Cute shrink film charm bracelet

111 Comment

Do you remember the Shrinky Dink craze where you could get kits with the plastic printed with images which you coloured in, then shrank in the oven? Apparently, the women who came up with the idea of the kits found a craft in a magazine where you drew pictures or designs on plastic lids before shrinking them in the oven. You don’t have to buy the shrink plastic if you can find some #6 plastic!

Material

1 sheet shrink film (a.k.a shrinky dink plastic) or #6 plastic
lots of permanent markers, in different colours
1 hole punch
1 baking tray
1 sheet baking paper
1 silicone baking mat
1 oven
1 chain
some jump rings
1 clasp

Method

Either buy some shrink film at a craft shop or look through your recycling for clear plastic marked with #6 - often sushi box lids are this type of plastic.
Decide what charms you would like on your bracelet and draw the designs (or trace them) on the plastic. Colour the designs in and then cut them out, making sure there are no sharp corners. Keep in mind that colours will intensify with shrinking and each charm will be about a third of its original size.
Punch holes in each piece of plastic, for attaching the charm to the bracelet.
Place the charms on baking paper on the baking tray and cover with the silicone mat. The mat prevents the charms from curling over onto themselves and sticking together as they shrink.
Place them in an 180C oven for 2 minutes. Leave to cool for a few minutes before lifting the mat, to ensure the charms are flat.
Attach jump rings to each charm through the holes punched earlier. Attach the charms to the chain using the jump rings. Attach the clasp to one end of the chain.

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This project was posted by:

- not_amanda
- 03 Jul 2014
  10:39 am

111 Comments

- - mom165081 said
  - 30 Nov 2015
    12:01 am
Wow! Didn’t know no6 recycling would do the same! Brilliant idea. We have done this with sheets of shrink art paper to make personalised gift tags (don’t forget to pre-punch holes).
- mom377950 replied
  
  26 May 2020 , 6:28 pm
  Where did you get the plastic from?
- - JessyJade190490 said
  - 02 Nov 2015
    7:16 pm
This would be a cute idea for making tags and stickers too =) Also magnets would be nice too… Thanks for sharing =) Definitely going to at least attempt this one =P

- - mom152736 said
  - 22 Oct 2015
    5:12 pm
lovely piece of work….kiddie girls….can just do this as they please

- - mom109229 said
  - 30 Sep 2015
    9:54 am
Cool. A great activity for older kids.

- - Mandi2406 said
  - 29 Sep 2015
    10:45 pm
Very cute idea for young girls

- - dannsbuild said
  - 10 Sep 2015
    4:12 pm
Yes both my daughters will love these. Very good!

- - mom152736 said
  - 31 Aug 2015
    12:58 pm
this is soooo awesome….. i never knew that the #6 plastic coul dbe reused like this 🙂

- - Kasey said
  - 16 Aug 2015
    4:15 pm
wonderful art project for kids

- - BellaB said
  - 02 Aug 2015
    7:24 pm
This is really original. Thank you.

- - mrsdew17 said
  - 30 Jul 2015
    12:30 am
Can’t wait to have a go! Thanks for letting us know which plastic to use.

- - Mum of 5 darlings :) said
  - 21 Jul 2015
    9:34 pm
My daughters will love these.

- - mom66977 said
  - 12 Jul 2015
    1:04 pm
what a great thing to make

- - mom57808 said
  - 01 Jul 2015
    5:23 am
this weekends project

- - Kell said
  - 28 Jun 2015
    7:41 pm
this is a great holiday activity … thank you for sharing

- - mom66977 said
  - 26 Jun 2015
    3:55 pm
will try this for sure

- - memo said
  - 12 Jun 2015
    10:21 pm
a lovely craft idea for the older kids
- kjgarner replied
  
  28 Jul 2015 , 1:32 pm
  With help my little girls will like it too
- - mom56842 said
  - 31 May 2015
    11:01 pm
Bought back memories, can recall doing something similar as a child.

- - Kasey said
  - 31 May 2015
    11:01 am
This craft looks fantastic, my kids would love this!
- mom94125 replied
  
  02 Oct 2015 , 7:58 am
  i agree. this is a lot of fun plus the kids can draw anything that they like
- - mle00 said
  - 29 May 2015
    3:32 pm
Do we know where we can find this type of plastic?

- - Mum of 5 darlings :) said
  - 13 May 2015
    11:39 pm
Such a great and cute idea. I will make some of these with my daughters. I’m sure that they will love them !!