I found some shrink plastic at the dollar store the other day and with pins being fairly popular now it’s seemed like a fun way to create.  I kept my designs pretty basic, but a good artist could have a lot of fun with this.  Even kids can make designs, as long as parents handle the baking and glue.

What you need for this project:

• Shrink Plastic
• Permanent Markers or Pencil Crayons
• Modgepodge Dimensional
• Pin Backs
• Superglue

It all starts with a design and since I tend to make mistakes when drawing, I like to draw my designs out on paper first.  Once I have what I want I outline the pictures with black marker so it’s easy to see.  For a pin or charm, keep your designs around 2 to 3 inches in size.  Then place the plastic sheet on top of the drawing to trace.  Colour it in first, then finish with a black outline.  I used Sharpie permanent markers to colour mine but I have heard coloured pencils also work. A couple things to note, go with permanent marker, anything washable will smudge off the plastic, any colour you add will look darker once it’s shrunk. Finally, if you’d rather make a charm you can use a hole punch before it goes in the oven to create a hole for a jump ring. 

Preheat oven to 340 degrees, cut out your drawings and place them on a baking sheet, leave a lot of space between them on the wax paper.  I don’t have a specific amount of baking time, I recommend watching through the oven window. If they come out of the oven too soon they will stayed curled. The pieces should be in long enough to curl up and then eventually flatten out again, once that happens, leave for another 10 seconds and then remove.  If they are still a bit curled you can pat them down with an oven mitt or pan.

After they’ve cooled, add a layer of Modgepodge dimensional to give a more glossy and lifted look and also protect the color.

From here all thats left is to glue on the pin back and wear!