Shrink Plastic Earrings

 


Who can forget Shrinky Dinks?  As a tween, I used to make all sorts of jewelry and keychains.  Well, now shrink plastic is back!  Here's some tips and tricks for you to relive your past and make some adorable earrings using the Beary Christmas stamp set.





Here's a tip so you will know exactly the size of your shrunken image.  Take a one inch wide by 8 inch long strip of shrink plastic and use an alcohol marker (or Sharpie) and make your own ruler.  Then SHRINK that ruler.   You can now compare the actual measurement of a stamped image to see what it will look like when it's shrunken. 

Stamp your image with Stazon ink.  You will use alcohol markers to color in the image. 

Three important tips to remember: 

1-The colors you choose will be more intense when shrunken, so choose lighter colors than you think you'd want.

2-Do NOT color over the Stazon ink lines.  Alcohol markers will smear the Stazon. 

3-I found it best to dab my alcohol marker around the stamped lines.  The surface of the shrink plastic is slick so dabbing or dotting the image with color seems to work best.  If you use the clear shrink plastic, you can color on the back of your image to avoid any ink smearing.  For the earrings, I used white shrink plastic.  I found that dabbing on the color made the bear look like he has fur.



Now, cut and shrink your bear using a heat gun (the same kind you may use for embossing powder).  DO NOT forget to punch holes for earring attachments.  I found it best to hold the shrink plastic with a stylus so it does not blow around.  Heat until flat and fully shrunken. The shrink plastic shrivels as it shrinks, but don't worry!  As it reaches the final stages of shrinking, it flattens back out.  If there are slight curls, you can press down on it with a heavy object (I use the back of a wood mounted stamp) for a few seconds while it is still warm.

Wouldn't these make great gifts?  Imagine the possibilities of all the stamps you own (or head on over and order that Beary Christmas set!)

Follow me on Instagram @katedeignancards and don't forget to tag Pawsome Stamps @pawsomestamps for Feature Friday.


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