DIY Shrink Film Charms

Remember shrinky dinks?  Those fun bits of plastic you drew on and then baked into miniature bits?  I (and my mom) did my entire 4th grade mission model in shrinky dink diorama. @_@

Anyway, did you know that they make printable shrinky film now? I had no idea until recently. Imagine the possibilities!

I found a pack of white printable shrink film at Dick Blick.  Time to go to town.

I started with Link and some chickens (a button idea I never had time to finish before Fanime). You print just as you normally would, only set the image color saturation to 50%.  Since the film shrinks, all the colors get intensified, so you want to start with less color!

Cut the charms out carefully.  Since it's plastic, I couldn't cut this in the machine, but instead by hand. It can be a little tricky if you have a lot of small corners!

Next, baking time! I put the film face up on a piece of cardboard, and covered it with a sheet of vellum paper. Baked at 300 degrees F until I saw all the pieces curl up and shrink. (Package said 3-5 minutes.)

Shrunk!

See how Links face got all pink?  Too much saturation!

Anyway, they make some pretty fun charms!  You'll want to coat them with something though, so the ink doesn't come off. I used polyurethane at first, but it started to turn the charms yellowish.  The newer ones use clear nail polish.  We'll see how that works in the long run!

Maou-sama, from Hataraku Maou-Sama!

In his MgRonald's garb, of course.

I put Link and chickens on a dollar store phone stylus for my sister.  I sent Maou-sama to Cousin T. I love how the plastic gets pretty thick when it shrinks. Nice and sturdy!

But why stop at just charms? Penga-Sis came over so we made earrings too! Dragonballs for me and Rainbow Dash cutie marks for her.

They shrink a lot! By 1/3 or 1/4 I guess?

We used some tacky glue to attach some posts.

Sak thinks the dragonballs look too much like buttons though :{

I love the cutie mark earrings though! They are pretty cool.

Anyway, I see loads of potential with this fancy printable plastic. Definitely will be prepared with some otaku ear gear at the next con, anyway!