Silicone Mould Making - Resin Starfish Food Label Holders

When you need to replicate a small item in a hurry, EasyMold Silicone Putty is the solution to making easy, detailed moulds. Once your mould is cured (in just a few minutes!), you can fill it with resin, clay, wax or soap, and because the silicone is food grade, you can even fill it with chocolate or use it to make unique ice cubes.

For an upcoming tropical-themed birthday celebration, I want to use starfish as food label holders to place in front of the platters on the food buffet. But I only have one starfish so I'm going to make a mould of it so that I can cast as many as I need. When you need to reproduce a small object like this in quick time, then EasyMold Silicone Putty is a great choice for making your mould.

I've split this tutorial into three parts so you can jump straight to the part you want to learn more about: 

1. Making the mould; 
2. Casting the starfish in resin; and finally, 
3. Colouring the starfish and turning them into food label holders.

1. Make the Mould

For this part, you'll need EasyMold Silicone Putty and a starfish. 

You have just a few minutes to work with Silicone Putty before it sets so make sure you work quickly.

Measure out equal quantities of the putty, making sure that you have enough to cover the starfish or object that you've chosen. The easiest way to measure out equal quantities is to roll each part into a ball and check that they're the same size.

Place the two parts together and begin to blend them.

Keep mixing them until the putty is uniformly coloured and there is no streaking.....

and then roll it into a ball.

Flatten it so that it is large enough to fit over the starfish.

Centre the putty over the starfish.....

and push the putty onto the surface making sure you press it all the way around to pick up all the detail. Try to keep the mould at least 6mm (1/4") thick, especially over the high points so that they don't poke through the silicone. Now leave the mould to cure for 25 minutes.

Once it's cured, you'll be able to easily remove the starfish by gently pulling the putty away on all sides.

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2. Cast the Starfish

Note: I've found it best to leave the mould for 24 hours if you want to cast resin into it or you will end up with a very rough surface because of the gas that is given off whilst the putty is curing. If you're working with clay, chocolate, wax, etc, it's OK to use your mould straight away.

For this project, I need to cast several resin starfish but I've only made two moulds, so I don't want to use a slow curing epoxy. Instead, I'm going to cast with Castin'Craft's FastCast urethane resin. It cures in around 15 minutes so I'll be able to cast several starfish in an hour. 

You have about 3 minutes from the time you pour the two components together until it begins to gel, so you have to work quickly. 

We won't be adding any colourant to the resin because it cures white.

For this part you'll need the mould you made in Part 1, FastCast, measuring cups and stir sticks or an acid brush. 

Tip: I've found acid brushes work better than a stir stick does for scraping the unmixed resin off the walls of the cup when you're mixing small amounts of FastCast.

Measure out equal quantities of Parts A and B.

The package instructions contain thorough instructions for mixing the resin but basically, you need to stir thoroughly for at least 30 seconds, using either a disposable brush or a wooden stir stick, then pour the resin into a clean cup and use a clean brush/stir stick to mix it for another 30 seconds.

Pour the mixed resin to the top of the mould.

Now, sit back and watch it change from translucent to white......

....right in front of your eyes!

It will only take around 15-20 minutes to harden depending on your room temperature. To remove the cast from the mould, just gently pull back the silicone on all sides and pull the starfish out.

Here's the original starfish on the left and the cast resin piece on the right.

3. Make the Food Label Holders

Cut a slit across the top with a coping saw, just wide enough and deep enough to sit a card in.

Spray paint is ideal to apply a quick coat of colour. I've chosen a bright gold to give the starfish an opulent look. Do this outside and protect the area you're using by placing down newspapers or a painter's drop sheet. Spray the starfish with a couple of light coats of paint, allowing each one to dry before applying another one.

Freshly painted.....

And now it's ready to serve!

These gilded starfish are perfect food label holders for a Hawaiian themed buffet. But they'd be equally good as place name holders for your next dinner party.

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Happy Resining!


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