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Hi ladies,
I wouldn't profess to being a DIY goddess, but I just sent off my invites and wanted to share some quick tips for using faux wax (the type you stick in a glue gun), because I ruined a good 5-6 seals before figuring it out
The process
- Load up your glue gun, wait for the 'wax' to heat up
- Prep your seal by cooling it - i used a small ice pack (numbered 1) because i found ice cubes too drippy.
- Wipe off excess moisture on a rag (numbered 2)
Here's what made all the difference:I got a wad of cotton wool and poured in about 1 spoonful of olive oil. Lightly 'oil' your seal by pressing onto the cotton before stamping into the hot faux wax.
Now, squeeze out a blob of wax, let it sit for about 15 seconds, then press in your seal firmly, let go, and after 20 seconds or so, gently remove.
The 'oiling' should enable your stamp to be removed easily without damaging the seal. I know that many of the companies selling these wax seals sell some sort of non-stick product (the company i used sold it for $7), but if like me, you're trying to be prudent, try this olive oil method! *I note that Mrs Bee, when using real wax, suggested baby oil. I suppose that could work too!
Ta-daaaah, seal complete, no more 'casualties'!
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Thanks for the tidbits. I struggled at first with my faux wax seals but ultimately ended up with the same procedure as you. I will say though thank goodness for the invention of the faux wax for hot glue guns I can't imagine the mess I would have created for myself with the real deal.
haha yes, i read Mrs Bee's experience juggling the spoons / flame / cutting up bits of wax... i don't think i could've handled that!
@ mrspaetz,
Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial! I've been throwing this idea in my head and still am not sure if I want to do this. I've got plenty of time to make a decision. hehe.
My question for you is how did you deal with the issue of the seal on the envelope and mailing? I don't plan on having a inner & outer envelope so it will be my main (outer) envelope that would get the faux wax seal. I looked a little into it and depending on the thickness of the seal I should be okay with the USPS. Did you have any trouble with the wax "adhering" to the envelope?
I did wax seals with the glue gun and it was really easy. I got everything at the papersource and the first gluegun didn't work and they gave me a new one, which was awesome. But all I had to do was smear the wax around and stamp the seal. Even as the seal got hot they came out nice.
To mail them you just take them to the post office and ask them to hand cancel them. The guy at my post office said it is a good idea anyways because the machines can be so rough on things.
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@ Gerbera: I made the seals first on baking paper, then peeled them off and used a 2nd glue gun to attach them to the envelopes. I did this because I was afraid that I would mess up the envelopes if the seals didn't come out right.
Because we only have a 40-person guest list, I handed out most of my invites. I did use external envelopes for those I had to mail overseas though.
You could take the suggestion above and have the post office hand-cancel them (i.e.: manually stamp them by hand, not run through a machine). In my opinion though, the faux wax holds up pretty well -- it's like a slightly sticky piece of plastic rather than a brittle piece of real wax. So you could give it a shot. Try mailing one to yourself to test it out!
Oh, quick tip if making stamps separate and attaching with hot glue:
After you've put a small dollop of hot glue, let it cool for say, 10 seconds, before placing the faux wax seal on. Otherwise you'll risk melting the seal -- I melted one :P
Good luck, everyone!
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This information is going to be a godsend for those of us who haven't had the pleasure (or pain) of attaching these to our invitations! I'm so glad I won't have to waste in trying to find the perfect process!
@gerbera also another bee (I think sonipapdi) also just posted that wax seals cost an extra 20 cents at the post office so you might want to check and take that into account for your budget!
TBTG
I am a wax seal idiot I think, but why don't you just put it on the envelope at the same time? Isn't that adding extra steps?
Great tutorial!
We added wax seals to our STDs. We used them to seal shut the pocketfolds, which then went into an envelope. With a full-sized magnet, postcard, and the pocketfold, the STDs were 59 cents to mail. And we did the wax seal directly onto the pocketfold flap. We made a few practice ones to see how much to melt, and then just went for it.
We also used the wax seal sticks, not the glue gun kind. The metal part of the seal got hot for us too, so we also used a ice pack - one of those boo-boo ones, haha. We didn't use oil, but I am guessing you needed that b/c of the glue.
I did the heating of the stick and pushing the seal into the wax while FI held the pocketfold flap closed. We wore latex gloves (I work in a lab) so we wouldn't get fingerprint on the paper. :-)
@KateMW: i did it on wax paper because i was afraid that if i made mistakes (and i did) i would ruin the envelopes.
now that i am more confident of how this works, for future projects i may work directly on the actual surface :)
I have always wondered how in the heck you use those wax seals!!! I bought one YEARS AGO and tried (so very sadly) unseccessfully to use it. Ever since then I just steer clear of them, but now you've got me thinking I could do that! Where did you get your monogrammed seal from? I love that look!
i made all my seals ahead of time on trays, and when they dried i just scooped them right off easily. i used double sided tape to put them on my programs as seals..because i didn't want the program to rip or the seal to break when people opened the program ;)
love your tips though-would have been a lot easier for me when i made all of my seals for my wedding last november. beautiful seals!!
@MightySapphire: I bought mine from Old School Seals and used faux wax in a glue gun.
It's real easy once you start getting the hang of it!
@futuremrsbrown: aah double-sided tape! i didn't think of that! turns out, all my guests opened the envelope from the side / sliced thru the top edge to avoid damaging the seal! LOL
@MightySapphire: We are date twins!! Exact date :D
(sorry, too excited, couldn't help myself)
Thank you for all these helpful tips! I played around with the glue gun today and am very pleased with the result of our prototype! I have a couple more tips to offer. I'm designing the invites for a couple of dear friends. :)
#1. For those who want to make up a batch, you can use glass (bottom of lasagna dish!) or (unwanted) tile as your surface upon which you squeeze out the glue. The faux seals easily come off once cooled/set.
#2 If you want coloured faux wax seals here's a money-saving tip. Buy the inexpensive, regular, clear glue sticks (office suply store, Michaels) as well as wee jar of Pearl Ex pigment powder (found at Michaels, etc). You'll also need some toothpicks. Squeeze some glue, take your toothpick and dip it in the powder and 'scoop' up just a *smidge*. Mix it into the glue (for 3-5 seconds-ish) then stamp your seal in it (without pressing down all the way to the bottom, mind you). Voilà! A lil' jar of the pigment powder goes a looooong way and it does lend a shiny, irridescent colour to the faux seal.
Here's a pic where I just quickly grabbed our invite and put my faux seal on top of the existing wax seal. We're going to use the seals on our bookmark-tags 'ensemble', not the envelopes.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Oh, and that's not the seal we'll use. Another friend is going to make a seal which I guess leads me to a 3rd tip!
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">#3. You can make your own seal with a wooden dowel and a woodburning tool and a few other things. C'mon...doesn't everyone have a woodburning tool or have a friend or relative who got one? 
I saw the tutorial mentioned on Design*Sponge. Here's the tutorial: DIY Wooden Wax Seal.
I have heard also that you can use the coloured glue or the sprarkly glue for the guns and use those as well. Just the regular glue though not faux wax which would elimiate the need for having to use the Pearl Ex if didn't want that extra step.
Wow - super cute! This is making me reconsider using paper circles with our monogram as "seals." I was just going to cricut the heck out of a bunch of little monograms and call it good.
Now I'm imagining pink wax on blue paper....ahhhhh.
Gotta print more 50% Michaels coupons!
My friend's coworker made the custom seal out of a wooden dowel (as per the design*sponge tutorial I mentioned above, I think) and it looks *amazing*!!! To make the faux wax seals, she used a pack of mini glue sticks, then spray-painted them. Once she got a system down, it only took about 3 hours to make nearly 100 seals. (She ruined about 5 or 6 in the first half hour or so, before she figured out how to do it. LOL)
Here's her cost breakdown for almost 100 faux wax seals:
-$2.50 in glue
-$5 glue gun
-FREE homemade seal (her coworker is *amazing*!!!)
-FREE copper spray paint from work
We'll still need to buy some glue dots to attach the seals to our tags, but I think she did an excellent, thrifty job!!! Here are the pics!
great job!! i am definitely thinking of adding this fun touch to our invitations!!
Thank you so much fiance and I are planning on using the wax seals. The tips will come in handy I'm sure. Love your seal. 
Just a few more tips if you make the faux seals and then want to spray paint them; you'll have to clean the oil off in order for the paint to adhere. My friend used a rag dipped in denatured alcohol (the home reno stores carry this and it's not stinky) to get the oil off.
As for making the seals, here's what we did; we squeezed a splotch of hot glue onto a tile (or wax paper) then let it cool off for a 30 seconds-ish. Press your seal into the glue and let it sit there while you squeeze a 2nd blob of glue. The glue should easily come away from the wooden dowel seal in 45-60 seconds.
How much faux wax are y'all using. I did mine this weekend and they look like huge blobs of crap :D
Ahh now im nervous to try mine! it was my first wedding purchase : )
Maybe i'll have my MOH do it shes really crafty and a little more anal then me when it comes to things like that.
@sep: i had so many problems this weekend with those danged invites that i was probably too irritational to think logically. I seriously think that I used too much glue because that thing started erupting wax when I pressed the seal in. I also didn't leave it there so the impression isn't as deep as I would like it. I blobbed the glue stuck it in for a sec and then took it back out.
I just checked with the bride-to-be who made the glue gun seals and here are her suggestions to making your seals turn out.
-definitely practice before glueing directly onto paper or ribbon, or use scrap ribbon to practice. It took her several tries to get it right. And if you've bought the coloured glue sticks, do practice with the clear, dollar store ones first!!! My friend used dollar store glue sticks for all the faux seals and then spray painted them copper.
-she used 4 squirts of mini-glue stick
-let the glue cool for at least 30 seconds before you put the seal in
-leave the seal in for a while; when you touch the exposed edge it should feel like rubber, not sticky. If it's sticky, it needs to cool off some more before you lift the seal off of the glue
I hope this helps! Don't give up! 
@Kindred Spirts: WOW! Using clear sticks and then spray painting them is an awesome idea!
@Crebre80: Maybe you could try making them on parchment/wax paper and then affixing them to your invites? It'll be easier that way.
Also, I found that it helps to let the wax sit for abt 20-30 seconds before pressing yr cool, oiled seal into it. Leave the seal in the wax for another 20 seconds or so before carefully removing.
Good luck everyone! I heart wax seals!
Holy Moly - This is honestly off topic of wax seals (which I LOVE) but my last name and your name are almost identical! Mine is Puetz, sorry for being weird I just never even see anything similar to it at all!
glue gun seals!! perfect! This is solving the label/sticker/monogram paper square/blah..blah..blah problem for me. I have glue guns and sticks at home already..SCORE and since I was already planning on spray painting some things gold, I'll just spray these too. I had originally wanted wax sesals but worried about the wax ruining my pocketfolds...thanks ladies!!!
I made my seals on wax paper. If I did it again, I'd just do it on glass. The paper stuck when I peeled them off and the paper buckled. Fortunately, the warm hot glue allowed me the chance to reshape the seals. Still, using the glue gun wax was great.
@iswimibikeirun : i did it on parchment paper (not wax paper, my bad) and it turned out fine, no sticking. but glass sounds like an awesome alternative!
@shannon1126: haha! yes Puetz and Paetz are just a letter apart, wow! :)
Amazing! I love the olive oil tip! I'm so going to bookmark this for when I do my seals!
Hehe. I used lavender scented baby oil, so my invites have a slight scent.
I tested my faux waxing technique..not too bad..this is not what I'll be using, its just a try-out...
Does anyone know how they do the two color seals? Would you stamp the seal in ink before placing it on the wax or is it done by painting on embossing powder after?
@labrat: i think that they put the different colors in the glue guns squirt it out and then mix the colors with a toothpick. and then do the seal.
@kindred: dude you rock my world with that info! i am going to definitely try again later on this month (probably april).
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