The kids at my after school program have been all about the hot glue gun lately. We recently discovered by accident that hot glue doesn't stick to silicone. We were using an old cutting mat to protect the counter and one side was hard plastic and the other side was more rubbery. The kids noticed that the hot glue stuck to the plastic side but peeled off the rubbery side. This discovery took our crafting to a whole new level. After doing a little research online I learned that Mod Podge has a new line of non-stick silicone molds for just this purpose, so I bought the letter mold and the kids have been using it every day since.

Another thing I discovered - hot glue now comes in glitter sticks! I found some at the dollar store and also got some longer Mod Podge brand ones when I purchased the letter mold. The kids are using these up fast but today I managed to do a little experimenting of my own and came up with these simple sparkly hashtag dangly earrings.

Step 1: Make a Mold and Squish It in a Glob.

First, squeeze your hot glue into the hashtag mold. Let it dry for about a minute and take it out. Trim off any excess glue around the edges. Do this again so you have 2 hashtags.

Next, squeeze a glob of glue in a contrasting glitter color onto your silicone sheet. I used a penny underneath the mat as a guide. You should count how many pumps of hot glue you use to make your circle because you will want to recreate an identical circle for your other earring.

Before this glob dries (do one at a time) gently press your hashtag into it making sure not to touch the glob with your fingers. Let this dry and do one more.

Step 2: Add Earring Hardware.

Next, turn over the sparkly medallion you made and at the top, add a small glob of hot glue over a jump ring. Attach ear wires and you're finished!

(Next time I might just embed the jump rings into the medallion in the previous step, but this way works too.)

Step 3: Some More Ideas...

As an added bonus, I'm including some pictures of some of my other glitter glue gun experiments and some tips and tricks I learned along the way:

• If your silicone sheet is see-through, you can place a paper with an image or your own doodles underneath to use as a template.

• If you're having a hard time finding silicone sheets for crafting, check the bakeware section of of your local store. They sometimes have silicone pans, potholders, cutting mats, cupcake molds, etc.

• After you make a glob and let it dry, you can cut it into other shapes like squares or triangles or hearts.

• You can also press other objects into your globs of hot glue - buttons, coins, miniature plastic figures, gemstones... the possibilities are endless.

• You can turn your creations into pendants, pins, magnets, and more!

If this Instructable inspires you to make your own please share your pics to inspire others. And if you enjoyed this post please click on the tab at the top and vote for it in the Glitter, Hot Glue, and Earrings contests. Thanks!