Darice Rhinestone Setter Heat Applicator Wand – 9-Piece Rhinestone Setter Set, Includes Wand, Support Stand and 7 Hot-Fix Tips

The media could not be loaded. I never used a tool like this before and was a little nervous that it would be difficult, messy, or simply wouldn't work well. I got some hotfix crystals and wanted to attach them to a tshirt. I made it even MORE complicated by wanting to put the crystals over an iron on type design on the shirt. The shirt wasn't expensive, so I figured I would give it a shot.I read the directions and figured I would practice on a piece of paper so I could get used to the tool first. I didn't really like holding the crystal until the glue melted and then trying to move it to my desired location. Here and there a crystal would fall out of the holder on the way. I also had a few get stuck in the tool (probably from the glue not being perfect on the crystal to begin with.) There is a little slot in the tip so you can slide a pin in there to help some of them come out.I found it a little tricky to pick up a crystal, wait 5-10 seconds (depends on the size of your crystal), move it and keep it in there, poke it out with a pin, then pick up tweezers to press and hold it in place a few seconds until it was set. I didn't seem to have enough hands to keep track of all those little tools. But I figured it out!!! Here is my fast method that made putting on over a thousand (I did two t-shirts) quickly. No burns, no mistakes.1. Sort of have an idea of your pattern. You don't want to be deciding where you are going to place the crystal after it is hot and ready.2. (This is the weird part) TAPE a pin to your index finger so it is sticking out. I just used scotch tape (I used a longer pin that came with a corsage. I always save those..but any pin can work, even a bent safety pin.)3. Find the metal tip that is the next size little smaller than the one in the tool you are using for your crystals. TAPE it to your middle finger. The kit comes with different tips. They are concave so you can "cup" your little crystal in it. You are going to use this to push a little on your just-set crystal so it stays in place. If you are using the smallest size, you can use the flat "stud" setter.4. Get over looking a little like Edward Scissorhands (ha ha!!)5. I put the pin and tip on my left hand because I am left handed. I wanted the precision with the pin with my dominant hand. I used my right hand to hold the heat tool on the crystal already in its place. No lifting and moving, just stick it right on there.6. Count to 10 (or less with smaller crystals) so that the glue melts and the crystal sticks7. Use your finger with the pin to push the crystal out (yours may not need this, most of mine did. Maybe because I was doing it on an iron on decal. It didn't get messed up, btw even with the hot tool)8. Use your finger with the metal tip taped on to press and hold the crystal in place a few seconds.The smaller size won't go all the way around your crystal, so it pushes on top instead. I used my ring finger to slide the next crystal into the approximate place. You can still slide them a second before they start to stick. You also have about a second after your lift the tool and use your "tip" finger to move them slightly if you need to. Just slightly though, so be close.That's it!! It really went quick this way and I avoided the temptation to push the hot crystals with my fingers (yeah, i did it a few times when I was practicing before I figured out the tape thing. They are HOT!!! Ouch!) This taping is awesome so you don't have to fuss around finding your pin, picking it up, putting it down, finding the tweezers, pushing the crystal, putting the tweezers down, etc. etc. Your pin-to-poke and tip-to-press tools are there and ready every single time because they are right there on your fingers. I even used the pin to help make a row straighter.I attached a little video so you could see my taped-finger technique. It really did make it so much easier. Hope it helps someone!

At first this was kind of hard to get a hang of, but then the stones started going down super fast. I started with lace and then moved onto a hairstick. works wonderfully, im going to see what else the stones will stick to when i get a chance. i think that the brass tip stone holders might need a little bit of the glue from the stones to kind of start working properly. at first they either didnt want to pick up right, or they didnt want to come out, but after about 30 minutes of messing with it they would come up and go down just as the instructions described. i kept a thumbtack to the side so that if they got stuck i could give them a bit of help to get out, and its also easy to give the stone a bit of a tap to push down. a thumbtack works nice as it has that little piece at the top to hold onto and it doesnt get hot there like a needle would. but once you get the hang of it you can use the edge of the wand tip to push it down, on the very top of the stone, when you have dropped the stone out onto your project. the wand will get hot though at the front from the vented edge down, so keep your fingers above that. i have been waiting to get one of these for about 10 years now, but when the stone setters first came out they were about 1000$. Its taken till now for them to be affordable, and even though most of them arent very pricey i did do some research as i didnt want to go through a bunch of them to find a good one. this one had the best reviews, it was easy to use, and the price was about the least expensive. All in all you cant go wrong with the Darice Setter. give it a bit of time to play with before making a snap decision, and definatly buy a big bag, or bags, of stones in a bunch of sizes you will want to play with them all when you are rolling along finally. im probably going to buy a couple more just so that i dont have to change the tips off when i want to switch sizes, this is inexpensive enough to do that. Get this one for sure though, you wont be disappointed!

I was able to use this as a first-time user. My project turned out great and I would recommend this to anyone looking to use this method to apply rhinestones. The few rhinestones that I could not pick up was based on the size quality of the rhinestones not the quality of the heat applicator. I noticed that different orders of rhinestones had different quantity and quality of glue. They also heated at different speeds. I included photos of what the glue looked like as it heated. The glue expanded a bit giving it a dome shaped when completely heated. If there was a rhinestone that I could not get out due to glue that I got on the edges, the tip applicator had a slot in it so I was able to put the edge of a tweezer into it to apply pressure from the other side enabling me to place the rhinestone where I wanted it. I thought the design was well thought out especially for an inexpensive tool. I used a clear flat bottom dish to place my rhinestones in so I could pick them up with the heat applicator. Once placed on the fabric, I used the dish to apply pressure to the rhinestone to ensure a good fusion of the glue to the fabric. The clear dish also enabled me to see the rhinestone as I did this just to make sure that it didn’t move on the fabric or turn over. I made 2 large 28” pillows as Christmas gifts. I saw some beautiful linen with a rhinestone pattern on it but the price was out of my budget. I was able to get some fabric that coordinated with the bed set at a really low price and I applied my own rhinestones. After purchasing the fabric, the tool, and rhinestones, the cost was still half of what the original linen fabric with rhinestones was. On top off that, the few people that I showed this to, wanted a set so I was able to sell them at a profit. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to apply rhinestones to fabric.