Resin art (coasters, trays, jewellery)

A starter setup runs €40-60. The resin itself is the main cost: a 1kg kit of two-part epoxy is around €25-35 and pours several coasters or a small tray. Add silicone moulds (€10-20), mixing cups, stir sticks, and pigments (€10-15). Gloves and a respirator mask are non-negotiable extras. After the kit, each piece costs a few euros in resin and pigment.

A slow-cure epoxy resin made for art and casting, not the fast five-minute hardware kind. Slow-cure (often called deep-pour or casting resin) gives you a longer working window before it thickens, which beginners need. Brands like ArtResin are marketed for this and mix at a simple 1:1 ratio by volume. Avoid polyester resin entirely, because the fumes are far worse and it yellows faster.

Bubbles come from over-stirring and from the resin being too cold. Stir slowly and deliberately to avoid whipping air in, and warm the bottles in warm water first so the resin flows thinner. After pouring, pass a heat gun or a lit lighter briefly over the surface, holding it a few centimetres away, and the bubbles rise and pop. Do this within the first ten minutes while the resin is still fluid.

Touch-dry in about twelve hours, demouldable in twenty-four, and fully hard in three to seven days depending on the brand and thickness. The piece will feel solid long before it is truly cured, so resist sanding or heavy handling early. Temperature matters: resin cures slowly in a cold room and may stay sticky below about 20°C, which is the most common reason a pour never fully hardens.

The two parts were measured or mixed wrong. Epoxy is chemistry, not cooking. An inaccurate ratio or incomplete mixing leaves it permanently tacky or rubbery with no way to fix it. Measure by the exact ratio on the bottle, scrape the sides and bottom of your cup while stirring, and mix for the full time stated, usually three minutes. A cold room makes it worse, so keep the space around 22-24°C.

Some people do, but the market is crowded and the margins are thinner than they look once you count resin, moulds, and your time. Coasters and trinket trays sell at craft fairs for €10-20, while custom and jewellery pieces command more. Treat it as a way to offset your materials at first rather than a quick income. The makers who earn from it have a distinct style, not just a working technique.

⚠️ Always work with good ventilation and wear a respirator rated for organic vapours, plus nitrile gloves. Uncured resin is a skin and respiratory irritant, and the fumes are not safe to breathe in an enclosed room.