Are you looking for a unique handmade teacher gift for the end of the school year? These fun and colorful resin magnets are a great idea for you or the kids to make for their teachers. I used colorful broken up school supplies for these magnets, but you could get creative and add any little item to yours.

1. Gather your supplies

• Resin mold conditioner
• EasyCast clear casting epoxy
• Square knob mold
• Rectangle knob mold
• Domed knob mold
• Octagon knob mold
• Small cups and stir stick
• White craft glue
• Strong magnets
• School supplies (I used crayons, pencils, pencil crayons, and paperclips

2. Prepare the resin molds

Prepare you knob molds by first spraying with a mold release conditioner. This makes it easier for the resin to pop out once it’s cured, and makes the mold last longer. I did a light coat and let it dry. For this project I used four different molds – square, rectangle, octagon, and domed. I decided to make a total of four sets, with each set set of four including one of each shape.

3. Pour a base layer of resin

The epoxy resin has very specific instructions for mixing. I first warmed up the bottles in warm water to minimize the amount of bubbles. Then I measured exactly a 1:1 ratio of resin to hardener in a small disposable cup. 

I mixed it for two minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the container. Then I poured the resin into a second cup and stirred for another minute.

Once mixed, you have about 20 minutes of working time before the resin starts to harden. I first poured a small amount of resin in the bottom of each mold, and let it harden for a few hours. Bubbles will slowly start to rise, but you can pop these by gently blowing on them through a straw.

4. Add school supplies to the molds

For the octagon mold I used colorful paperclips. I pressed a few of the paperclips into the resin when it was not quite hard.

The square mold I filled up with colorful shavings from different colored pencil crayons.

I grated about six crayons with my cheese grater and filled up the domed mold. I also added a few larger chunks of crayons just to add some variety. This one was my favorite, and I just loved how bright and colorful all the grated crayons looked.

And finally, in the rectangle mold I added broken pencil pieces. I snapped a few pencils in half, then applied some white glue on the exposed wood to seal it.

5. Fill the molds with epoxy resin

Once you have all the inclusions in the mold, fill it up to about 1/8 inch below the top of the mold with resin. Let this dry for about 24 hours until it’s totally dry.

6. Glue on magnets and fill to the top with resin

Once the resin was dry I glued on some strong magnets with a small amount of white glue. Wait for the glue to dry completely. Once the white glue is dry, again mix up a small amount of resin and pour it to the very top of the mold. The resin should surround the magnets, but not cover them.

Fun and colorful resin magnet teacher gift

Wait about twelve hours, then gently press on the center of the molds to release the resin magnets from the molds. What do you think? Is this something you or your kids would make for an end of the year teacher gift? Is there anything different you would include in the resin?