Ever since I was a little girl, I loved the look of wax seals. It looks old fashioned yet sophisticated at the same time! I was never allowed to play with wax seals though because it involves matches and lots of hot-sticky-messy-runny wax. Then I discovered hot glue gun sealing wax! Awesome! It’s a mess-free way to replicate the look of sealing wax that is quick and simple. I didn’t want to squirt the wax seal directly onto the invitations in case I messed up, so I came up with a whole method on how to make these wax seals separately and then attach on the invitations with glue.
Materials needed: Silpat silicone mat, an ordinary high temperature hot glue gun, glue gun sealing wax and a seal stamp:
I got the glue gun sealing wax from this website, it was the cheapest I could find. I bought 30 sticks and have way too many leftover after making 2oo seals. I got the sealing stamp with our initial from Papersource:
The process of making the seals is pretty easy. Stick the sealing wax in your hot glue gun and let heat up. Then squeeze a quarter – sized dollup of the glue onto the silicon mat. The trick is waiting just enough time before pressing in the stamp but not too long that the glue hardens. I found that if I count to 8 so that the glue gets a little tacky, then press in the stamp, it was just the right amount of time. If you don’t wait those 8 seconds, the glue is too liquid and the seal will just sink right to the bottom. Let the glue cool for about 30 seconds before removing the stamp:
The metal stamp will sometimes turn hot because of the temperature so be careful when removing it with your fingers. I kept a bowl of ice water near by to dunk the stamp in between to help cool it down.
Let all the seals completely cool on the mat before removing them:
The silicon mat will make it easy to peel off the wax seals after they cool down, then you will have a pile of wax seals that you can use right away or save for later!
To attach the wax seals to my wedding invitations, I used these Zots glue dots:
These glue dots were perfect because they were gummy and are really strong so they stuck to the baker’s twine and to the paper. I didn’t want the seals to fall off in the mail so I got the “ultra” strength! Peel off and stick to the back of a seal:
Attach to invitation! Voila!!
Hi! And welcome to my site! I hope you find something that inspires you while you are here. 
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
So cool, love all your paper details!
Thought of buying a wax and seal in college, but was dissuaded by how easily the letter could open – glue dots are a fantastic idea.
Question: tips for cleaning the glue gun afterward so future glue gun-needing projects don’t have pink glue?
haha, jihea, i haven’t figured that out yet! I just keep two glue guns, one for real glue and the other for wax. it’s a mess to clean out the wax!
I love the look of wax seals. Did you have to have your invitations hand canceled?
Yes, i did!! i am neurotic like that!! I didnt want the invites to get ruined going through a machine!!
we are doing wax seals too! We are worried that the invitation (which is a map) will rip when opening the wax seal. Are we being crazy?
Do the seal look flush with the paper/bakers twine even with the glue dot between?
Does the gummy glue dot prevent ripping?
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