Easy Cremation Ring Tutorial – making bereavement and cremation jewelry using a direct pour technique. This technique is ideal for our exclusive hybrid rings here which are great for direct pouring because the walls are curved over, meaning the resin can’t pop out again. You also have the option to use the mould included in the kit to make a couple of cabochons then choose your favourite to glue into the setting and top coat.
ASMR Easy Cremation Ring Tutorial Video
You’ll need the following supplies
one of our DIY ashes ring kits
the ashes/hair version of the kits contain:
- a single silicone mould, although we’re not using it in this video
- a ring setting – this is one of our exclusive Hannah solitaire rings
- vinyl gloves
- resin sparkle mix (you can use eyeshadow for a custom colour!)
- a dust mask
- label backing paper
- some sandpaper
- 3 cocktail sticks
- 10g UV resin
You’ll also need your client’s cremation ashes for this Easy Cremation Ring Tutorial. We ask them to only send half a teaspoonful! That way, if it’s lost in the post they can send a little more.
- LED UV lamp**
- UV top coat (which today I used in place of resin)
- a pestle and mortar
- a tiny measuring spoon
- and reverse action tweezers
SENDING ASHES
You can see that I’ve asked my client to only send half a teaspoonful of ashes for their cremation jewelry and you’ll quickly see why
It breaks my heart when I see artists receiving large bags full of cremation ashes because they so often go missing in the post and you need so little to create such a stunning effect
If I’m working with a small pet or a baby’s ashes I’ll ask the family to send a large pinch of cremation ashes instead because we can always ask for them to send more if needed
Please make sure you wear a respirator when grinding ashes in the pestle and mortar if they’re larger flecks
FILLING THE RING
Put a small drop of resin on a piece of label backing paper; I divided it into 3
Add a tiny bit of ashes and some resin sparkle mix. I’m using basilisk green here, then stir it thoroughly
Make sure you’re wearing PPE, although sometimes I don’t wear gloves because this is very fiddly and they get in the way but I do usually
Put your ring in the side of the reverse action jewelers’ tweezers
Use a cocktail stick to transfer a very thin layer to the ring. If you’re working in UV resin it has to be this thin or it won’t cure because the light can’t penetrate the top layer.
If you’re working in epoxy resin you might want to do the first layer in colour then add the ashes to the second layer on top, otherwise the ashes could sink and you won’t see them
Cure the ring in the UV lamp for 99 seconds. If you don’t have a lamp like this then you can do a normal 60 cure under a normal lamp then check it’s cured by pressing it with a cocktail stick
If it feels springy, the layer may have been too thick so dig the resin back out with a needle and try again with a thinner layer, curing several times
Because the piece is so small, there’s no risk of it overheating so you don’t have to have a low heat setting
Do another layer but this time add clear resin first then swirl in a little of the ash/colour/resin paste
You can see the swirls in the photo of the ring, they are one of my favourite things about making cremation jewellery and I think it looks so much nicer than if I just did a background colour with large shards of ash sitting on top
Repeat in layers
The colour should come around two thirds of the way up the sides or just under the edge
The resin will seep up the sides a little and be concave or domed in
You don’t need to worry about the stone popping out with the Hannah ring because the sides curve over
TOP COAT
Top coat the ring with UV top coat, here I applied a small dot of it to the label backing paper and used a fresh cocktail stick to transfer it
Usually I use the brush from the top coat but this method gives you more control on tiny settings
Be a bit careful here and take time to make sure it doesn’t bleed over the edge and has a slight dome
Give it a few minutes for any micro bubbles to rise to the surface and pop before you put it in the lamp
Cure it making totally sure it’s completely level
This video is dedicated to Nana Noris and thank you so much to Natalie for permission to film this to help people learn.
**Which UV Lamp To Use for Cremation Jewelry
I’m using a 48w Sun3 lamp with a low heat setting but any UV lamp or torch will do when making breastmilk jewellery. We sell a USB powered mini lamp here. We don’t recommend you use daylight unless it’s very bright and sunny and you work in extremely thin layers. We had a client contact us recently and we’re replacing their DIY ring after the resin exploded out of the centre after being cured on the windowsill. The sunlight had only cured the very top layer, underneath was still liquid.
If you add too much pigment to cremation jewelry it won’t cure, I’ve had beads that you can crush in your fingertips made by new artists that added too much resin sparkle mix.
Adding Hair
If you want to add hair to this Easy Cremation Ring Tutorial then you can cut a little and add it along with, or instead of, the ashes. I find it a lot easier to shape it into a mould though. Follow this tutorial and add the ashes with the colour and the hair on top.
Now relax and do some crafting!
Please note, this Easy Cremation Ring Tutorial blog contains affiliate links, meaning I receive a small income based on your purchases from Amazon and Etsy etc. This affiliate income is really helpful to me to support my family and if you’d like to know how I set it all up please see my affiliate page here.
Nikki
pronouns – they/them
*terms apply – some products aren’t included such as settings and findings, sorry.
Tutorial direct pour resin ashes ring, Hannah ring, marquise setting 8x4mm. Basilisk green and cremation ashes in resin direct pour method.