Thread: Hot Glue Eyes

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I discovered Wilton candy molds today and how they can be used to help with the corpsing of one of the Walgreeen skeletons. First off, these molds are very cheap. I got mine for $1.99 from a cake decorating place. I knew that I could use resin to make the eyes, but I was curious to see how hot glue would work. First, I tested the glue on part of the plastic that isn't intended to be used for molding. It held up fine...there was no burn through with the glue.

Next, I sprayed a silicon spray lubricant into each eyeball cup on the mold tray. This was the only thing I could think of that might allow the glue to release without too much prying. I then took my hot glue gun and filled each cup up to the top of the mold. After waiting until the glue hardened, I discovered I still had to pry them out. So using a small flat tip screwdriver, I skived the edges and then gently pried out the half eyeball. Now I only used the part with the front of the eye. The mold has both parts, but when I placed the half into the eye socket, it recessed perfectly.

I will be posting some pictures in the next day or two, so you can see how they come out. They are really cool looking, in that they have the veins and iris defined in each eyeball. They are going to look good once I have them painted and in place.

Hope this helps someone.

What a great idea. I have so many chocolate molds for Halloween, would be nice to put them to other uses. Can't wait to see your pics.

check out these hot glue eyes I made last year. hot glue and some gloss acrylic paint (50 cents from the craft store).


cemetary groundskeeper rocking chair guy

Those look great.

Okay...I figured out a couple of things through experimentation. First, use Pam. Apply liberally into the mold and then wipe the excess...but do not remove all of it. You need to coat the mold. Next, when removing the glue, do not let it completely harden. You want to be removing them when the glue hasn't completely hardened. I used a wire pick tool to gauge the hardness of the glue. When I couldn't push the pick in, but the glue was still a bit pliable, I pushed the pick around the edges and began to lift up gently. The eyes popped out easily. All I had to do was wash the Pam off, and they are ready for painting.

Here are some pics of both the mold container and the eyes. Remember that you will still have to finish them off. I like these because they are very easy, and would allow you to mass produce eyes for any number of projects.

Have fun.

Second the use of PAM.

How about sticking a toothpic or something into the glue before it hardens to pull the eye out? Sort of a built in handle.

I think even with putting a toothpick in the center, it will still be necessary to separate the glue from the mold by slipping something against the sides of the mold and then prying it loose. The metal pick worked really well. I do think this allows for some interesting uses of those candy molds that have some really interesting shapes.