SINGLE LAYER CASTING (INTERMEDIATE)

Half the fun of making this musical project is the collecting and pressing of Mother Nature’s miracles! Your craft or hobby shop will have pressed butterflies in case you don’t feel like romping through meadows with a butterfly net!

To collect flowers, take an old heavy book along to the woods, fields, or railroad tracks. Each season will yield its own delicate wild-flowers and lacy greenery. Look for flowers, leaves and weeds that are tiny and will press flat. Be aware of flower centers which are too thick. These centers can be gently cut of f from the back side to make them more pressable. You’ll have to experiment a little to find flowers that will keep their color through pressing and then casting in resin. Place flowers and leaves in your book as you pick them to prevent wilting or curling. When you get home, weight down your "pressing book" with several additional heavy books and allow to dry undisturbed for one to three weeks.

BUTTERFLY WIND CHIME

MATERIALS NEEDED TO MAKE TWELVE DISCS

INSTRUCTIONS:

Making Butterfly and Flower Discs

• On a piece of paper, trim and arrange flowers the way you will want them to look in the mold.
• In paper mixing cup, measure ½ Oz. resin for each mold you will be pouring and 15 drops of catalyst for each ounce of resin. (This high amount of catalyst is needed to produce a hard cure in a very thin single pour.)
• Thoroughly mix resin and catalyst and pour 1/2"-ounce into each mold (about 1/8"in thickness).
• DO NOT WAIT FOR RESIN TO GEL. Using tweezers, immediately place flowers or butterflies face down onto resin. Using your stir stick, very gently press flowers or butterflies down into the resin. Work from the center outward, gently pressing air bubbles out from under the flowers and butterflies. Clean tweezers immediately with acetone or rubbing alcohol.
• Allow castings to cure 12 to 24 hours before turning out onto MYLAR™ or plastic wrap. When cured casting will shrink away from the edges of the molds. The surface will ‘click-hard’ when tapped with a stir stick. If still tacky, allow to air-dry another 24 hours before drilling holes.
• Place disc in vise or flat on a block of scrap wood. Using 1/16” drill hit, slowly drill a bole through each disc 1/4" down from top of disc. Repeat for remaining discs.
• Using the 1/16” bit, drill six holes evenly spaced through the 3” bamboo ring. (See Figure #1).
• Drill three holes, evenly spaced, through the 4” bamboo ring. (See Figure # 2)
• Cut three 60” lengths of nylon transparent thread.
• Attach curtain ring to a hook on the wall or a door knob to make assembling easier.
• Pick up three ends of thread and pass through the curtain ring. [See Figure # 3)