Have you noticed the ever growing "DIY Jewelry" fad? From making your own to paper beads to collage assemblage pieces, making your own jewelry is running rampant! Well I've jumped on the bandwagon! I'm aiming for the chunky style fat bangle bracelets that are hard, thick, and can take a licking.. BUT, can still pack a punch as an accessory to your wardrobe.
I am still experimenting with some casts, but today I've got a great HOW TO for making an ever refillable bangle mold. Think of the possibilities, filling it with colored dyes, glitters, florescents, ephemera! You name it, you can do it. You can match your bangle to any and all clothes/costumes/getups/hairdos!
To start off.. find yourself a big chunky bangle! (You could also mold one from anything remotely round that will over your hand.. coffee cup, small bowl, etc!) The bangle I found was all glittery and rough on the surface. I knew I wanted a smooth surface, however, so I could cast a bangle with bits n bobs inside it, as well as normal plastic ones. Insert some more handy dandy goodness! I grabbed some Dry Dex (a putty like substance) to fill in the holes and gaps around the glitter, and just make it generally smooth. It starts out pink and dries white. I did one layer, let it dry, sanded. Then I did another layer, let it dry, sanded. And so on until it was as smooth as I desired. THEN - I covered the bangle in a fixative to avoid any weird reactions between my Amazing Mold Rubber and the Dry Dex.
Then I molded it! Check back through the previous Mold Rubber Mondays to see about mixing Amazing Mold Rubber and how to prepare for some beautiful molding! Be sure to have a container with no holes, and always secure your piece down. I hot glued my bangle down to keep it from floating to the surface of my mold as it cured. Always have a clean surface and mix 10:1 ratio of A to B. STIR WELL! Then pour over desired piece.
My Finished Mold
The hole in the middle is courtesy of our fearless leader SUSAN!
It saved me a lot of mold rubber!
You can also see in this photo the altered bangle.
Grab your Amazing Casting Resin, measuring cup, stir stick, and any Alumilite Dyes or Alumilite Powders you want to use! Mix equal parts of your Amazing Casting Resin and then any additions to them, fill mold, and allow to cure! I did quite a bit of experimenting, so stick with me through the next FOUR bangles!
This was the first bangle! I used the Amazing Casting Resin with no dye,
but added in some Alumilite Gun Metal Metallic Powder for a little pizzazz.
The 2nd one was a total experiment.. and an UBER fail in my opinion. lol. Amazing Casting Resin base with Alumilite Brown and Florescent (FLO) Yellow dyes! I can't even believe I tried it, lol.
I really love the 3rd one! It's an Amazing Casting Resin base, but instead of adding in dye and mixing it all together, I mixed the resin, then swirled in some Alumilite Black Dye. It's all marbley and beautiful!
And for this one, I brushed the mold with Alumilite Pearlescent Powder (rather than mixing it in the resin.) Then I mixed Amazing Casting Resin and Alumilite Blue and Red dyes!
So many different things to do and add in. And each addition can be done DIFFERENTLY, too! Add it in, swirl, paint the mold! I haven't even used bright colors or the Amazing Clear Cast resin, yet! I'll be embedding things in the resin; glitter, photos, ephemera!
What style bangle might you need or use?
What type of DIY Jewelry will you be making?
Please join me back here later this month to see what other types of bangles I knock out!! ~ DeeDee
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