A few summers ago my husband and I traveled back East, and upon returning home we brought some seashells for our girls as a gift. Some of those seashells have broken over time, so when I was looking for a fun item to replicate, I thought it would be a great idea to use the remaining shells and make some Resin Seashell Wall Art. Luckily it turned out amazing and my daughter just loves displaying this art in her room! Here’s how I did it!
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Supplies:
- Seashell molds (see this post on how I made the seashell molds.)
- FastCast Urethane Casting Resin
- Pigment Dye
or acrylic paints
- Mixing Cups
- Paper Towel
- Stir Sticks
- Optional: mold release spray
TUTORIAL:
It will surprise you how fast this project can be completed! I recommend reading through the instructions before you start, as FastCast is a time sensitive product.
If the mold you are using is made of silicone putty
(like mine) or another silicone material, then you will not need to use the mold release spray.
However, if you choose to use harder plastic molds then be sure that you coat the mold in release spray and let it dry. I do two coats of the release spray
, it always works better, but unfortunately takes a little prep time.
Casting Resin
:
Let’s move right into mixing the resin. I used small mixing cups and mixed one color at a time. You want to pour Resin Part A into a cup. I think I measured 2 oz., then pour the exact same amount (measure carefully) of Hardener Part B into the cup.
Add a few drops of pigment or paint
of your choosing. FastCast
by itself will cure white, so any color added will end up being a pastel version of whatever color you mixed in. Be sure mix throughly but quickly.
With the FastCast you have a maximum of TWO minutes from the time you combine A and B, so stir quickly during these steps!
I typically stir each cup for 20 seconds, then pour into my mold.
It’s that easy! The other awesome thing about FastCast is that it cures in just 10 minutes!!!
Empty then repeat:
After about 15 minutes (I like to give it a little extra time to cure in case I mixed too quickly), take the shell casting out of the mold. Go slowly and be careful of damaging either piece. I didn’t have ANY issues with any of them breaking.This resin is strong! That being said, I always figure it pays off to be a bit careful and not damage anything.
Now repeat the Resin casting steps above, adding a different color to your resin, or just leaving it clear so it’ll end up being white in the end.
Make Your Wall Art:
As you can see I made a bunch of colors in different shell shapes. I had a lot of fun doing this with my kids watching the process and discussing how studying science makes products like this possible. I tried a few different layouts for the shells, but ultimately decided I liked them nice and neat.
I found a shadowbox frame at a garage sale for 50 cents and spray painted it silver inside and out. I glued some scrapbook paper to the backing for a nice background, and then used mounting tape to tape the shells in place.
What do you think?
I keep thinking of other things I could create molds of using Silicone Putty then cast using FastCast
. The options truly are endless once you know this product and method.
Thanks for reading and let me know if you give this product a try! Feel free to ask questions in the comments.
Please Pin this image if you like this project and want to try it someday!
(This project was originally posted by me on ResinCraftsBlog.com. You can find more resin projects there!)
~~Sheri~~
I love this. I blog about nature inspired ideas for the home and this is right up my alley! Love the pastel colors. Such a cute post and DIY.
Maria