My first pyramid was simply using up the excess resin from a project I was trying - to paint resin on a plastic Silly Putty egg.   It was a gift for my granddaughter, and I wanted to fancy it up a bit.  It didn't come out like I'd hoped.   Fortunately, she still liked the Silly Putty and egg, though I don't think she quite knew what to make of the pink pyramid.   : )  

I refurbed a table decades ago, with resin on top, but this was my first try doing anything artsy with Resin, and I was surprised how quickly it all ran off the egg, and just puddled up on the table. It also took a really long time to dry, forcing me to go out into that hot garage many times, to re-apply the puddled up resin, and keep pushing the egg around the table, trying to keep it from welding itself to the puddles.

Colors & Glitter :     I initially tried putting some pink into the resin, but it wasn't even showing up on the Red Egg, so I added some Red Glitter, too, and that showed, but it all ran off over time.  Finally, I just shook (Spilled) some glitter onto the still tacky resin, and that stuck in place, but it was all clumpy, so I don't recommend that option.  Once it finally dried, I just decorated it with some decals, and some hand painting, then layered some clear resin over the top, to protect it.  The Resin also smeared some of the ink from a sharpie that I'd used in one spot so it made things worse there, but this was all an experiment using Epoxy Resins, anyway, so lesson learned.   No Magic Markers with Resin.

My granddaughter mostly just wanted the Silly Putty, so she's fine with it.    (Gotta Love that kid!     : )

Tips learned thus far:   

We've subsequently learned we can speed up the set time dramatically, by simply heating up the resin before application.   We dropped down from 24+ hours dry time, to 1-2 hours, simply by preheating the resin.  (Of course that also wildly reduces the working time, so unless you're sure you'll be done working quickly, be cautious about how much you warm your resin.)

We tried heating up our measured Resin (Only one part of the 2-part Epoxy) in the mixing cup - using a bowl of hot tap water to warm it for 5-10 minutes. That took us down to about 4-5 hours dry time for a small (3 oz) pour.   The next time, I heated the water up to just below boiling (I accidentally boiled the water, but dumped a little out, and filled back with tap water to cool it down a bit), then warmed the Resin in that for about 10 minutes while I prepped my work table in the garage. 

THAT Really brought the cure time down!   I went out after about 2 hours, and it was hard, and didn't feel sticky anymore.  I still left it to set up overnight, just because I didn't want to risk ruining my project, but it sure felt hard enough to pull out of the mold.  I almost did, just to see, but hubby pointed out how upset I'd be if it wasn't set in the middle, and I agreed.

ADDED BONUS -  Less Bubbles! :   Heating the resin made mixing wildly easier. You could easily see the swirls of the cool Hardener mixing into the warmed Resin, and there were a LOT Less Bubbles. We'd been told the bubbles float up better and faster, too, due to the thinner viscosity of the warmed mixture. That makes sense, and it seems to be the case. 

We did find that while the directions say to stir for about 3-5 minutes, my husband found that going the extra mile, to about 7 minutes of stirring, got a 100% clear mixture, while my diligent stirring for the full 5 minutes recommended, still left us with visible swirls in the mixture.  And we were only mixing up 3-4 oz at a time, so I'm guessing that's especially true if you're mixing up more volume.

How Much Resin? :      If you're trying a hollow Pyramid like mine, with flowers or some such inside, I used about 12 oz total on my hollow pyramid (4 separate pours, over 4 separate days), but know the first side will use a bit more than the second and third side, as it will cover 1 entire mold side, while the second and third sides will always have one side edge filled part way by the other walls.  The fourth wall will use the least resin, because it will have two edges filled part way,  so the fill for that final wall will be the least volume. Also know that I put rocks and stuff in mine, so if you're not filling in some of the volume, you might want to bump up the amount of resin you use.  My walls ended up being about a third of an inch thick (+/-), as I was just eyeballing it til my decorations were covered enough to suit me. I suspect I could go thinner, but I'd want to keep it at least a quarter inch thick, just to be sure. 

How to Dry/Add flowers, rocks, etc?  I used dried flowers from my garden in this first pyramid.  I clipped the smallest flowers possible (I think they're lavender?), and I also used the very tips of some ferns I'd dried years ago.  The fresh flowers went in the convection oven at 200* for a couple hours (my oven runs cooler, to adjust for the convection, so aim for maybe 150*, if no convection adjustment is in  your oven.)  I felt they were plenty dry by then. LOTS of the tiny flowers fell off (onto a cookie sheet).  No surprise, but don't imagine you're going to get a well preserved flower out of this method. They were shriveled up, and most fell off.  I mostly wanted the idea of a flower, not so much an actual flower, because I knew I was putting the ferns in behind them, and this is a very small mold (6" tall max). Unless you flattened them over months, waiting for them to dry, bigger flowers won't work so well for this hollow form. 

I also added rocks to the bottom of mine, because I didn't care for the idea of having loose stems just ending in mid-air, so I wanted to simulate something ground-like, to hide the stem ends. I think the small rocks I used worked very well for that, and only a couple of the stem ends show, and you gotta be looking to find them.  I thoroughly washed my rocks, and had way more than I used on hand, just in case.  I aimed for multiple colors, and shapes, but all pretty small.  Test your colors when wet, because that's the color they'll be once inside the resin. Gray rocks all look black when wet, so aim for some lighter rocks, too, if you can - unless you want all black.

One warning - lesson learned the hard way, on the rocks.  I placed my rocks and flowers in the mold Before I poured the resin in.  I wanted to see how it looked/fit first, and speed up the process, so that all worked out well.  However, some of my rocks touched down sufficiently to form a bubble beneath them and when I pulled it out of the mold, there were several voids, where no resin had gotten beneath the rocks in some places.  Next time, I will still load everything up first, but I will be sure to lift each rock, and wiggle it a bit, to be sure there's no air bubble beneath it.  I used long tweezers, which worked very well.

FERNS:  I pre-arranged my flowers & rocks, then did the pour, being sure everyone stayed where I wanted them, and got submerged.  I used Tweezers, which helped a LOT!  THEN, when all was settled where I wanted things, I placed my ferns on the top (ie, the inside level.) 

I pushed the ferns down a lot with the tweezers, to try to submerge them without disturbing the flowers, etc, but I must have missed a few spots, because there were bubbles on the face-down side of a few Fern leaves.  BE SURE you have pushed all the fern leaves individually, and in order, so you don't miss some. You can't check it from the other side, until you unmold it. The mold itself is too opaque to see through it, other than shadows.

Take note:  What what goes in first is most visible when you unmold, & what goes in last is the backdrop. Layer accordingly. 

Tips for  Final Release & finish:    

Our Pyramids popped right out, pretty easily.  If you did as I did, applying a thin layer of liquid soap between the silicone mold & the mold holder.   I simply wet my hand, & went around the Mold edges, letting some water drool down in between the Mold & the Holder, & out she popped.  Easy Peasy.

Once the Mold was out of the Holder, I just gently peeled back one side, then another, working my way around, folding the mold down, until more pyramid was out than not. Then I pulled it out, & quickly folded the sides back into position, so as not to stretch it out.  

At first chance, I washed the mold inside & out again, using soapy water, to ensure no remnants remained. The hand soap helps me feel the remnants, & helps them slide out of the mold once loosened. 

***  Marks had many tiny dots of resin on the sides, as his pyramid did not occupy the full depth of the mold, & with the fans blowing during the pour, it must have blown some tiny drips against the wall.  

Don't scrape the sides. The mold is slick, so if you scratch or gouge the sides, it's gonna make a mark on future pyramids.  Just try to slide the bits off gently - Not pick them off.   I've seen videos online, showing they can be removed using tape, too.  I haven't tried it, but they showed it working very well.

                        -------------      Sharp Edges & Lumps        ------------

Both our Pyramids needed some edge work on the bottoms. The pyramids are filled upside down, & depending on how perfect your mold is, they may need some attention to ripples, or drips that drooled down into the wet resin.  For Mark's,  there seemed to be a bit of a wave, & just as water does, the resin seems to cling just a little bit up the walls around the edges, leaving a sharp ridge.  At first, I used an Exacto knife to cut the ridges off as best I could, thinking sanding them would leave a dull edge.  The knife worked, but you need a really steady hand (which is no sure thing at my age).   Then, I hit on the idea of a Large flat file, which I could tilt just a bit, so it would not only knock off the ridge, but would also straighten all the edges perfectly while doing it.    That worked Great!     Yay!      Do that!       : )

NOTE for total disasters:    Resin is wonderful in that it sticks to itself - virtually invisibly, & if you totally wreck the edges, or scratch the finish, you can always pour another thin coat on top, & make it all shiny & new again.   I've heard they can also be polished, but I've never tried that.