Ocean Epoxy Tray

I've seen so many resin projects that are stunning, especially some live edge tables, which I will do one day, but I thought I'd get my feet wet first with a couple of small projects. I've used resin in the past to create "water" to hold some faux flower arrangements but this was the first time I started experimenting with colors. The results were so much better than I dared hope for, and this project gave me some confidence to do more with resin.

Materials for the ocean epoxy tray:

Resin kit

gloves!

mold

resin dye and/or pigment

Epoxy always has the same formula: 1 part resin and 1 part hardener. Mix together and stir for 5 - 7 minutes until the air bubbles disappear (more on that later in case you still have bubbles).

I knew I wanted an ocean-type look for this, but wanted gold for the "sand". I used a powder pigment because it has more of a glitter effect, and who doesn't want more sparkle?

This is what it looked like after mixing for a few minutes. So pretty, right?

Next it was time for the "water". I used a turquoise pigment which I thought was the color I wanted.

After mixing, it was pretty, but a little too green for what I was going for, so I added in a few drops of royal blue.

Okay, this looks more like the ocean to me.

The next step was pouring the resin into the mold. Forgive my ring light reflection, I needed light but didn't realize how reflective the resin was 🤦🏻‍♀️

I poured it in to roughly half the mold.

Next, it's time for the glittery "sand". I didn't use any barriers between the colors as I wanted them to blend like a real beach would.

Once both colors were in the mold, I gently pulled the colors into each other to blend, very gently. I was surprised how forgiving it was and you could almost "undo" something if you wanted to move it back.

The resin mold I bought happened to come with handles, but you can use any cabinet handles you have, if you happen to have extra ones laying around. Place them in while the epoxy is still wet, and leave to harden overnight. This is the time when I took a sewing needle and popped any air bubbles that were remaining.

And here's the finished tray! Not bad for a first timer?!