at a narrow end and roll the resin strip onto itself to make a tube. A hole will automatically form in the center.

Once the resin is in the bead form, you will need to apply a piece of masking tape over the end to keep it rolled up while it is curing. At this point, the resin is flexible and a tad tacky, but has cured enough that it won’t stick to itself. Leave the tape on while the resin continues to cure.

In case you were wondering, you can make the beads glittery as well. A little bit of glitter goes a long way since the layers will lie over each other when rolled up.

Assemble the finished beads

I strung the newly made resin tube beads along with glass confetti beads from my collection onto stretchy bead cord. Beading wire or leather could work well too.