Question about curling hair with curling irons...?

Okay well my friend has this curling iron and it's the stick kind with no clamp. She did my hair for me and I absolutely loved it! <3 So I wanted to get the same type of curler that she has, but then I tried to curl my hair with mine (the clamp one) but I didnt use the clamp. I just pretended it had no clamp. And it worked perfectly, but I'm afraid of burning myself. The protective glove doesn't come with the clamp iron, it comes with the other one, but I want one. Is there any other glove or something that I could put on my hand so that I don't get burned??? I asked my mom if a gardening glove would work but she said probably not. :/ So do you guys have any ideas? Thanks! (: