Shrink Plastic Craft Artwork Necklace

From Sherri Osborn, former About.com Guide

This homemade shrink plastic charm is a fun and unique way to show off and display your child's artwork. These make great mementos and also fun gifts. Of course, you don't have to use this shrink plastic charm in a necklace, you can make it into a key chain or anything else you like. You can also make these charms, minus the hole, into magnets or pins. This is a fun way to be able to show off your child's artwork without running out of refrigerator room.

• Age Guideline: 3 Years and Up
• Time Required: 30 minutes (Does not include drying time)

The above age and time guidelines are estimates. This project can be modified to suit other ages and may take more or less time depending on your circumstances.

Materials Needed:

• Shrink Plastic Made for Ink Jet Printers
• Computer and Printer
• Jump Ring (compare prices)
• Ball Chain Necklace (compare prices)
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Scissors

Instructions:

Read through my directions here, but also make sure you read through the directions that came with the ink jet printer plastic you bought.

Start off by scanning the artwork you have. Size it so it is about twice as big as you want your finished charm to be. Remember, your plastic will shrink by about 50% to 60%. Print out the artwork onto the shrink plastic. You might also want to write the child's name and the date on it somewhere. Let it sit until the ink is dry, and then cut it out. Make sure you also cut out a hole for the jump ring to fit into (your hole should also be about twice as big as you want it).

I preheated my oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or use a piece cut from a paper bag. Place your artwork on the covered cookie sheet and place it in the oven for between 2 and 3 minutes.

Watch your artwork charm as it shrinks. It will start out by curling up, and, as it shrinks, it will flatten out again. You should be able to tell by watching it when it is done shrinking.

Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool. Your shrink plastic charm will be cool in a matter of minutes and ready to finish.

To finish your necklace, use a needle nose pliers to put a jump ring through the hole. Put the ball chain through the hole and your necklace is complete.