Let’s face it. GUMMY BEARS MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY. I recently had the honor of designing our “Make and Takes” again at the Creativation Expo in Phoenix, Arizona. When people came to our booth and saw we were making gummy bears out of hot glue, they couldn’t wait to sit down and give it a go! Our booth was hopping for sure!
Creativation also gave us a chance to show off our new Drip-Less™ Glue Gun – which won a NEW PRODUCT AWARD! Whoop, whoop! To learn more about our amazing new Drip-Less™ line of glue guns – and learn how to make my adorable little gummy bear project, read on!
Supplies you will need:
- NEW AdTech Drip-Less™ Glue Gun (Up to 90% less dripping and stringing!)
Buy on Amazon: Full-Size Mini-Size - AdTech® Multi-Temp Glue Sticks
Buy on Amazon: Full-Size Mini-Size - Gummy Bear Silicone Molds (I bought these on Amazon)
- Jump Rings
- Alcohol Ink Brush Pens (I used these from our friends at Marvy Uchida!)
- Mini Charm Lanyards (found here) or any kind of jewelry finding such as a chain or earring wires
As always, I need to remind our readers of this: DON’T LEAVE YOUR FINISHED HOT GLUE PROJECTS IN OR ON ANYTHING HOT. Don’t set them on a radiator, leave them in a hot car, or put them in your clothes dryer. Wearing your hot glue jewelry on a hot summer day is fine, but anything above 140 degrees and you will end up with a gluey mess. Thank you! 🙂
First – About our New, Award-Winning Drip-Less™ Gun
It’s been called a “Game Changer.” Our new Drip-Less™ technology won a Best New Product Award by the Association For Crafting Industries (AFCI) at Creativation last month.
What’s different about our new glue gun? It’s actually quite awesome…
Think back to elementary school science class. As you probably remember, when things heat up they expand and need someplace to go – like how steam shoots out of a tea kettle when the water is boiling. When you heat up your typical glue gun, the glue expands and has nowhere to go except out the nozzle.
Our new Drip-Less™ Glue Guns have a special chamber inside – and an innovative piston mechanism that suctions the excess hot glue into that chamber. An additional benefit to this piston/chamber combo is that it reduces stringing as well. While it’s not possible (yet) for a gun to be totally drip-free, we can vouch that these new guns greatly reduce dripping and stringing by up to 90% – sometimes more.
Now, in order for the Drip-Less™ glue guns to work properly, air needs to be purged out of that special chamber I mentioned above. We call it “priming” or “burping”. It’s quick and easy, and you only have to do it once.
Learn more on the Drip-Less website: www.driplessgluegun.com
NOW, ON TO OUR PROJECT!
Step one: Fill the gummy bear mold with hot glue
Actually, first, you need to listen to this song to get in the mood. 🙂
The Gummy Bear Song on YouTube
You can use the full-size or mini-size Drip-Less™ glue gun for this. Your choice! I’m using the full-size. I like that I can fill the gummy bear up with less than 2 pumps of the handle.
Heat up your glue gun. While being careful not to submerge the tip, fill a couple of mold cavities with hot glue. You want to fill them just a tad over so that the “backs” are rounded a little, but don’t get glue over the edge of the cavity. Practice makes perfect. (Go to Step Two right away if you’re making these into jewelry or charms!)
Step two: Add jump rings immediately
As quickly as possible, push a jump ring into each gummy bear head. (You can use your tweezers or needle nose pliers if you want.) Make sure to get it in the glue enough so it doesn’t pop out later, yet leave it out enough so you can fit your cord through it when it cures.
Step three: Let cure and remove from molds
Let your bears cure for 5-10 minutes until they are more opaque and cloudy looking. Push from the back and gently pop them out of their molds.
If you would like your gummy bears to be more clear, you can submerge them in cool water while they cure. Just dunk the mold and hot glue into a bowl of cool water. They will cure much more quickly and come out looking like frosted glass! See the difference below. (Left, air cured. Right, cool water cured.) Keep in mind that you’ll need to start with crystal clear sticks to get this effect. AdTech’s glue sticks are crystal clear! You can purchase them on Amazon (link in supply list above), or in Walmart stores across the US and Canada!
Step four: Color the gummy bears
Coloring things made from hot glue isn’t always easy. It is a type of polymer, after all. I’ve found that for tinting hot glue, permanent alcohol inks work the best. Some colors work better than others.
Hold your gummy bear by the jump ring with pliers and color with a brush pen. OR, you can dunk them in alcohol inks for a few seconds.
I’ve also had success coloring them with metallic paint markers, such as these DecoColor pens by Marvy Uchida.
Step five: Add jewelry findings of your choice
You can add a mini lanyard like I did, or you can make these into necklaces, earrings, and more!
To add the lanyard, just slip the loop through the jump ring…
Then, put the clasp through the loop and pull. You can also clip the clasp on and loop around whatever you’re attaching to.
That’s it. Aren’t they just the cutest?! Check out what our friend Lolly Palooza did with this project! We love her creativity!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ME7ZVmVHNw[/embedyt]
I hope you enjoyed this fun project. Please look at the menu on the right at all of my other projects using AdTech hot glue
Love what you created? We will, too! Tag us in your image on Instagram, @adtech. Use the hashtags #glueasamedium and #thisishotglue so others can see your creation!
