Hi readers! Today I will be addressing a question that I see from time to time. People want to know if you can put fresh flowers in resin. Not only fresh flowers but other organic materials as well. I will try to explain the best practice for adding flowers to resin.
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Table of Contents
Yes and No
Fresh flowers are beautiful, right? They are vibrant and brightly colored. They look so lovely and full of life, so naturally, you would love to capture that beauty in a resin craft.
You have decided to place a fresh-cut flower directly in resin. The resin cures, but what is the result?
The result is NOT what you’d expect. The initially vibrant and beautiful flower is now brown and yellowed. It looks wilted and dead. Not at all what you wanted to happen.
But why did this happen?
Oxygen
Oxygen is the culprit. When you remove a flower from the stem, the decomposition process will begin shortly after. So essentially you have killed it.
You can prolong the inevitable for a little while with a vase of water. Still, ultimately, your flowers wilt and fall apart, right?
Well when you put fresh flowers in resin, the same thing happens. While the resin has coated the flowers, they still contain oxygen.
Your flowers will release oxygen while the resin is curing. This means it will undergo the same process of decomposition. But, honestly, the chemical reaction of the resin speeds up the process.
The resin heats up as gasses are released from the flower, causing unfortunate results.
How can I avoid losing the color of my flowers?
Now you are wondering if I can’t put them in fresh, how else can I keep them?
The easiest solution is to dry them or press them. Both methods involve removing moisture from the flowers.
Of course, your flower will not look 100% like when you plucked it from the stem, but it will be much closer than if you throw it straight into the resin.
I will explain the two ways I like to dry my flowers.
Method One: Hanging To Dry
This method works best for flowers like roses and long-stemmed flowers like lavender.
Once the flowers are cut, you should gently but securely tie your stems together with twine.
Find a dark room or closet to hang them in upside down. This could take up to a few weeks to complete, and you may experience some petal loss.
Your flowers will be highly delicate once dried. However, they retain a bit of color.
Avoiding sunlight will help prevent extra color loss and mold growth.
Method Two: Pressing (My Preferred Way)
Can you put fresh flowers in resin for beautiful results? Not quite, but here’s the next best thing.
I highly recommend pressing your flowers. This is simple, effective, and yields incredible results every time.
I like to put the flower face down on a coffee filter and sandwich it with others. Then I place the coffee filters inside a heavy book with many pages.
I close the book on the coffee filters and sit something heavy on top of the book. I check the flowers every few days to ensure they aren’t moldy.
After about a week, my flowers are typically perfectly dried.
Faster Flower Pressing
If pressing flowers takes too long, as many people do, then I have an excellent solution for you.
It is called a Microfleur, and it honestly is fantastic. It takes flower pressing and cuts it down from weeks to minutes.
Yes, it is possible, and if you get impatient like I do sometimes, you will love this.
You can check out this video of one of my favorite resin artists using it to make lovely dried flowers and crafts.
I have written a review on the Microfleur if you’d like to check it out.
Click Here To Get A Microfleur Right Now On Amazon.
Can I Put Other Organic Material In Resin?
Again, yes, it is possible. You can coat things with resin, such as wood, leaves, or even insects.
As with flowers I never recommend using live fresh specimens. For one, putting a live insect into resin on so many levels is cruel. Even if you hate bugs, it is sad to think about.
Suppose you absolutely must put an insect in resin. In that case, I suggest using only one that died naturally that you find outdoors. The most typical insects people like to preserve are honey bees and bumble bees.
Maybe you have a pet spider or scorpion (Eek!) that you’d like to memorialize when it passes.
Either way you will want to sit it in the sun to dry for a few days up to a week before preserving it.
Oxygen Creates Bubbles
This sounds creepy but the truth is that things like wood and leaves still can “breathe” after they have been coated in resin.
Remember how I mentioned the release of oxygen from fresh flowers? The same sort of principle applies here.
Materials like wood will contain air pockets and release oxygen once coated with resin. Unfortunately, this can cause bubbles in your resin, ultimately creating holes in your project.
For this reason, you should always try to treat or coat wood before you cast it in resin.
In short, sealed wood works best because it cannot release oxygen like untreated wood.
Some Organic Resin Craft Ideas
Here I will showcase some of my favorite Pinterest resin craft picks that utilize organic materials such as flowers and leaves.
Floral Wall Hang
This piece is gorgeous and would be perfect for any place in the home. You could even design something similar as a holiday ornament.
Forget Me Not Flower Necklace
I just love the simplicity and beauty of this elegant necklace. A gorgeous dried forget me not flower in the center makes this a stunning piece. Sometimes less is more!
Leafy Dried Flower Earrings
These earrings are so unique and nature-inspired. I really love the creativity and beauty this resin craft exhibits.
Many Ways To Put Flowers In Resin
As you can see, there are multiple ways to put flowers in resin to make something beautiful. Try experimenting with some dried flowers from your garden or wild florals.
Another great thing to try is to use faux flowers! Want a perfectly colored flower that doesn’t wilt, rot, or change shape?
Then faux flowers are one of your best options. Some fake flowers look highly realistic, and you may prefer them over natural flowers.
There are tons of marvelous resin molds to try to make your resin crafts genuinely unique.
How Can I Learn More About Resin?
I’ve got you completely covered when it comes to resin. I highly recommend my post, which includes 9 tips for resin beginners.
If you are curious to learn more about resin, you can check out my post about resin!
In addition, if you are looking for resin-related products such as molds, colorants, equipment, and more, you can see my complete product recommendation list on Amazon.
Check Out Tons Of Resin Supplies Right Now On Amazon.
That’s good you still can keep the colors. Definitely don’t want to lose the original color. Thank you for sharing!
Yes it is definitely possible to retain color if you dry your flowers properly! Thank you for reading!
It makes sense that putting fresh flowers in resin wouldn’t work. I used to press flowers as a child and I still have my flower press somewhere. If I ever got into resin then I would definitely try some of these craft ideas using dried flowers.
Dried flowers are one of my favorite things to utilize. I think it is because of how unique each flower is. I hope you get a chance to make something fun with dried flowers and resin someday!
I have seen some beautiful pressed flower projects that people are sharing on social media. I think my favourite was a stunning serving tray that was full of brightly coloured flowers and gold leaf. She then added golden drawer handles to each side to create tray handles and it all came together to create a stunning piece.
Wow that sounds beautiful! I am excited to tackle some larger projects in the futue to use up many of the dried flowers I have collected. (Way too many!) Perhaps a nice tray would be a place to start!
Oh, I love this! I dry a lot of my own florals too. My fav ones as they are super easy and look so beautiful dried are baby’s breaths! Thanks for explaining how to use flowers in resin! The floral wall hang is gorgeous! x
Lynn | https://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
Baby’s breath is a great choice! I also like a simple Queen Anne’s lace as well. Sometimes simple is just better! I am glad you were able to take away some new information Lynn. Thanks for reading!