Official Blog of Photojewelrymaking.com

You can use our clear coating to permanently seal your own photos into any of our jewelry products with a clear, hard, glass-like finish. You can also use it to seal in a wide array of things such as dried or pressed flowers, stamps, coins, embellishments, and more! It is very simple and fun to mix together.

1. Clear coating: Put desired amount of drops from the bottle labeled “clear coating” into plastic cup included in coating kit. To get a good a mix, don’t use less than at least 30 drops

2. Activator: Put in an equal amount of drops from the bottle labeled “activator.” Ex: If you used 50 drops of clear coating, use 50 drops of activator.

3. Stir: Stir activator and clear coating together with the included stirring stick. Be sure to stir slowly and not incorporate any air into the mix as you are stirring. If you are making a larger batch of coating you could use an item such as the handle of a plastic spoon to make stirring easier and more thorough. If you accidentally incorporate air into your mix and a bubble does appear, you can exhale on it to pop it so that it does not break up and become many smaller bubbles. Stir until the mixture appears combined. It will be transparent and should not appear “milky”, have swirls in it, or have a greasy looking residue on top. If you see these, keep stirring until they are gone.

4. Transfer coating: Once you think your coating is combined properly, transfer it to another plastic cup and stir for another minute or so. This prevents unmixed coating that could be stuck the sides of the first cup from ending up in your final mix. If you do not do this step, your final result could end up sticky and tacky due to the unmixed coating.

5. Cover: If you are using an item with a loop on top that is causing it to sit uneven, set it on the edge of something such as a tile or book, with the loop over the edge so that your item will sit level. If you are making a smaller item, carefully dab on drops coating with the stirring stick until the photo or other item is covered. You can pour coating directly from the cup for larger items like belt buckles. Do it slowly and let the coating spread out before applying more. If you do it too quickly you may overflow your item, as it will expand slightly after it is applied. If you have bubbles rising from the bottom, you can exhale on them to pop them, or wait for them to rise to the surface and use a heat source such as a lighter to remove them by holding it near the bubbles. Do not hold over bubbles for more than a few seconds at a time, as it can cause the ink on the photo to run. Just pass the lighter quickly over the surface.

6. Set aside: After your item is covered with coating, place it in a dust-free area. Try not to place your item in areas with high humidity such as near a steamy bathroom after a shower, or near a kitchen while cooking. Cover with something to keep dust out, such as a shoebox or tupperware container without a lid. Make sure it is in an area where people or animals are not going to be moving or bumping the space that your items are on. Let sit for at least 24 hours, slightly longer if possible to ensure a super hard finish. Do not touch before the 24 hour mark or you will leave fingerprints in the finish. After 24 hours, your item should be hard to the touch, clear, and glassy. Now you’re done and your item is ready to go!

Click here here for more on this tutorial.

If you have any other questions about the coating, feel free to post them in the comments and I will try to answer them here in the blog!

Clear Coating for jewelry, like the coating seen in this tutorial, can be purchased here on our website.