Shrink Plastic Easter Charms

For my Easter Journal, I wanted something special that would match the printables perfectly, so I decided to try my hand at shrink plastic embellishments and charms.

Shrink plastic is one of those fun products that many of us have in our stash, but often feel a little unsure about using. Once you try it, though, it quickly becomes a favourite way to create custom embellishments.

Easter Shrink Plastic Embellishments

In this project, you’ll see how printable shrink plastic can be used to create custom Easter charms and embellishments that perfectly match your project.

• Technique
• Shrinking the plastic
• Finishing the embellishments
• Products used
• Tools used

Technique

I used Silhouette printable shrink plastic in both white and translucent finishes.

The white plastic creates solid embellishments, while the translucent plastic creates a softer look where the image can be seen from both sides.

For this project, I preferred the translucent version.

I printed my Easter FREEBIE elements as a print-and-cut file using Silhouette Design Studio.

If you don’t have a cutting machine, you can simply print and cut the elements by hand.

Once cut, decide which elements you want to use as charms and which will be used as flat embellishments.

For the charms, punch a hole before shrinking. Keep in mind that the hole will shrink as well, so a standard hole punch works best.

Shrink plastic reduces to about a third of its original size, which makes the final pieces beautifully detailed.

Shrinking the plastic

Now comes the most intimidating part, shrinking!

I prefer to use a heat tool for this process. I work inside a wooden box lined with a Teflon craft sheet to help contain the heat and work on the charms one by one.

⚠️ The heat tool gets very hot, so take care not to touch the heated plastic and keep your fingers clear.

I use an awl to hold the pieces in place while heating. This works especially well for charms, as the awl can be placed through the punched hole.

As the plastic heats, it will curl and fold, this is scary, but completely normal.

Keep heating, and it will flatten out again once the shrinking is complete.

To finish, I press the piece flat with an acrylic block while it is still warm.

Finishing the embellishments

The finished pieces can be used in different ways.

I created a charm cluster by attaching charms and glass beads to a jewellery chain using wire and jump rings. This was attached to my journal with a bulb clip.

Some of the pieces were also used as embellishments on the front of my journal.

This is such a fun way to create custom embellishments that match your project perfectly, and you are only limited by your imagination!

Products used

• Digital Downloads – Easter Collection FREEBIE
• Printable Shrink Plastic (Silhouette)
• Beads
• Jump rings
• Jewellery wire
• Jewellery chain
• Bulb pin

Tools used

• Printer
• Silhouette Cameo (optional)
• Scissors
• Heat Tool
• Non-stick Teflon Craft sheet
• Wooden box
• Awl
• Hole punch
• Acrylic block

If you enjoy creating custom embellishments for your projects, you may also enjoy exploring more memory keeping ideas in the Make in Wonder Library: