How to Make a Pair of Cuff Links

	Silver Tone Cuff Links Customizable Square Bezel 17mm (1 Pair) SKU: PND-2091 $2.49
	ICE Resin Jewelers Grade Clear Casting Epoxy Resin 8 oz Kit SKU: TRC-10 $37.29
	E6000 Industrial Strength Glue Adhesive (0.18 fl oz) SKU: XTL-1054 $2.99
	Beadalon Large Beading Mats - Prevent Bead Rolling 13 X 18 Inch (Set of 2) SKU: XTL-9935 $6.75

Note: This audio transcript is auto-generated and may not be completely accurate.
Hi, this is Julie for Beadaholique.com and I'm gonna show you how to make a cufflink that looks like it's been enameled this is one of my favorite projects I've done in a long time. I have this cufflink bezel which is this right here and I've taken a little pirate charm, I've snipped off the loop and then I painted the back of my bezel black and then filled it with resin. It has this great old enameled look and I think that it just pops. I love this project and it's not hard to do the tools you're going to need is a pair of really good flush cutters. Something that's going to allow you to snip off the loop of the charm. Then you need a paintbrush, you're going to need a stir stick, a measuring cup. It's got little measurements on the side and then you'll need some resin. I'm using Ice Resin. I really like how it domes which is what I need for this project. I'm going to be using Vintaj metal patinas in onyx and then I need these two little spools of wire. These can be anything that you have around the house that is going to allow you to place your cufflink across them so that when the resin is drying it can stay in an upright position for at least overnight. To begin we are going to take some of the Vintaj onyx patina which is basically black, put it on little plastic bag just so that we don't make too much of a mess we're just gonna paint the interior surface of the cufflink bezel and I'm gonna paint all the walls as well as the back so we don't want any silver to show and I'm gonna go around the top make sure I paint that top lip as well and if some spills over while it's still wet, just take your finger wipe it away so I've got the first coat done. It's going to take two coats because I don't any of the silver showing. Right now you can see I have some streaks so I'm just going to place it on my little platform and let that dry for about 15 minutes and then I'm gonna come back into my second coat of paint time for our second coat of black paint same process as before just you're painting a second coat so you don't show the streak marks let this dry now for about 15-20 minutes and then we're going to go ahead and place our little pirate in the middle, glue him down, let him try and then we can go ahead and do the resin now we need to go ahead and put our little pirate charm into our bezel setting if you're doing two of these make sure that they're the same orientation which they are. Now I have a really nice pair flush cutters here and I just want to be able to snip off my loop. Right up against the top of the head on the pirate charm or whatever charm you're using. Just make a nice clean-cut and do that on the other side as well now if there's any rough edges go back in with your flesh cutters and just trim it up the beauty of this is your gonna be setting this guy down into the cufflink which has a nice depth to it. You're not gonna see those little silver edges where the pewter is showing through. Take some E6000 it's a great glue. I just have a little piece of wire as an applicator grab some glue on the tip my wire. Flip my charm over place the glue on the back, you don't need a lot a glue flip it over and set him down in the center of our bezel return him to whatever platform you have that you're using to keep it upright while it's drying and let him dry for a couple hours before you apply the resin. It's now time to add our resin to our cufflink to do so I'm using Ice Resin because I like how it domes I have a little measuring cup here and a stir stick. It's an one ounce cup I'm going to fill it with half an ounce of part B, the hardener and half an ounce of part A. Be careful with your measuring the exact measurements are really important for the resin to cure properly once you've measured equal amounts you're going to stir it for approximately two minutes until all the striations are gone and then you're going to let your resin rest for five minutes before you pour it into your bezel setting when you pour your resin you wanna be really careful with it, so you're gonna want to keep your cufflink on a level field and here I just have again balanced between my two spools of wire and this is going to be the trickiest part you're going to be very carefully pick up some resin on your stir stick and little by little you're gonna drip it into the bezel going over-the-top of your pirate charm. Do not rush this process because you don't wanna over fill your bezel and have your dome collapse just gonna go fairy slowly and that spreads out to the sides Our goal is to cover the entire pirate or just have the tiniest little bit of his head sticking out of the resin. So once you think you're almost there take a step back and look at it from the side. You can't see this on camera. I'm going to hunch down and look at this on eye level right here to see how high my dome is and see how much of my pirate is still sticking out of the resin I can tell I have a little ways to go not much though. I'll do one drop I've got some on my beading mat. I'll do one drop and take another look at it eye level and see if I need to add anymore and I can tell I need not even a full drop. I just need a little tiny dribble there we go I'm going to call that good. I do not want that dome to collapse. I'm going to let that sit. If I need to I can take a little torch or a barbecue lighter to the top of the resin and get rid of any bubbles actually I think I'm gonna be okay. I don't have any bubbles on this one. You can also try getting up really close and breathing hot breath onto the resin. You don't wanna blow the resin but just you can let out like a hot breath and that will sometimes pop those bubbles as well of course don't touch your lips to the resin, don't get anywhere near touching it but just breathe on it where is that heavy hot breath and that will sometimes pop those bubbles as well. Once you're happy with it you're just going to let this cure and then you'll be ready to wear your fun new pair of pirate cufflinks. Go to www.beadaholique.com to purchase beading supplies and to get design ideas!