Posted on by Katherine Swift
If you’ve ever had beautiful flowers, you might have thought about ways to preserve them. You might even be asking yourself if you can put fresh flowers in resin.
Here’s the short answer: NO. Within seconds of hitting the resin, they will shrivel and turn brown.
How do I know? Because I tried.
The good news is that you can use your fresh flowers in resin with some preparation.
Step 1: Plan what you want to make with your fresh flowers
You must know how you want your flowers to look in epoxy resin. Specifically, do you want flat flowers for jewelry bezel blanks or jewelry molds,
Or do you want to keep the flowers three-dimensional so you can include them in paperweight molds?
Knowing this will help you choose the best method for drying your flowers.
Step 2: Dry the flowers
Once you know what you want to make, dry your flowers. Ensure you have all the supplies you need to dry them before you have your fresh flowers. You want to preserve them when they look their best and have the most color.
What are your options for drying flowers?
If you want flat flowers, you can use a press and dry them in the microwave. This option is good because it only takes one to two minutes to dry the flowers.Otherwise, if you aren’t in a hurry to use your flowers with resin, you can dry them in between the pages of a heavy book. This method is less hands-on but does take a couple of weeks.
If you want your flowers to keep their natural shape, you’ll want to dry them with flower desiccant. Put the flowers and drying agent into a container, then let them dry over the next one to two weeks. This is the best way for your flowers to keep their formed and natural look.
Step 3: Seal the flowers
Now that your flowers are dry, you may need to seal them. Why? Some flowers will turn dark in resin.
💡 Pro tip: Unsure if your flower will keep its color? Get it wet. If it changes color in water, it will change color in resin.
How do you seal flowers to include in resin?
The easiest way is to coat them with two to three light layers of clear acrylic spray. Apply the spray in light coats, waiting 20 minutes to dry between layers. Wait 24 hours after the final coat to let them thoroughly dry before including them in resin. Not only does this seal the flowers, but it also makes them stiffer and easier to handle.
If you can’t get sealer spray, apply a couple of layers of clear-drying white glue.
Your flowers are now ready to include in your next resin project. So, now that you know you can put fresh flowers in resin after preparing them, what will you make?
Looking for resin and flower project inspiration?
Then you will want to get a copy of Resin Fundamentals. I wrote the ebook with the beginning resin maker in mind. You’ll go from confused to confident when creating with resin — in only an afternoon. Buy the PDF book now, and you can have a copy to download and read in minutes.
Unpublished Blog Posts of Resin Obsession, LLC © 2023 Resin Obsession, LLC
