DIY Shrink Plastic Accessories: Use for Super Bowl LI or Valentine's!

'Ello everyone!

This month is all about the Super Bowl & Valentine's Day!  I wanted to make some fun, cute & easy accessories using themes inspired by both concepts.  One with pennants can be used as name tags or food decor and another inspired by the yummy candies that come with Valentine's (chocolates, sweethearts, more chocolates...).

Even though these accessories are geared toward February events, you can apply this to anything!  Halloween, Christmas, birthdays or celebrations in general!  The best part is that these are really about making a statement piece perfect for any #OOTD post without having to buy the designer brand accessories at designer brand prices.

YOU WILL NEED:

+ Fine point Sharpies, any color
+ paint markers (optional)

+ eBrush Kit

+ Sharpie Marker Adapter

+ Cut'n'Boss
+ pennant shaped cutting die, at least 4" in length (Super Bowl LI)

+ heart shaped cutting die, at least 4" in width (Valentine's Day)

+ white or frosted shrink plastic film
+ 200~400 grit sandpaper
+ embossing heat gun or pre-heated oven
+ clear varnish or clear acrylic sealer
+ hole punch, for keychains & charms
+ jump rings, for keychains & charms
+ pin backs, for brooches
+ super glue or E6000, for brooches

PROCESS:

1.  Prep your stuff!

I know, it's a weird step, but this way you can move through all
the proceeding steps with ease!

Sand your shrink film on only ONE side with your sandpaper and have a setup for your eBrush.

Make sure the area you are working in has paper put down & there is good ventilation; airbrushing & sanding projects need ventilation!

2.  Use your Cut'n'Boss to cut the out the heart shapes from the shrink plastic film to make as many
accessories as you would like!  The platform combination to use is the same as the one in the manual (top to bottom):

Platform A
Platform B
Platform A
Shrink Film
Heart Cutting Die/Pennant Cutting Die
Platform D

The cutting die has to be at least 4" wide in order for the accessories to turn out just under 2".  Any smaller, the details may be too difficult to read from a distance.

3A.  Color & decorate your hearts on the SMOOTH side of the die cuts!

I chose to use the pastel colors from Sharpie's many assorted colors.  The trick is to make the colors 50% lighter than what comes out.  If you have used shrink film before, then you'll recall that the plastic shrinks along with the color intensifying..!

To prevent a pastel pink from turning red or a green from turning dark green, I used one color Sharpie at a time to spray from a distance of about 6" or more from the surface & get an even mist on however many hearts/pennants I want.  Let the pieces dry.

3B.  Now if you're doing conversation hearts for Valentine's, you can use the red Sharpie to write your personal saying or a classic conversation heart saying.  My favorite is "FAX ME".  For the Super Bowl LI charms, you can personalize drink tags with people's name in the style of old university sports' teams.

For the conversation hearts, I also took a Sharpie color a shade darker than the heart to make an outline.  Let dry again.


4.  Now you can choose whether or not to make these hearts a charm or a pin.

To make a keychain or charm, grab your hole punch & strategically punch a hole into the heart.  To make a pin, just skip to the next step.  (:

5.  The fun part: it's time to shrink the hearts!  Use your oven or a heat gun as per instruction.

If you're using a heat gun like me, then even distribution of heat is key!  I quickly press down on the finished piece to make sure it will cool flat.


6.  Use your bottle of varnish to make a nice protective coat over your work.  You can do both sides, but just the front is fine.  Let dry for a few hours or overnight.

7.  Attach your pieces to jump rings or use super glue to attach the pin back to the piece.

TADA!  Your very own unique & handmade accessories, perfect to impress your party, significant other or just to impress yourself!  (:  Here is an example of using paint markers & clear shrink film:

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!  Have a fun February~

-Judith