What do you do with your used empties?

[Sun_Seeker]

What do you all do with your empty vials and caps?

Hear me out. I have an idea... I'm planning to repurpose a coffee table from the 70s that has a cracked mirrored top. Been looking and considering ideas for the top for a while, and with the aid of fellow pep-tite, Batscout, I've landed on using empty vials and caps (some painted) to create designs and capture in resin. If you're interested in donating your empty's, I'd love to have them! DM me for address. Happy to reimburse shipping costs. 🙂 I will probably need a minimum of 1600 vials, and as many caps.

 

[Batscout]

Hello Sun Seeker. Happy to see you are running with this idea. It would be so nostalgically and kitschily humorous to have peptide art - it represents your journey and obsession. You will be taking a new hobby and expanding it to all four corners. Please share photos with the group when completed.

 

[moonpies4misfits]

What do you all do with your empty vials and caps?

Hear me out. I have an idea... I'm planning to repurpose a coffee table from the 70s that has a cracked mirrored top. Been looking and considering ideas for the top for a while, and with the aid of fellow pep-tite, Batscout, I've landed on using empty vials and caps (some painted) to create designs and capture in resin. If you're interested in donating your empty's, I'd love to have them! DM me for address. Happy to reimburse shipping costs. 🙂 I will probably need a minimum of 1600 vials, and as many caps.

Keep in mind epoxy resin is exothermic, especially the kind used for deep pours which is typically used for tables, so I worry that the heat generated during the process may crack the thin glass of the vials. Glass and resin together can sometimes behave weirdly, especially when exposed to temperature changes because glass and resin have different thermal expansion rates and can cause the glass to shatter/crack/explode. This can become a problem if the table will be in direct sunlight.

Another thing about sunlight is that the resin will yellow over time, they do make UV resistant resins, but they still yellow eventually. Not as much of an issue if you are coloring the resin with mica powders or pigments.

I'd highly suggest doing a smaller test run before pouring the entire project. I've seen some stuff made with small vials and resin but it's usually UV cured resin and it's a small amount inside the vial, not totally encased in resin. I think they usually plastic instead of glass but I'm not 100% sure on that. UV resin is also not the best option for deep pours.

I've been saving my vials with the plan to repurpose them. Might get some corks and fill them with dried flowers/moss and seal with wax to make cute little pendants.

Editing to add: Please make sure you are using PPE and have good ventilation when dealing with resin and throughout the curing process. No matter the marketing, no resin is truly non-toxic during the curing process.

 

[Sun_Seeker]

Thanks for the tips. I’ve done some resin work in the past but mostly with dried flowers. I’ll have to do more research.

 

[moonpies4misfits]

Thanks for the tips. I’ve done some resin work in the past but mostly with dried flowers. I’ll have to do more research.

I wonder if filling the vials with resin individually and letting them cure before doing the flood pour would help. Maybe also dipping them so there is a thin coating.

Another option is to pour thinner layers and let each layer cure before pouring the next layer as thinner layers tend to not produce as much heat during curing.

My first time playing with resin I let a full cup of mixed resin sit to long while I arranged the flowers in my pendants before pouring and it got so hot it started smoking 🤣.

I don't do resin anymore though because I started getting rashes which got worse with every exposure. 😩

 

[StonePny]

Thanks for the tips. I’ve done some resin work in the past but mostly with dried flowers. I’ll have to do more research.

I think it's a great idea. I hate the waste of throwing the cute little bottles out, so I'll save mine for you.

 

[Sun_Seeker]

I think it's a great idea. I hate the waste of throwing the cute little bottles out, so I'll save mine for you.

Thank you!!

 

[zpped]

Resin time, resin time, do do do do, resin time.

The true Kevins will understand.

 

[AndyPanda]

I did the same thing with my old freebase pipes.