Here’s a fun hand-made gift you can use as a stocking stuffer. Grab some plastic cookie cutters and epoxy, and we’ll get started on making Christmas ornaments.
The cookie cutters, soon to be epoxy molds, MUST be plastic or they won’t release from the cured epoxy. I don’t recommend using them as cookie cutters again after using them as epoxy molds.
Prep the molds by putting packing tape on the back side. This creates a dam so the epoxy will be contained in the mold.
Make sure the surface you’ll be filling the molds on is perfectly level. If you don’t do this the resulting ornaments will have inconsistent thickness.
Mix up your epoxy. It’s best to use casting resin for this project. Learn more about epoxy by checking out this article. Be sure to read the epoxy’s directions for the mixing proportions, temperature your work area should be, cure time and more.
Add pigment or mica powder to give the clear epoxy color.
Pour the molds. You only need about 3/16” of epoxy in each mold. It’s OK, and very cool, to mix colors in the mold. This is an art, not a science. Experiment with different colors and combinations.
As soon as the epoxy has been poured use a heat gun on the surface. This will remove the bubbles from the epoxy. Don’t overdo this. It’s possible to overheat the epoxy if you get the heat gun too close or keep it blowing on the epoxy too long.
After the epoxy has cured (read the epoxy directions so you know how long this takes) peel the packing tape off the back of the mold.
Next, work on the mold. Gently flex the mold away from epoxy. You need to loosen up the slight bond between the epoxy and the plastic cookie cutter before releasing the ornament from the mold. As you flex the mold it’ll pop a little and you’ll see a gap open up.
The face of the ornament won’t be perfectly flat. It’ll have a slight high spot where it was against the mold. If you like how this looks, no problem. If you don’t….
…put a piece of 180-grit sandpaper on your bench and run the face of the ornament over the paper. Check it frequently to make sure you don’t sand to a point where you scratch the rest of the face.
The sanding process knocks down the high spot on the edge of the ornament. This creates a cool frosted look around the edge.
Drill a small hole at the top of the ornament.
Thread fishing line through the hole in each ornament and you’re ready to decorate your tree!
