Bracelet – Stamped Shrink Plastic

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This jewelry making tutorial shows you how to make your own DIY bracelet using shrink plastic and rubber stamps.

 

Stamp (with permanent ink) or draw (with a permanent marker) your images to become the shapes on your bracelet (Bear in mind how much the plastic will shrink. The packaging will tell you how much but it is always a good idea to test a piece first). Then colour them in with colouring pencils or permanent markers. The colours will become deeper and brighter when shrunk. I have used frosted shrink plastic but it doesn’t matter which type you use. If you are using frosted then stamp or colour the rough side (unless you are writing words or letters; in this case stamp them on the shiny side with permanent ink (stazon, for example) and colour in the opposite side).

 

 

Cut out your shapes from shrink plastic. Leave a gap around the edge of the shape and leave enough space at the left and right of the shape to punch the holes needed to put the jump rings through.

 

 

 

Use a normal sized hole punch to create the holes for the jump rings to go through. You will need two holes in each shape at opposite sides. You will not be able to make holes in the shrink plastic at the end so make sure you make them now. 

 

 

Shrink your shapes. You can either use an oven or a heat gun but check the instructions on your pack of shrink plastic.

 

 

 

Attach jump rings to all the shapes and link them together. To join two shapes, place them right sides together, line up the hole for the left side of one and the right of the other and put a jump ring through. When you put them flat they will be linked together. Do this for all the shapes until you have a line of them. 

 

 

Next measure your wrist (or whoever you are making the bracelet for) with a tape measure. Once you know how big your wrist is (mine is 15cm, but don’t use this as a guide as I have very small wrists) then measure your line of shapes (mine came to 4cm) and take this away from how big your wrist is (11cm) and this will be how much chain you will need. Half this number (5.5cm) and cut two pieces of chain this length. 

 

 

 

Attach your line of shapes to the two chain pieces using another two jump rings. 

 

 

 

Use jump rings to attach a clasp to join the two ends of chain together. Your bracelet is now complete!