How to Make Shrink Plastic Jewelry

Make your own jewelry embellishments using this stamped shrink plastic technique, from Helen Bradley of http-design.

Materials:

• 1 sheet white shrink plastic
• Large detail background stamp
• Simple flower stamp
• Circle punch (larger than flower stamp shape)
• Colored pencils – Orange, Red and Yellow
• Adhesive crystals
• 20 approx, large jump rings
• Lobster clip
• Black Sharpie or other permanent marker
• Permanent ink – black and red

Tools:

• Heat embossing gun
• Wire working tools
• Adhesives
• Scissors
• 3mm (1/8in) hole punch

Instructions:

1. Punch six to seven large circles from the Shrink Plastic using the circle punch. Using red ink, stamp the flower stamp onto the shrink plastic six – seven times and cut out the flower shapes.
   
   
    
2. Pair each flower with a circle, hold the flower in place over the top of the circle and punch two 3mm holes on opposite sides of the shapes. Keep the flower and circle pairs together.
    
3. Flip the large background stamp wood side down on your workspace. Ink the surface of the stamp in black ink. Press the first shrink plastic circle onto the stamp and remove. Re-ink the stamp, turn over the circle and stamp the second side. Repeat to stamp all the circles.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Using orange, red, and yellow colored pencils color the stamped flowers. Good quality waxy pencils work best for this technique as they blend well.
   
   
    
5. Using the heat gun shrink the flower and circles working with each piece individually. Flip each piece over to ensure that it is evenly heated and completely shrunk. Place a heavy object on the shape as it cools to flatten it.
    
6. Using a black permanent marker color the white edge of the shrink wrapped circles.
   
   
7. Line up the flower and circle pairs ensuring that the holes in each set match up. Using a small amount of glue, glue the flower to the backing shape and, before the glue has set, affix a large jump ring through each hole in each pair of shapes.
    
8. Join the shapes to each other with an additional jump ring. Affix the lobster clasp to one end of the bracelet.
   
   
    
9. Finish by adding a small adhesive rhinestone to the centre of each flower.

Tips

Depending on the size of the flowers and the circle punch, you will need five to seven circle and flower shapes for a bracelet. For our bracelet we used a 5.4cm (2 1/8in) circle punch.

Always punch holes in the shrink plastic before you shrink it. Shrink plastic shrinks a lot – our 5.4cm diameter circles shrunk to under 2.5cm diameter circles, and the plastic thickens as it shrinks to give you a wonderfully rigid surface to work with. Stamp the shrink plastic before you shrink it so the image shrinks too – the heat from the embossing gun will ensure the ink sets too.