About Your Kit

Your kit comes with all the things you need to be able to hydrate and pin your specimens start to finish! Learn about the materials in your kit and how to use them!

List of Materials

In each of your kits, you will find the following materials:

  • Hydration Chamber (base and lid)

  • Pinning Board

  • Pins

  • 2 pairs of Tweezers (one straight and one curved)

  • Paint Brush

  • Parchment Paper Pinning Strips

  • Paper Towels

  • Specimens (varied based on your kit)

How To Use Your Materials

  • Hydration Chamber (base and lid)

    • You will use the hydration chamber to re-hydrate your specimens. You will wet the Paper Towels (saturated but not dripping) and place your Specimens on top of the wet paper towels. You will seal the lid and let the specimens hydrate, depending on the size and species. See the Beetle and Butterfly Pinning Instructions for the amount of hydrating time.

  • Pinning Board

    • You will pin your hydrated specimens to your pinning board so they re-harden in the shape that you want them to, using the Pins included in your kit. You aren’t pinning the wings or body directly (except one pin through the abdomen of the butterflies), but you will use the Parchment Paper Pinning Strips to hold the wings down so they reharden in the spread shape. You’ll use the Tweezers to spread the wings, especially butterflies! Beetles and butterflies are delicate, and legs and antennae often break! Use the Paint Brush to gently move broken appendages to be reattached with glue.