Occasionally I’ll use Shrink-Its to make greeting card embellishments.  You can also use them to make buttons, jewelry, and other creative plastic items.  They’re about $3-$4 for a pack of 6 sheets, which isn’t too much for how many items you can make.

Instructions

Supplies: Shrink-Its (I’m using clear, but they also sell opaque), a pan for the oven, fine-grit sandpaper, circle hole punch, stamps, scissors, colored pencils, craft chalks, StazOn stamping ink.

1.  Sand one side of a Shrink-It plastic sheet.  Sand in many directions (or a circular pattern) to avoid being able to distinctly see sanding marks.  Sanding provides a rough surface for your chalks & colored pencils to adhere to.

2.  Turn your sheet over to the smooth side.  Use your StazOn ink (or any other permanent ink; not pigment or dye inks) to stamp your images.

3.  Use scissors to cut out your images.  You can also use large craft punches.

4.  Use a hole punch or craft punch to punch a hole in the plastic sheet.  You’ll be using this hole to attach the finished embellishment to your greeting card.  I turned my punch upside down so I could see more clearly where I’m punching.

5.  Use colored pencils to color in your image on the sanded side of your plastic sheet.  Keep in mind that all your colors will intensify when the plastic shrinks.

6.  Use your chalk applicator to rub chalk on the entire sanded side of the plastic.  Chalks give a more subtle coloring than colored pencils or markers do.  If you want to keep your embellishment clear, skip using chalks on the background.

7.  Bake your Shrink-Its.  The instructions on my product say to preheat the oven or toaster oven to 250 degrees; place the plastic on parchment baking paper placed on a cookie sheet or heavy chipboard without a finish; it takes approx 3-5 minutes for plastic to lie flat and become as thick as a nickel.

My shrink-Its took 3 minutes.  I placed my plastic directly on a pie pan without parchment paper.  I’m assuming the parchment paper is to help avoid any baking residue from getting on your plastic.  I just keep my plastic nice-side up, so if the bottom gets a little glossy it doesn’t matter.

*I’ve also used my heat tool to shrink the plastic.  I place the plastic on the pie pan and use a chopstick to hold it from moving.  Move the heat tool back and forth as it shrinks.  This shrinking process takes about a minute.  The only problem is that sometimes the plastic doesn’t lie flat (probably because it’s being heated inconsistently).  But if you don’t mind a somewhat wavy embellishment, give it a try!

8.  Here’s the finished embellishment, with a ribbon to attach it to a card.