OK first I need to thank Linda from Vegas for her comment yesterday, she asked if I knew how to make my own dew drops. I thought that you could make something similar with hot glue, a non stick craft sheet and alcohol ink. I think they came out really well:
Here is how to make faux Dew Drops:
Lay out a non stick craft sheet or hot glue mat. They are made out of silicone and nothing sticks to them! Heat up a glue gun with a clear hot glue stick in it.
Squeeze out little drops of glue.To avoid “strings” twirl the glue gun in a small spiral when you lift it off the drop. Don’t worry if you get glue strings, they will pull off easily later.
You can leave the drops clear or put some in a baggie with 2 or 3 drops of alcohol ink and smoosh them around with your fingers. Dump them out on a scrap of paper to dry. They dry quick!
I’m gonna make some more tonight! you can get a hundred form a 10 cent glue stick. How cool (and frugal) is that! If you don’t want to bother with making your own you can buy them at The Rubber Cafe.
Have fun making this, try making other embellishments with hot glue, squeeze out hearts, frames and swirls, you can even make faux wax seals by squirting out a dab of glue and pressing a small rubber stamp in it then painting the cool glue seal with metallic acrylic paint. Just be sure to protect your stamp by covering it with clear ink first and let it cool before you remove the stamp from the glue!
Thanks for stopping by and as always happy crafting!
The Frugal Crafter Blog 
Wow Lindsay!! This is really cool…those drops are great! Thanks for showing !
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Well this is just brilliant! I know what I’m doing today. I’d like to pass on a “your blog is fabulous” award. Please visit my blog to pick up the photo and get the info. Thanks again for all your work.
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That is awesome. I never would have guessed you could use alcohol ink to tint the color of the glue. That is a major tip for me. Thanks!
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Holy Cow! Lindsay you are a genius!! How cool is that!! great job!!
Hugs, Melissa
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Do you know if this works with Stazon Inks also?
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Lisa D, It should work just fine with the STaz-On. I’d try the reinker if you have it rather than the pad.
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WOW that is really awesome!!!! I soooo wish you lived next door to me…I’d be over bugging you every 5 mins…everything from crafting to vegetarian stuff! YOU ROCK!
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I love this! I just might break out my glue gun tomorrow! 🙂 What kind of adhesive do you use to attach them? Will a liquid glue that dries clear work well?
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Hi Tam, I have a simple solution for gluing: the cheap little glue pens sold at craft stores meant for kids. Thet have white glue in them and there refillable (probably not after a kid got done with them LOL!) they are cheap, about $2 for 10.
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I made something like this years ago (without coloring them with alcohol ink) … why I didn’t remember it when all the skittles/dew drops came on the scene I’ll never know. THANK YOU for reminding me!
to glue them down…. I use to heat up my glue gun, touch the base of my homemade dew drop to the hot metal for just a second or two to make it sticky … now it’s ready to adhere! Alcohol ink shouldn’t conflict with the hot glue, right??
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These are so cool. I tried them tonight and used perfect pearls (different colors) and they look like the real thing! I tried coloring one with a copic marker (alcohol ink) and it didn’t work well at all. Didn’t have any alcohol reinkers on hand. Still experimenting. Thanks!
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Where’s my glue gun?…
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Looks like a grand idea. Ever thought of making them with the glitter glue sticks. Bet those would look great too.
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Great idea! They turned out wonderfully. Thanks for the tip!
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What a great idea. Can’t wait to try it. I’m always looking for a bargain.
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What a clever person you are. I’m anxious to try this out. You could even mix colors to get something different.
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Lindsay,
I tried making the “fake dewdrops” this afternoon – I guess I should say, I made the fake dewdrops and they look pretty good. Are they supposed to get hard? Mine are still soft – even after cooling down. Any suggestions?
Carmen
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Thanks. This is way better than what I do.
I normally just put dots of hot glue where I want them to be and then use a small brush to dab some colour onto them. Using your method I can do heaps in one sitting – much more time efficient.
I might even try to make some hearts for Valentine’s day with the red glitter sticks I have. Ohh the possibilities!
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hi Carmen, They should get pretty hard, not a hard as glass or acrylic bu they shouldn’t dent when pressed, they should hold their shape, but they are a bit softer than dew drops.
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Fantastic idea. I have learned so much.
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Thank you for this tip. I will surely give it a try very soon.
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What a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
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OMGosh! I have to try this! You are one clever and frugal crafter! Thanks.
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Wow! This may be the greatest little trick I have learned! Absolutely fantastic. You are a genius…and love to save $ too.
Hugs
Heather
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Great tip ! Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to try this.
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What a scathingly brilliant idea!
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super, dat ga ik ook eens proberen
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I took my glue drops and painted them with nailpolish and they look like pearls. Thanks for getting my own creative juices flowing.
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I didn’t have any alcohol inks so I colored them up w/ Sharpie pens….I think it’s fine…..I’ll try it w/the alcohol inks….It’s hard to get specific items where I live so I am so excited I can finally have dew drops of my own making them the size I want, whenver I want. Thanks for sharing your ideas…you rock!
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It’s very hard to find anywhere in Australia that sells Dew Drops or similar — I’m going to give this a go!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!! 🙂
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WOW just found your site today and I am in LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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AWESOME!!! Thanks for helping me save some $$$ with your tutorial.
🙂
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How do I subscribe to your blog?
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Hi Joan,
I think if you click the orange square either in the browser (where the web page address is) that will do it.
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to make that
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Hey Lindsay,
I saw this post a while back and I have been wanting to make some ever since! I looked in the craft section today for the alcohol ink at Wal-Mart. Where can you buy this? I have never heard of alcohol ink.
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Hi Tamera, I get mine at AC moore or JoAnns. It is $10 for a 3 pack and I use a coupon of course!
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great idea
wonder if it will work with the coloured or glittery glue sticks
thank you so much for this
your blog is wonderful
xxx
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Hi ladies, this was great ideah, I also bought colored glue sticks and used them, works great.
thanks for the ideah,
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After reading this post I had to tried this for sure! You are so creative. I had some glue sticks but they weren’t clear, so I went to Joanns and bought some that looked clear to me. However, after making my dew drops with these, they didn’t dry clear. They looked just like the ones I had tried making with the non-clear sticks I had. Yours look really clear, see through almost. Is that so? or is it the picture? Which brand did you use? Does it specifically say clear on the outside? Sorry for all the questions. TIA
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OMG…this is genius!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
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wow i made some of these before..yours look a whole lot better than mine! Good Job!
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Thanks so much for sharing this. These drops are not readily available in Australia, so I am definitely going to have a go myself.
Thanks Again.
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If it is hot where you are working (it can get pretty hot in Austrailia right?) Place the glue sticks in the freezer for an hour or so before using, also if you have an air conditioned room or a cool basement to work in it will help reduce glue strings. I have great luck making these in my cool basement art studio 😉
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Thank you so much for the Glue dot tip, I use these with my pre-school sunday school class they love them an no mess with the Glue.Thank you
May God Bless
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Did you use high temp or low temp glue sticks?
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I used all temp;)
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This is amazing! Great thanks!
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Thanks for the great idea!!! I tried these the other night, and the drops turned out great, but when I tried to dye them, the color all rubbed off. I used a re-inker and I thought that would work, but it obviously didn’t. Is an alcohol ink necessary to dye these nifty creations???
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Hi Rebekah,
Yep, you need alcohol ink (I use my 50% off coupon at AC moore to buy 3 packs) but you can also color them with a sharpie/copi or bic marker while it is stuck to the mat as they contain alcohol ink too:)
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oh, great idea. I can see, maybe, one could make a spiral out of glue also…hmm; off to try this. Thanks.
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love your ideas! Thanks!
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I don’t know WHY I bother to search google when just the information I need about crafting is always here! You are the best and thank you SO very much for sharing the information with us!
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my daughter is making these right now! thanks for post!
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oh, fun! I hope it works out well, let me know if she has any questions:)
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Thanks this is a great Tut, xx
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I will be doing these in all different colors! WOW!
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Oh Lindsey, I totally forgot about dew drops going to have to try these this week. thanks for reminding us of this.
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What was the name of the blue color that you used?
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Hi, I know this is an old post, but dew drops seem to be getting popular again and I found some for really cheap. You can get these several places.. I got mine from WalMart, with free pick-up (no shipping charge), but you can also get them at Amazon. Amazon says they are 5mm, but Walmart lists them as being 6mm. They probably vary a little bit. Anyhow, you can get a pound of them for under 10 dollars! Link: http://www.amazon.com/Darice-207769-Lustre-Floral-1-Pound/dp/B002JPKWBG
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The link above for The Rubber Cafe goes to another site asking you to renew something. I just wanted to look at the originals close up. Strange. Just thought you would want to know. Love your blog!
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Um… what are they used for?
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decorations on greeting cards and crafts:)
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