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Following along with my tradition of taking gifts to everyone on Disney movie events, I created some mini comic book cover necklaces for the #AntManandtheWaspEvent. I also stepped into a new medium and tried shrink plastic for the first time. I think I’m hooked! (You can see my past gifts here!)
How To Make Shrink Plastic Jewelry
I grew up in the era of Shrinky Dinks, and today they are one of the makers of printable shrink plastic. I did a ton of research and ended up going with Graphix shrink plastic based on their reviews.
Shrink Plastic Jewelry Supplies
- Printable Shrink Plastic
- Cutting Mat
- Craft Knife
- Metal Ruler
- Drill with 1/16th Bit
- Clear Embossing Powder
- Jump Rings and Jewelry Pliers
Pick out the comic book cover you want to use for your jewelry. (Mama’s Geeky helped me pick out this classic Avengers cover featuring Ant-Man and the Wasp.) Use a photo editing program to increase the cover’s brightness by 50%. Print the brightened cover out three times larger than you want your final pendant to be. Use a craft knife and a metal ruler to cut out your covers on a safe cutting surface like a cutting mat. You can opt to use scissors, but it will be more difficult to get perfectly straight lines.
Bake your shrink plastic covers on a parchment covered cookie sheet according to package directions. Placing another piece of parchment over the covers can help keep the plastic from curling onto itself if you find that to be an issue.
Carefully remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly flatten the shrink plastic overs with a hard, flat object like a cookbook.
If things don’t get perfectly flat, place the cookie sheet back in the oven for a few seconds and try to flatten the covers again. If you notice the plastic is slightly bubbled in the middle that just means it needs a little more time in the oven. It’s almost impossible to over-bake things as long as you keep the oven’s temperature at 350 degrees or less.
To give you shrink plastic comic book covers a glossy, protective finish, sprinkle them all with a generous coating of clear embossing powder and place them back in the over.
When using embossing powder to coat the tops of your comic book charms, some might melt onto the back. You can leave things as is, or if you find it bothersome you can sand it off. Use a craft knife to trim off any excess melted embossing powder along the sides of the comic book cover.
Drill a small hole into the pendant with a 1/16 inch drill bit. Add a jump ring and chain, then your comic book cover charm is ready to wear.
Want to save this shrink plastic jewelry for later? Click on the photo below to save to Pinterest!
