Shrink Plastic Keychains #HMS2020

Hi, I'm Jaymee Micael. Here, I am going to show how to make shrink plastic keychains. Shrink plastic keychains are easy to make, but can sometimes be hard and complicated at first. But, by following these instructions and steps, you'll be able to make shrink plastic keychains easily.

You will need:

Shrink Plastic Sheets (There are different brands for shrink plastic. I recommended the brand Shrinky Dinks)

Permanent Markers or Sharpies

Hole Puncher

Scissors

Aluminum Foil or Parchment Paper (For when baking the plastic)

An Oven (Preferably a toaster oven, but a conventional oven will work just fine)

Templates to Trace (Optional, if you're free drawing your design)

Tape (Optional, to help make it easier when tracing)

Pliers (To open jump rings; I'm using round tipped pliers)

Jump Rings

Chain Connectors or Ball Chain Connectors (To make it a keychain)

The first step is drawing your design. Use the permanent markers to trace an image, or draw your own, onto your shrink plastic sheet (I'm making Van from BT21). You can also use tape to temporarily attach the plastic onto your template, to make it easier to trace. The drawing should not be very small, because it will shrink to about one-third of the actual size of the actual drawing, so make sure to draw it bigger than how you expect your keychain size to be. Also, once your keychain has shrunk in the oven, the color usually tends to be darker than the actual color. So, make sure to not use super dark colors and use brighter colors, if you want your keychain to be lighter/brighter.

Once you finish drawing/tracing your design, you need to cut them out. Use scissors to cut your design out, carefully. Be careful when cutting the plastic, because the plastic can be sharp, and take your time when cutting, because the plastic can get cut through easily. When cutting your design out, you can either cut it right on the lines or leave a border around your design. And also, save a little space somewhere in your design, or just punch a hole somewhere in your design using your hole puncher. Now it's ready to go in the oven.

Now it's time to bake the plastic. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your plastic on a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Then place the parchment paper or aluminum foil in a baking tray or pan. Place the parchment or aluminum sheet with your plastic into the oven. Bake it for about 1-3 minutes and/or until your design has stopped shrinking or curling, and is flattened out. After it is completely flat, let it bake for an additional 30 seconds. Then, you can take out your plastic from the oven, and be careful not to burn yourself. If your plastic did not completely flatten out, take it out of the oven, use a flat surface or a pad of paper to flatten the plastic out. You will notice that the plastic is now thicker than before. Then, let it completely cool down.

Once your plastic is completely cooled down, you can now attach a key ring or chain connector onto your plastic. Use the hole that you hole-punched onto your key chain to attach your jump ring. Use your pliers to open up the jump ring and attach it through the hole on the plastic. After that, don't close up the jump ring yet. Attach your chain connector or key ring onto your jump ring, and then close the jump ring. If you are using a ball chain connector, like how I am, close the jump ring and then attach the ball chain connector, and then close the connector. Now that you have attached your key ring, your key chain is completed.

Now you have your shrink plastic keychain. Making these are pretty simple but can be challenging at first. When I started making these, I used to always end up cutting through the plastic with scissors, eventually messing up the design. So, I learned that to try not to cut too deep into the plastic and to not make sharp turns while cutting. Also, I used to sometimes punch the hole way too close to the edge of the plastic, which after the plastic shrank after baking, the edge would eventually break because the hole was to close to the edge. So, I learned that when punching a hole, to not punch it so close to an edge and not too far away from an edge, or else it would be hard to connect the key ring. And so, this is how you make shrink plastic keychains.