Hot Glue Crystal Rocks and Stones Tutorial

Hot Glue Rocks Tutorial  Introduction: Recently I got the idea to use hot glue in molds to make them look like stones or even crystals. I figured this was already a tutorial on pinterest, which I was kind of right. There are quite a few tutorials on how to turn hot glue sticks into clear-ish rock or crystal shard creations. But I haven't seen an example like the way I ended up doing it, so I thought I'd share tutorial here.
 
 First like in any other creative process I experiment with the medium (glue) and figured out how to achieve the desired thickness for what I wanted to create. I also found out that glitter glue sticks exist which is pretty awesome to add to the mix. In the beginning however I only used the plain clear glue sticks. Thankfully(ish) the initial layers on glue dried really quick and that was when I came up with the idea of putting it in the oven.
 
I quickly found that the hotter the temperature for the oven the more bubbles seem to come up, so the low temp worked best. I put in things like glitter, confetti and pieces of in foil to give it depth. I pulled them out of the oven and they cooled pretty quickly. Even before doing anything to them I loved how rubbery and strong the mold turned out. I played around with different silicone cupcake mold sizes and the different shapes I found cut and file the shapes into. This was a fun project to do and pretty easy. I found another similar tutorial to mine: Make Hot Glue Gems for Cosplay Costumes
How to make hot glue rocks
How to make hot glue rocks:
  • I suggest using a silicone mold for mini cupcakes which is perfect size and shape wise for this tutorial.
  •  Put a layer of hot glue down inside the mold then put a bit of confetti, glitter, little pieces of tin foil, sequins, etc to add texture and color to the inside of the rocks. ( I suggest cutting into small pieces which makes it easier to work with.) Important: Make sure you don't use any rubber or plastic that will stink of chemicals. If it can't go in an oven don't use it. I also came up with another 'technique' which is making a small pile of glue in the center and it spreads out to make a natural shape. Or cutting shapes out of the finished/dried glue mold to make a smaller and thicker stone.
  • Put in oven on baking sheet, pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure the silicone is placed evenly in the oven on the sheet.
  • Give it about 10 minutes, by then it should have all melted together into one. If you need to add more glue (or decorations) now would be the time. Keeping the glue heating at a lower temperature keep is from bubbling. 
  • The next step would be to wait for the mold to cool and take it out and flip it over. This makes it so both sides melt flat and smooth, more rock like (or polished stone). I looked up pictures of rock crystals to get inspiration on shapes and colors.
  • Once that it done, let it cool and pop it out of the silicone mold to check our your shape. 
  • If it seems ready to go, start cutting in apart in long pieces cutting off the ends and shaping it to look more like a stone or crystal. I also suggest using a nail file to fix up the edges and refine the shape.
  • Once you are done with the overall shape you have a few options: You can put glitter on them, nail polish, paint, and epoxy resin or Mod Podge 3D Magic.
  • Make sure they dry completely before you turn them into anything so you don't mess with the paint or epoxy. You can put a hole though the top and make them pendants for necklaces and earrings. You can also glue a flat pad bail onto the back of the rock, glue to a ring blank or get really fancy and wrap it with wire!
Subscribe to receive newsletter updates by email.

Comments