Making jewelry pendants with shrink plastic

Of late there has been a real resurgence of the use of shrink plastic in the design of jewellery.  Shrink plastic, sold under several brand names, was once seen as a crafting medium for small children. Now this versatile medium is being used by those of us interested in making jewellery to add a new dimension and depth to our designs.

To use the shrink plastic, just draw an image on to the plastic sheet, cut out your shape and bake in an oven or use a heat gun to shrink. 

On this project we have taken an image and manipulated it in a graphics package to get the desired effect. We have then printed the image via our computer printer directly onto the shrink plastic. (It should be noted here that if you choose to do this we recommend using an old printer or a printer which is not particularly valuable as damage to the printer could occur if the plastic gets stuck in the machine.)

Our image is cut into a plain pendant shape and hole in punched into the plastic before baking in an oven.

We have then decorated the pendant with some co-ordinating beads and used a sliding knot and linen cord.

Note.

Please follow the manufacturer’s instructions and guidance which come with your shrink plastic.