Hot Glue, Silicon Molds and Little Bit of Glitter

Hot Glue and Silicon Molds, you got all those beautiful looking molded flowers. Adding glitter during molding produced those two beautiful shapes at the extreme right.

Silicon molds can withstand very high temperature. Since they are also flexible it is very easy to take out the molded pieces from them by using proper mold release. You can use candle molds and also fondant cake decoration molds for this.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

Here are the tools and materials you need other than silicon molds

Hot Glue-gun. Use a high temperature industrial glue-gun. Low quality ones may not produce a clean finished shape.
Glue sticks compatible with the glue-gun.
Glitters of different colors.
Liquid colors. I have used oil based color dyes used in candle making. Do not use water based ones.

Step 2: Silicon Molds and Mold Release

You can use readily available silicon molds or make your own. The first mold you see here is made by me and the two molds in the next picture are candle making molds. I have also used silicon to take impression of flowers from an art piece, which is shown in the third picture.

Use proper mold release, otherwise it will be difficult to take out the finished product from the molds. I have used a high quality silicon spray used in candle making.

I have tried flower-shaped bottom portion of water bottles but the outcome was not so good. This may be due to non-flexibility of the plastic and not so resistant to high temperature of hot glue.

Step 3: Prepare the Molds

Clean dust from all the molds which you will be using and spray them with silicon mold release covering the entire surface which will be in contact with hot glue.

Step 4: Pour Hot Glue

The glue-gun I have used here is a high temperature industrial model, needs 120 volts and 100 watts. Here I have used a 150 watts step-down transformers to convert 230 volts to 120 volts.

Plug-in and preheat the glue-gun for about two minutes. If a left-over glue stick is there allow the glue-gun to get heated till the melted glue starts flowing through the nozzle.
If no glue stick is there,Insert a new one and wait till melted glue starts flowing through the nozzle.
Now you can pour the melted glue into the prepared molds in one continuous operation. If you need more glue insert another glue stick and continue till the molds are completely filled. The hot glue will flow freely and fill up all nooks and corners of the mold.
For the silicon flower impression, pour a thin layer of hot glue over the mold.
Once you complete all molding, switch of the glue-gun and clean excess glue which may seep through the nozzle.

Step 5: Keep Molds in Freezer for Cooling

The hot glue may take considerable time to cool off if kept in the open. Keep all the molds with hot glue in the freezer for about ten minutes.

Step 6: Take Out Flower Shapes From Mold

Feel the molds in the freezer with your fingers. If they are warm, keep them for some more time. If they are cold then you can take them out. Just push out the shapes from the molds, it is very easy with flexible silicon molds. You can peel off the thin layer we poured over the silicon flower impression.

You are done...

Step 7: Adding Colors

You can add different colors to the flower shapes while the glue is freshly poured and is hot. I have used oil based liquid dyes used for candle making. Do not use water based ones.

For a single color to completely fill the shape, add few drops of dye over the hot glue in the mold and using a tooth pick punch in all directions inside the mold for spreading the color.

You can also add multiple colors to the flowers. While half way through pouring the hot glue add drops of different colored dyes here and there and then fill the mold with hot glue. The end result will be very interesting. You can see both single colored and multiple colored flowers in the photographs above.

Step 8: Molded With Mixed Glitter

You can also add glitter to the hot glue flowers to make them more attractive. This one is with glitters of different colors mixed together.

Take small amounts of different colored glitters in a container and mix them well
Prepare the silicon mold by spraying with mold release
Spread a thin layer of mixed glitter inside the mold
Pour hot glue in the mold and keep it in the freezer to cool
Take out the finished shape from the mold

The last picture is the hot glue flower with glitters