Thoughtful Thursday - Rite of Spring

Ah, spring! The time when all the trees in our neighborhood pop like popcorn. The time when the chill in the air becomes tinged with the most melancholy of breezes. The time my favorite oak struggles to make a comeback from icy vestiges of winter--and the Magnolia tree we planted in memory of our dog Oberon, blooms.

I always do something special to mark the seasons. The "something special" changes from year-to-year, but marking the season in a reverent way is important to me. This Spring Equinox weekend, I decided to have a go at making myself a resin ring. I've never made resin jewelry before (I'm not crafty) but saw this via Faerie Magazine. Cool, isn't it? I thought it was a ring when I first saw the picture, but turns out it was a bracelet--and one I couldn't afford. The design stuck with me, but the price...maybe I could make it? I did some research, bought a silicone ring mold, resin and release spray, and...they sat on my counter top for the next few weeks. Enter Spring Equinox weekend. Perfect timing! I gathered some greenery from the base of my oak tree, mixed it with the resin, poured the mess into a silicone ring mold--and voila!

My Rite of Spring ring.

It was very difficult to get the tiny bits of plant matter into the tiny mold. Unfortunately, it turned out cloudy! I read that if your materials are damp (my plant matter wasn't dried or sealed) it can react with the resin. I will definitely be trying this again--next time, with just moss and clover because the dandelion doesn't work for me. Perhaps I'll get it right by the Summer Solstice.


Follow up: Spring Ring #2