How To Make Polyresin Coated Real Flowers?

A. Hi Cassie. I think the thing to do, assuming you don't have a friend who has done this before and can do it for you, is to buy a dozen flowers and 3 or 4 different clearcoats, and practice before doing your grandmother's rose.

We have countless postings on this site from people who "have never ever done any of this before", whether it's plating or anodizing or painting or powder coating or soldering or stripping old coatings, and they want their very first attempt at something they are totally unfamiliar with to work perfectly on a priceless memento -- and unfortunately that's just not how things work. Get in some quick practice and hope for the best :-)
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. I would suggest using a 2 part castable acrylic Casting Resin [affil links]. Dip the flowers in this and allow to dry. Should give you a crystal clear finish and will be workable. If you need to thin it down add paint thinner (I think that's what I used last time make a small batch first to be sure).

A. A local store owner and I have been discussing the possibilities of coating flowers. So far, here's what we have come up with: 1-using a shellac on the flower heads and then letting it dry before applying the resin. 2-Freezing the flowers in a desired position before resin coating. I'm not sure whether this would be effective or not.

! Hi, Patti. I don't see what you are talking about at firemountainngems and I am having trouble following you. But how do you know these are real flowers rather than polymer imitations?

For example there are rosary beads on eBay that seem to look like what you are describing, but they are not real flowers, they're just plastic.

Regards,

"Electroplating and Electroforming for Artists and Craftsmen"
by Jay H. Newman

on AbeBooks

or eBay or

Amazon

(affil links)

A. Hi, Patti. I would bet that this is done with great patience: a very thin highly diluted very very fine spray of resin the first time, followed by a slightly heavier, slightly less diluted, spray the second time. Repeated about 5 times with time to dry in between.

There are electroplating courses and even specialty electroforming classes but, having taught them for two of the organizations serving the industry, they are industrially oriented and I doubt that a hobbyist/artist would get much from them. There might possibly be an electroforming course conducted by artists for artists, but I'm not aware of it, sorry.

I'd start with this book, from your library if possible, or bought used and cheap.
[Disclosure: finishing.com may earn a commission if you buy by following this link]

Good luck.

Regards,

A. To get a 3D dried flower from a fresh real flower you have to use silica gel. I use Wisedry Silica Gel Flower Drying Crystals you can purchase it on Amazon ⇨
You but an inch or so on the bottom of an air tight container put your freshly cut flower in it and then gently cover the entire flower with it close the lid it will take 2 days to 2 weeks to dry depending on the thickness of the flower. Then you dip it straight into resin.
I hope this helps.

A. To do this first dry your flowers flat they need to have all of the moisture out of them drying them in a flower press or between book pages would work then after they are dry you need to get some Elmers school glue or white glue mix half glue and half water apply a coat or two to the flowers and let dry they need to be completely coated so the resin won't soak into the flowers after they are completely coated and dry (drying can take a couple of days and it will dry clear) get your mold mix up a bit of resin pour it in the mold until it is about half full then let stand until it is about jello consistency then put your flower on the semi cured resin face down (the side of the flower you want to see) and finish filling the mold with resin and let it stand until cured follow the instructions on the resin for cure time and mixing instructions

A. I too have seen these beautiful objects and they are indeed not pressed for drying. There are products that flowers can be dried in without pressing between drying sheets. Use one of these products and then apply the casting resin. I have never tried this, but I am going to. My daughter and I loved the look of the flowers and the ones sold at Fire Mountain Gems are just too expensive for me. I looked up the casting resin listed above and the description does list flowers, so I suppose in a few weeks I'll have a new project to try. Best of luck to us all. :^)

A. From what I read on the internet, you need to have poly resin casting compound. This can be found at most art stores. BUT polyresin is used on dried flower, but there are two ways to fix this. One is to thin the poly resin with paint thinner, the second option is to apply shellac or polyurethane (the polyurethane might be easier to find though)then apply the polyresin when its dry.
The one with paint thinner needs to be applied in thin layers but as each layer goes on lessen the paint thinner. Remember to let the flower dry each layer.
Be sure to not to dump the flower into the polyresin whole, it would cause the flower to collapse due to the heavy polyresin and it will not look good.
* This is just based on what I read on the internet. please don't use a flower that's very important to you and destroy it. Try using a different flower and see how that one goes. if you don't like how it looks at the end, try another way. *

A. Hi everyone,

I found a kit to make resin coated flower.

This is what I learned from their web page.

First, you have to dry your flower using silica gel. Just put your flower in tupperware with silica gel for several days.

Then, mix your resin well (usually come with 2 separate solutions). Pour the solution on it. Let it dry for 20 min. or more (sometimes half day), Repeat this 5 or 6 times.

You can spray high gloss acrylic after resin coated.

Web site said do not try it on rainy days for high humidity. Some flowers are not suited for resin coating.

Sorry, I never tried this, and can not guarantee if it would work. Hope it will :)

A. Right then guys, I know how to preserve flowers as I gold plate roses, it isn't easy though and it takes some time.
Firstly I use a saturation fluid, you can easily make your own using just baking soda [in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil links] .
SOAK the flower in saturation fluid , apply resin, airbrush using conductive paint, either graphite or silver ink.
Then you will need to nickel plate it first to build up the sheen, then you can plate it with gold or whatever you choose.(after activation of course).
Hope this helps you.

A. Okay, so recently my grandmother passed away and I had been wondering how to dry her funeral flowers. I looked up a bunch of websites and I even went to a lady that dried them and got a quote. This is the process I have gotten so far.

1)Put your flowers in a tupperware or airtight container.

2)Put silica gel in the container and keep in there for several days, but keep checking so they don't over dry and become brittle. (this happens because what the silica gel is doing is taking the moisture from the flowers.

3)After you have the dried flowers take out the silica gel. Do this somewhere that you won't make too much of a mess.

4)Now there are two ways you can finish off your flowers. Either you spray a couple coats of floral sealant. Or you can do this and then dip in a resin. The resin will make them shiny and hard.

5)You can now put them in an arrangement and voila! An everlasting time piece.

A. So, this is what I have found out so far from research and experience....
Use a silica product to dry the flowers first. I know this may have you thinking that the flowers will look 'dried-up' but the silica takes the moisture out while maintaining the natural look and shape of the flower.
I would then use another product, such as spray shellac, or Elmers glue to begin to preserve the flower, and start to strengthen it.
Then I would attempt to apply several thin coats of the poly-resin, allowing each layer to dry first.
A lot of the flowers you see for sale are done by the electroforming method, but from what I understand this method can be a little involved for the usual hobbyist.
Hope this helps some....

A. Hello there,

Just as a follow up...

I have made the resin-coated flowers in the past. I dry the flowers in a tupperware container filled with silica gel. I upend the flowers on shot glasses which sit in the silica gel to encourage even drying and coloration and so no parts are touching the gel.

Once they are dry (not brittle, but sufficiently dry) I coat them with a floral sealant for dried flowers, which you can find here...

www.WholesaleFloral.com/Dried_Flower_Sealant_16oz_p/ssvsp701.htm

I let that dry and then mix up my resin which you can find at any Hobby Lobby or other hobby store. I paint on one very thin layer at a time with a paint brush and let them dry between layers. Keep adding layers until the flower is completely covered and the finish to your desired thickness.

Then attach hardware and go!

I hope this helps.

A. Hi, I also wanted to know how to do this, and a while back probably about six months ago I read a tutorial online but can no longer find it. I do, however, remember some things it said:
Dry the flowers (they make a sand type of stuff that will preserve the color of the flower and it will stay in the 3d shape, you like bury the flower in it, my mother in law tried it and it works, I don't remember the name of the product) it will take several days - weeks.
Then use a two part resin, such as polycast, I have worked with polycast before and its super simple, you can find it in hobby lobby or Michaels. and dip the flower face down in it, before hand, you need to secure the stem with a string or something so that you can tie it up to dry, so the extra resin will drip off. you'll want to use a paint brush to brush off the drips so they don't dry onto the flower petals. the resin takes several days to dry completely.
That is all I remember, but I imagine with some practice it will be pretty simple. once I try it, I will post back on here a tutorial.

A. I have not tried this, but the following site gives more detailed information:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Jewelry-Making-3236/2008/8/Coating-Flowers-resin.htm

A. I want to do this with leaves and make pins. This stuff sounds good.

www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=78

A. Lots of questions and confusion here re:hard-coating flowers! I have been experimenting a lot...some flowers you can just spray coat with acrylic varnish spray (there is a Triple-Thick one I found at Dick Blick), but some flowers will immediately curl up and wilt if you do that. Most flowers can be dried in silica gel for a week, then spray coated with varnish (they will be frail and more brittle, so be very careful!) There is a product I found at Hobby Lobby called "Victoria's Floral Craft Glazing Dip". It is already mixed, so you just pour it into a dish wide enough to accommodate the flower head, dip and swirl off the excess drips, and let dry - use a small brush to clean away the drips as it dries. I found the flowers re-hydrate a bit, and when dry are still a bit flexible/plastic-y. Perhaps then a coat of spray varnish would stiffen them. Some flowers can be dipped in this fresh, others will wilt and must first be dried.
You can also melt paraffin wax with a small touch of glycerin and dip the flower head in the melted wax, swirl, cool in refrigerator, then spray with varnish coat. Some flowers can be dipped fresh, others will immediately wilt! I have had some silica-dried orchids wilt and stick together (have to use a toothpick quickly to separate the petals!) while others (fresh or dried) turned out very nicely! It has been an on-going experiment!
Electroforming: we spent $1400 on a whole kit set-up. First, the flowers have to be "stiffened" somehow as above. Then I have found it best to use a diluted solution of the metal "paint" in an airbrush and lightly spray-coat my objects, layering and allowing to dry between coats (1-3 coats). The metal "paint" I use is equal parts paint thinner, clear liquid varnish, and micro-powdered copper. (All this is available when you buy the kit or from a supplier of electroforming supplies). You then have to attach (superglue, then cover with the metal "paint") a metal wire to the flower, submerge it in the copper electroform solution and hook it up to the voltmeter...can take anywhere from 2-8 hrs to electroform.
In summary, there are some flowers that will wilt and others that won't with each of these methods. I am still searching for the "perfect" clear glaze that dries the flowers to a HARD durable (wearable) finish.
Best of luck to you all! :)

A. Only way I know to preserve flowers with them staying pliable would be with glycerin. There are many guides online but basically you put the flower in a vase containing glycerin rater than water until all the water in the flower is replaced by glycerin. With this method the flower will change color but there are ways to color it during and/or after. However I don't think they will last very long if used on clothing like you describe.

I came here looking for a way to preserve a "living" rose inside a glass heart filled with a liquid like a snow globe. I also need it to remain pliable so it will give the impression of being alive.

A. This may not help at all, I don't even know how I got to this chat, but it caught my interest and I started looking around. I just typed 'resin jewelry' into the Google search bar and all I could find was how to make this. All kinds of instrucs. and kits for doing the flowers. Hope this helps. Now you guys have me looking into yet another project!

A. Hey I found this really helpful blog that might help you. Happy reading!

jewelersstudiointhewoods.blogspot.com/2009/04/resin-dipped-flowers-how-to.html

A. Good morning! I've been reading over the questions and did some browsing. This link looks like it might answer most everyone's questions, and give a really good start on things for us hobbyists.
It even breaks down specs for different types of flowers and seed pods.

www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/flowers/preservi.htm

----
Ed. note: Bronwyn kindly copied the whole article, which isn't isn't "fair use", so we had to delete it. Follow the link please.

A. Many people asked where you can get silica gel. You can get it online at eBay and many stores. However, if you are like me and do not have time to order the rather expensive gel (death in the family, preserving flowers), then know that you can use crystal kitty litter ⇨
Other than that, enjoying reading the comments and can't wait till my flowers are done drying with the kitty litter. Please note that it is crystal kitty litter, NOT clay or sawdust based.

A. Hi everyone,
I believe I have a solution to your answer. I have preserved flowers before and it doesn't require drying them out (so it doesn't lose its natural colour) and the finished products looks exactly like it was in life form!

It's a resin called "casting and embedding resin" mixed with a product called "catalyst". You need to mix the two of them together as the catalyst sets the resin. They are quite toxic products so you need to wear gloves and not inhale the fumes. I buy them from my local hardware store.

Dip the flower in the resin and let it set on non stick baking paper, which is available from the grocery store. Apply as many coats to get desired thickness. Sometimes once is enough ... and that's your real life flower set in resin :)
I also use it to preserve all types of things like food products such as lollies or candy, cakes...anything you want. I use them to make jewellery :)

Hope this was helpful

A. I have been trying this out on orchids. Try using a couple of coats of Mod Podge, dry between coats, then use a brush to paint the flowers. Not sure you could use roses though as too many petals. Seemed to work, though not sure of how long it will last for. Just ensure you pick the clear resin, though mine looks good in the ivory resin.

A. Hi all,
Just used silica gel that I purchased from amazon to dry out orchids. This is the first time I've done this so not sure if it worked or not :)! But I found a great youtube tutorial on how to dry flowers prior to dipping or painting, if you will, with resin. Some things they talk about of note are: make sure you completely cover your flowers with the gel and get it between the pedals too. That can be tricky so take your time so no petals are separated from the stem or other petals. Cover your container well, it will help a lot! One last thing; if you live in a "high humidity" area like I do with constant fog and or rain, take that in to account. I'm adding 2 extra days to the drying process.
K, hope that helps. And remember you can dry out the silica gel in the oven - about an hour at 200 ° or until the color is gone and reuse it.

A. After reading through all the threads on this post, I'll add my bit. Basically I've been trying to preserve flowers in their 'just picked' state and use them in resin jewellery.

After numerous attempts at drying flowers out in silica gel (snowdrops, forget me nots and lily of the valley) all have shriveled up and lost their beauty, so after reading about spray-on resin I thought I'd try my unused and forgotten gel nails kit. Just trialing here so I've attempted to set a lily in, yes, you guessed it, plain old nail gel. Painted a few coats on and sat it under the UV light to set, here are the photo results.

I'll repost to see if the flower deteriorates, but for my own use this seems to be what I need. It's a little pliable and hasn't shriveled at all -- not sure how this would be for larger blooms folks

A. Hi Lizz, after a day or so the colour left the petals completely, and after a week the flower deflated and yellowed, that was it just sitting on the windowsill, I'd be interested to see how it looks with white gel coating just the inside , maybe the outside too, I just coated it in gel to stop any moisture leaking into the jewellery resin, I've yet to try it as I don't have the right stuff, ill try the white next time, I'd like to think that if the flower was coated in the uv gel then set in resin soon after it would stop the decomposition altogether.

A. Try looking up Resin. I have had good luck with it.

A. Hi Folks - This is an interesting thread that I can add some information to. I own a business called Aurora Preserved Flowers in the central Michigan area.
We dry and embed flowers in polyester resin, casting them in paperweights and wall placques. Most of our business is from customers bringing in flowers from funerals and weddings. I have found that roses dried in silica sand tend to take on a saturated look when encased in polyester resin. I have tried a floral sealer , which helps, but have had better success with satin polyurethane spray finish. The only problem is that it is time consuming and somewhat hazardous to spray the volume of flowers we are dealing with. So now I am researching dipping the roses in poly or lacquer instead of spraying them. My approach would be to simply dip the top 2/3rds of the rose in poly and then place it upright in a egg carton to dry.I am going to try both, since I know poly will work. The added benefit of lacquer is it is thin and will dry to a more "natural" finish. Thanks for the useful information on this site -Mike.

Hello all,

This string served as a really good way to help me get going so I figured I would post my results. :)
I too tried drying the flowers myself in various ways and just ended up being frustrated with the results (and the money I spent). I was attempting to make a crown of real orchids for an event my daughter was participating in... I found several websites that offered reasonably priced freeze dried orchids in lovely colors so I bought a few boxes. After much experimentation here is what worked for me:

1. I bent a piece of thin gauge floral wire in half and carefully pierced it thru the center of the dried flower so it came out like a fairly long stem. I twisted it into one sturdy piece.

2. I painted a layer of of the store bought resin kit I found at Hobby Lobby on each of my flowers and then stuck them standing up straight out of a thick floral block. I did about 30 because I wasn't sure how many I was going to need. **Side note, this is going to get messy and the product is going to run. NO BIGGY. It only gets not the floral block. Let them dry completely. Depending on the weather this could take a while. The flowers shouldn't be sticky to the touch.

3. Use floral wire to cut the stems and repeat the process of painting on resin because I wanted to make sure they were sturdy. If you can reuse the same floral block great. I bought a second one so I wouldn't have to fuss with as much. I really wanted the flowers to pop so I took a very fine grain iridescent glitter and dusted them liberally while the resin was still wet.

4. Let dry completely and cut the wire shorter/off depending on your needs. I left some of the wire so I could use it to attach to the base of my crown and was able to glue rhinestone sin the center and around the flower so they really stood out.

The end result was awesome!! I'll be trying this again with other flowers.

Venessa Santos
- Corpus Christi, Texas USA
November 17, 2015

A. Greetings, we use fresh dogwoods when in bloom and spray polyurethane directly onto the flower (flower only looks more natural) and let dry. Also find that the satin finish is more natural as well.

We like Helmsman Spar Urethane Clear Satin -- the best so far and dries with a non-yellowing coat. Once dried, can be used as indoor or outdoor decor.

It is a really easy process and can be done on any type of freshly harvested flower, grass, tree leaf clipping using same directions as above for really beautiful, long lasting arrangements, wall decor, craft booth decor, etc.

Good luck & Happy creating!