Making a Shrinky Dink Charm Bracelet

This is a fun craft to do using Shrinky Dink material, or any shrinked plastic that you can bake. You can make a charm bracelet with many different types of images, whatever appeals to you. The fun of a charm bracelet is selecting images that focus on someone's hobbies and interests. A friend of mine made a Shrinky Dink charm bracelet using tarot card images for a friend of hers that loved the tarot. It was the perfect gift for someone that loved jewelry and also loved the tarot.

For this craft you will need:

Shrinky Dink plastic or other shrinkable plastic sheets

An idea of what images you want to put on them

A blank charm bracelet

Links to attach the Shrinky Dink charms to the bracelet

Jewelry pliers

A hole punch

Clear nail polish

Begin by focusing on the images you want for the Shrinky Dink charms. Remember that of course, the images are really going to shrink in size. You may lose some of the details when the images shrink. Some Shrinky Dink plastic you can print out from your computer, so you can scan in images (like photos) and then create a cool looking charm bracelet from those. So select your images first and get them ready, and print them on the Shrink Dink plastic.

You can also draw on the Shrinky Dink plastic if you'd prefer to do this. A great option is using markers (follow the package directions). Sketch out your ideas so you have a strong idea of what you want.

Once you have printed or drawn your images on Shrinky Dink plastic, cut them out and also punch a hole in each of them. Depending on how large or small your image is, the hole may need to be larger or smaller (I know how helpful that sounds). Just keep in mind that for best results you may be doing this twice because of the hole size. It is very hard to get a hole in the shrinked plastic once it has been shrinked.

Bake the plastic following the directions. Allow it to cool. See what your charms look like. Do you like them? If so, then complete making the bracelet. If not, then you need to adjust the image (make it smaller or larger) or perhaps adjust the hole size (make it larger or smaller). Once you have done a charm bracelet or two, you get used to the process and it becomes much easier.

If you are pleased with the results, paint the front and back of the charms with clear nail polish. This will make them just a bit shinier. Let them dry fully before you paint the other side.

Then put the links on the charm bracelet. Remember you want them evenly spaced, as best as you can do. Lie the bracelet out in front of you and set the charms up in the order you would like to put them in. See what they look like. You may want to sort some of the charms around.

Put each charm on a link and then add it to the bracelet. Do this until you have completed the entire bracelet. This part of the process tends to go fairly quickly, the most challenging part is making sure that the spacing is even.

The next part? Making another charm bracelet!