Did you know natural amber is actually fossilized tree resin? It came from resin that oozed from tree bark millions of years ago. Wearing the fossil in jewelry dates back centuries and is a very classic look. Have you ever wondered how to make your own amber? You can do it yourself with resin — and you don’t need millions of years to do it!
Step 1: Measure and mix your resin
Measure and mix your resin using 1-ounce plastic mixing cups and stir stix. Since I am using a mold for this project, the Resin Obsession super clear resin is a great choice. It’s meant for molds and will cure hard and durable.
Once thoroughly mixed, divide the resin into two mixing cups.
Step 2: Color the resin
To make the resin amber-colored, I used two drops of Castin’ Craft transparent amber dye in the left cup and one drop of amber and one drop of Castin’ Craft transparent green dye in the right cup. (Adding the green alone will make the resin look ’emerald’ colored. You will need the amber dye to make it look like green amber.)
If you have never colored resin before, here’s how you color clear epoxy resin.
Step 3: Add fragments
To give the resin the appearance of natural amber, you will need to add some inclusions. I used Stampendous mica fragments in the brown and gold color range. The fragments will be large (approximately 4 flakes can cover the surface of a dime), but you can crush or tear the mica flakes with your fingers to vary the sizes.
Mix the mica into your resin.
Step 4: Pour the resin into a mold
Pour the resin into the mold. For these amber colored resin charms, I used rectangular cabochon mold 412. Your amber resin charms don’t have to be this shape. We’ve got other sizes and shapes of resin cabochon molds.
Not shown: Before using the mold, mist with a light layer of Castin’ Craft mold release and conditioner and allow to dry.
Step 5: Allow curing
After pouring the resin, remove any bubbles before allowing to cure. Note: you will notice that the larger mica flakes will sink to the bottom. If you want to have larger mica flakes more evenly distributed in the casting, pour the charms in 2 to 3 layers, allowing the resin to (at least partially) cure between layers.
Step 6: Demold
Once the resin is cured, turn the mold over. Gently push and twist from the back to pop the pieces out. If everything has gone well, the resin charms should come out easily.
Trim up any excess resin as necessary. I like to use scissors to cut away any tags or thin pieces, then go over the edges with wet/dry sandpaper to smooth them up.
Step 7: Apply a jewelry bail
You can finish your charms as desired. Side drill them to link as bracelets or set into metal bezels as cabochons. For these resin amber charms, I added glue-on bails to the back and adhered them to the charm with E-6000 to make them pendants.
Enjoy your new resin lookalike amber jewelry!
Want to make resin jewelry but confused by all the information out there? It’s not your fault! There is so much to know, how can you possibly work through it all? That’s why I wrote Resin Jewelry Making. It takes aspiring resin jewelry makers on a path to make beautiful resin jewelry from the first try! Buy now and download the book instantly!
Unpublished Blog Posts of Resin Obsession, LLC © 2020 Resin Obsession, LLC
Thank youso much ffor sharing, I’m
A huge amber fan especially green amber!
Thank you for sharing this information! I also love amber color and green amber. Several years ago I purchased a pendant from a co-worker, I always wondered how she did them. I’m anxious to try it try.