Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

Yesterday, after spending a big chunk of my day on a painting I’ve got in the works, I once again turned my attention to coasters. But this time, instead of painting them, I thought I would use my x-acto to cut out patterns and shapes which would then be used to make earrings. -A clever idea, I thought.

I cut out about eight different versions. The boyfriend asked how I planned to finish the cardboard earrings. I quickly and smartly informed him that I would be using a resin to keep them sturdy and protected. I just knew the resin would look super cool, it had to be pretty easy to use, and would be a great finishing touch to these lovely little accessories.

I went to Home Depot and picked up a jug of the stuff. As soon as I began mixing it, two things crossed my mind. 1. The resin was a bit brownish – not at all clear like the resin I’d seen other people use. 2. Holy crap its fumes were toxic smelling!

As I dipped the earrings in the mixed resin, I realized I had nowhere to hang them. I grabbed a cardboard box thinking I could hook the metal hooks from it. Wrong. The earring hooks were too flimsy to pierce through the cardboard. No problem, I thought, I’d just lay the pieces on the cardboard for now and pick them up to hang as soon as I was done dipping.

This is when I encountered my next problem. The resin, whose label told me it dried in 15 minutes, seemed to be drying much, much more quickly. I got through dipping most of the earrings, but forced a set into what had become a snot-like substance (see result below).

It suddenly dawned on me that if the resin was drying this quickly in the little container, the earrings had to be drying and sticking to the cardboard. Sure enough. My attempts to peel the little guys off were relatively fruitless. Many tore and as I worked to peel each off, I could not help but get my sticky, grubby fingers onto every metal hook thus making them not something you’d want to poke through your ear.

All was not lost though! While I don’t see myself wearing these particular earrings beyond the picture taken below -due to the horrible fumes, I do have plans to make more. Perhaps the second go round I will implement some sort of a game plan prior to jumping in. I’ll be sure to share the results.