shrink plastic tutorial!

hi there! ok, i am here to do my shrink plastic tutorial! i have never done a tutorial before so be gentle! lol! :) i will try to get everything in and please feel free to post questions here and i will answer them! here we go!

first off, you need some supplies. you will need shrink plastic. it can be found at michaels, joanns, and other craft/art stores. it comes in clear, white, and black that i have seen. it may come in other colors too but those are the ones that i have used and seen. you will need the stamps that you want to use, and a solvent ink pad. i use my  pallette noir ink pad or my pallette burnt umber pad or you could use stazon. you will also need some sharpies if you plan to color in your images, some scissors or a punch, a hole punch, a heat tool and a heat resistant box to shrink them in.

 

next you are going to stamp your images on the polyshrink. keep your hand as still as possible as they can smudge. then go ahead and color in your images.

 

 

i use sharpies to color in my images. they come in a big selection of colors and can be found at target, or office supply stores. things to remember when you are coloring in your images: don't touch the sharpie to the ink. get close to it but don't touch it or it will smudge/run the ink. also, sharpie colors come out darker when you shrink them so make sure you remember that when picking colors for your image. here is what i did with my to go cup, i added a green circle and then a brown band to make it look like a starbucks cup.

next you are going to either cut out your image or punch out your image. either one works great depending on what you want to do. you can cut out your image like the to go cup for something smaller or you can punch out an image to make it like a little token or charm. think of all the fun possibilites with all of the cool punches that are out there! something to remember about this step: if you want to punch a hole in your plastic (to make it into a charm), do it now! you won't be able to do it once it is shrunk! also, remember that the hole shrinks too! here i punched the spider out with a marvy scallop square punch and punched a hole with a 1/8 hole punch.

now it is time to shrink!! i use a heat gun to shrink my shrink plastic. i know some people do it in a toaster but i was taught to do it this way so this is how i still do it. you can do it anywhere and it is fast so this is the way i recommend!! :) i use a small wooden (heat resistant) box to do it in because the shrink plastic flies around a little when you put the heat gun on it and i want to keep it in one place. all you do to shrink it is place your cut out or punched out plastic in the little box and heat it up with your heat gun. like i said, it does fly around a little so you just keep your heat gun on it and it will continue to shrink. it only takes 5-10 seconds to be done. you can see that it is done once it seems to stop shrinking. if you keep the gun on it too long, it can burn the plastic so don't do that! also, when you are done shrinking, it may not be completely flat, so right away take one of your wood mounted stamps and press the flat wood side against the shrink plastic to flatten it out. the shrink plastic will be very warm and pliable once you are done shrinking it. first off, be careful you don't burn yourself when you first touch it and if you do want to flatten it, make sure to do it right then or else it will cool and not be flat. 

and that is it! after you flatten them, and they cool off (which just takes a few seconds), they are ready to use! here are the finished products! i seriously love shrinking the little to go cup and then finding a muse people to hold it! :)

 

 

here is a card i made using the to go cup from the tutorial:

i masked the flowers out of the flower girl's hand and gave her some caffeinated goodness, lol! :) this is would be a great card to give someone a coffee gift card in too! i also paper pieced her dress using a scrap of palm notecard and the to go cup is attached to the card using a glue dot.

and here is a card i made a couple days ago when i was challenging myself to make caffeinated halloween cards! i shrunk down a muse's new skull and bones and punched it with a circle punch, and then added it to a normal size to go cup. and then of course i had to use the ms goo punch too for some dripping coffee! :) the to go cup and one layer of goo are also popped up on dimensionals.

well, i sure hope you enjoyed this shrink plastic tutorial and i hope it will encourage you to give this fun stuff a try! please feel free to post any questions here and i will answer them! also, feel free to link any creations you make using shrink plastic so i can see them!! i would love to see if you create something!! :)

thanks for visiting! :)

supplies: all stamps, ribbon and notecards from a muse, marvy punches, shrink plastic, pallette ink pads, sharpies, heat gun from su, martha stewart goo punch

Comments

[dawns]

Thank you so much for the tutorial and Welcome to the goo punch society!!! Can't believe you came up with a coffee themed card to make with your goo, no wait, yes I CAN believe it! Perfect!

[Lyndsay Neumann]

You have inspired me to use shrink plastic again! It's been ages. And I used to heat them in the oven ... *the oven* ... why didn't I think of a silly heat gun? Hahaha.

[Tinla]

Wow...Love all of your details and tips/hints, Jennie!!! Very informative and easy to follow! Excellent job:) TFS!! Tinla

[Jen]

The skull & bones to go cup is great!!! It's been ages since I used shrink plastic too. I wonder if I still have any hidden somewhere?

Thanks for the tutorial!!!

[Barn494]

Great tutorial!! We recently did shrinky-dinks at my daughters birthday and the girls loved it! The A Muse stamps are perfectly sized for this! http://craftybarngirl.blogspot.com/2008/08/birthday-party-crafts.html
Tracy

[rose]

Thanks so much for posting this so quickly, I can't wait to try it out. Your tutorial was easy follow!!!

[melissa]

Thanks for the tutorial....that Halloween caffeine card is too too cute---clever girl!

[melissa]

Thanks for the tutorial....that Halloween caffeine card is too too cute---clever girl!

[Geeta / CraftyEngineer]

Nice tutorial Jennie! Love the little halloween coffee card!

[Dana]

Great tutorial!! I love the skull & crossbones card -- that is FABULOUS!!

[Tobey Shepherd]

this is a great tutorial!! I love the to go cup shrunk down!!! I always forget to use my shrink plastic, you are making me want to pull it back out and start playing!!

[Lori Barnett]

How cool is that!! LOVE IT! :)

[Rhonda]

Wow Jennie!!! These cards rock and your tutorial is fabulous!!!! Thanks so much!!

[Jen]

Such a great tutorial! I've never done this before -I mean since I was maybe 6 ;)
I can't wait to try it out!!

[Pamela]

Thanks so much for the tutorial and I *love* your cards!

[Val]

Thanks for the tutorial : ) now I need to go find some shrinky plastic and play around.

[dbdesigns]

Awesome tutorial, Jennie! Very easy to follow and I love the tip about the wooden box. Your cards rock too!

[Sarah C. (WAstamper on SCS)]

Thanks Jennie! These are really great ideas, AND I never thought to use my heat gun for the shrink plastic. Sooo clever!

[Michelle H]

I tried this today - for some reason the shrink plastic I bought doesn't work with the heating tool but in the oven it worked great. They are so cute - I am addicted. Thank you for the great tutorial and a new idea to use.

[Michelle Mathey]

Good job on the tutorial - I've bought the stuff just haven't used it yet!