The moon in all of its eight stages has always been a captivating sight in the night sky, even among a sky of seemingly infinite stars. Maybe you’re a stargazer, an adorer of astronomy, or you just appreciate the ethereal aesthetic of this celestial body. Either way, we’ve got just the project for you!
This week, we’d like to share with you a guide on how to cast your own colorful crescent moon shelf. Although it’s far from required, we also delve into the process of stringing lights in this creation so that your mystical masterpiece can be cherished any time of day!
If you’d prefer to follow along with this process via a video, we’ll be posting a quick filming of
@islandbreezeart’s crescent moon shelf creation below.
What You Need
- ProPour Casting Resin
- Crescent moon shelf mold
- Liquid dyes and mica powder in desired colors (we used pink, purple, and teal)
- Measuring and mixing cups
- Stir sticks
- Gold foil
- A string of LED star or fairy lights (like this 6-pack)
- Glitter
- Gloves (it’s important to wear proper PPE when working with resin)
- Safety glasses
Let’s Make a Crescent Moon Shelf
ProPour Casting resin is different from our Table Top and ProArt in a few ways. If you have used some of our products before, it’s important to note that our casting resin is mixed in a 2-to-1 by volume ratio. This ratio allows for the resin’s thinner viscosity, which enables thicker pours, slower cure times, and longer working times.
For ProPour Casting Resin, we also recommend pouring
no more than 2 inches at a time. Usually, it’s best to approach a casting project by doing multiple thin pours of 1 to 1.5 inches. Do not cast this particular resin in layers of less than an inch.
When it comes to mixing resin, the best pieces of advice we can offer really involves taking the appropriate amount of time and blending the two parts carefully. You want to ensure both parts are combined while introducing as little air as possible. Using a folding motion that is similar to what you do when mixing batter is generally found to be helpful.
Make sure you put on your safety glasses and gloves when working with resin!
Once you’ve properly mixed your resin, you can separate it into individual cups for each of the colors that you want to add to your crescent moon. Now you can introduce your liquid or powder dyes into the equation and even throw in a little (or a lot of) glitter for extra sparkle.
You can find additional tips on using dying resin
here.
Blend your colorants using any additional stir sticks you have on hand. For smaller cups like the ones we used, we typically rely on Popsicle sticks to get the job done. Like with your original resin mixture, ensure that the colorant is properly blended in with the resin for as accurate a color as possible.
We also mixed up a batch of clear resin, gold glitter, and gold foil to intersperse throughout the overall project, especially through the star-shaped portion.
Once you have your resins mixed, you should be looking to the string of LED lights that you purchased. Wind the lights through your mold so that the on and off switch and any excess wiring sticks out where you’d like.
When it comes to pouring, since our resin is self-leveling, it will move around to fill up any empty spaces. Make sure, however, that you pour it in thin streams to help minimize bubbles.
Additionally, since you mixed up a variety of colors, it’s up to you when it comes to blending and swirling them together. Maybe you want one section to be a particular color; for example, we used the gold foil and resin combo mostly on the star-shaped portion of our mold. Everywhere else, we poured the colors and then blended them by using Popsicle sticks to swirl the resin together.
Here are a few pictures of our pouring process for this piece:
We hope that by illustrating different points in the pouring process you can get a feel for both the techniques used and the flexibility allowed when creating your own.
Once you’re satisfied with how you’ve poured the resin and you’ve used your preferred technique for
removing bubbles, you can let your crescent moon sit. Although there are a variety of options for getting rid of bubbles in your resin, some of the more common ones include using either a heat gun or a blow torch. If you decide to go this route, be sure not to keep your heat gun or blow torch in one place for too long. The extensive heat could end up damaging both the resin and the mold.
After your crescent moon is bubble-free, allow it to cure for the appropriate amount of time in an environment free of dust and debris.
Once it’s cured, we can demold! Take this slowly to avoid ripping the mold in the process.
How did yours turn out? We love the way this crescent moon shelf lights up a space, with or without LEDs!
Next, we thought we’d showcase a couple of lunar projects from our customers. Let’s take a look!
Lunar Project Love
Every day, we see wonderful works that continuously inspire our own creativity. We hope you’ll feel the same!
@katydiditcrafts starts us out with this stunning tumbler and we’re honestly obsessed with the otherworldly glow.
@theresining’s multicolored crystal dish fits right in, twinkling like a sky filled with the brightest stars.
@thestonedartisan’s mystical ash tray shines a beautiful deep purple (and we think it’s pretty cool that they embedded full-moon charged amethyst crystals).
Tell Us What You Think!
If you have any questions about this guide, feel free to
contact us! We also have the answers to several common questions related to our products readily available in our FAQs section.
Otherwise, we’d love to see what you make with our products! Follow us on our social media platforms to interact with other epoxy resin artists and for further creative inspiration.
Until next time, happy crafting!
