By: Sarah Boudreau
Welcome back to another craft series blog! In this weeks blog we will be going over how to make a shot glass serving tray. We made ours in the spirit of the 4th of July! Yours doesn't have to be, if you want other colors that's fine make it unique and have fun!! We will go over what you will be needing for this project. How to make this. And we will share some helpful tips and tricks. Lets get started!!
First lets start with what you will be needing for this project. Start by finding the silicone mold that you want to use for this project. You can find a lot of these molds online or at your local craft store. Next you will want to get an epoxy. You can use lots of different epoxies just be carful to read the back and see what your getting into. Some epoxies are very toxic and require ventilation and other precautions. Ekopel 2K is an odorless, eco friendly epoxy that doesn't require much precautions like no ventilations required. You want to check this to be safe rather than sorry. Depending on if you will be eating of this tray you might way to use a food safe resin coating or apply a food safe coating later. Gloves, heat gun or hair dryer. Plastic furniture covering or paper covering. Any fun additives you want to add in. Some fun additives people like to add are dried flowers, stars, gold flakes etc. Possibilities are endless with what you can add it. Color additives like acrylic paint to tint. You can use any color you want, we will be using red, white, and blue for the 4th of July!
Now lets talk about how to do this project! You want to start off by laying all the supplies out. When I do this I like to start off by finding a clean level area and make that my work table. I put my plastic covering down and then lay the supplies on top. When I'm setting up this way I like to think to myself when I start pouring what material will I want to grab? By going through what I will be doing to my project in my head, helps me set everything in order so when I pour it goes smoothly and leaves less room for errors. And allows for an easy clean up!!
Next you will want to start to mix your material. To do this you will want to read the instructions that go to the epoxy you bought. Not all epoxy directions are the same! Some require ventilation, longer mix times etc. and other epoxies like ekopel 2k do not require ventilation but has a certain mix time that has to be followed exactly or it won't work. Remember when working with epoxies it's like a science if one thing is off the whole project will be off.
After mixing you can pour into three separate cups to tint. A few drops go a long way, so make sure you add a little at a time then mix and keep doing until you've reached the desired color. Remember you can always add more but you cannot take out what you've added in. I like to pour a solid color first as the base and then add the other two colors one at a time. From here I like to mix the three for a marble look. You could also pour all three at once. Possibilities here are endless!! You could also add a little something extra to make it pop! Some fun thing you could add to this project is little stars, confetti, gold flakes, etc. Additives are another endless possibility you can really get creative with and make it your own!!
Finally the last step, once you've filled the mold and designed to your liking pop the bubbles!! You want to go over the whole project with a heat gun or hair dryer. Don't just do one area you see bubbles, do the whole thing!! Some bubbles aren't visible to the eyes, these types of bubbles are called micro bubbles. Let dry and harden for 24-36 hours and then enjoy!!