Dyeing resin with alcohol ink is easy and fun, and you can get some fantastic results! I dug into my stash of alcohol inks to create some pretty and colorful paperweights using a silicone mold. This is a great way to try out a new resin crafting technique while still getting pretty and functional results at the end!
DYEING RESIN WITH ALCOHOL INK
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE HEART-SHAPED PAPERWEIGHTS
I had a heart-shaped silicone mold on hand, but you could use any shape that you would like. I love to use silicone molds for resin crafting because de-molding the resin is SO easy!
These are all affiliate links, if you make a purchase (of anything from the site, not just these items) after clicking through, I will earn a small commission. Ads and affiliate links are the way I am able to keep this website running and to offer you free tutorials all year long. Thank you so much for supporting me and Mad in Crafts!
Want to know which craft supplies I always keep in my craft room?
Visit the Mad in Crafts Amazon Storefront to learn more and to buy your own supplies!
HOW TO DYE RESIN WITH ALCOHOL INK
To make the paperweights, you first you need to determine how much resin you will need to mix up. Do this by filling one cavity of your mold with water and measuring how much water you used. Then multiply this amount by however many cavities you will fill with resin. One of the cavities in my mold holds 2 ounces of water. Since I wanted to make four paperweights, I mixed up 8 ounces of resin. Math!
Mix up the resin according to the directions on the package. Be sure you are wearing protective gloves whenever you are working with resin!
Evenly distribute the resin in the cavities of your silicone mold. Now comes the fun part! Squeeze a few drops of alcohol ink into each mold cavity. Play around with different colors!
I recommend that you don’t exceed more than 3-4 drops of ink per ounce of resin because it can affect how your resin cures. Use a stir stick or toothpick to give the resin a gentle swirl. Don’t over mix or your colors can become muddy.
Finally, pop any bubbles that rise to the surface of the resin using a long arm lighter or a heat gun. Cover the mold and allow the resin to fully cure.
Once the resin has cured, give the silicone mold a tug and the paperweights will pop right out!
Now you can see the fun ways the alcohol ink has created patterns in the resin. I love the way the ink looks suspended in the resin. This project just made me want to play even more with alcohol inks and resin to see what cool results I can get.
Since these are thicker resin hearts, they work really well as paperweights. If you use less resin to make thinner hearts, they would be very pretty hung in a window as sun catchers!
YOU MIGHT LIKE THESE OTHER RESIN DIYS:
