Country Living Shrinky Dinks Jewelry

I’ve been beyond excited about the new March issue of Country Living magazine coming out this week! I, along with three other DIY bloggers, was asked to share a craft project with their readers. (Uhhm, twist my arm!)  If you are a new visitor of JSIM, Welcome!They favored a past Shrinky Dinks project I posted on my blog so I created a special craft just for the March issue and included free digital images for you to download from the Country Living website.The images are modified scans of vintage flea market ephemera I’ve collected, most of which I’ve shared with you on my blog. Once the images are downloaded , (don’t worry that they look faded, they will burst with color once baked), print to 8 x 10″ Shrinky Dinks sheets made specifically for ink jet printers. Before printing, however, you can personalize some of the images digitally or by hand.

Trim out the individual pieces.

If creating a linking bracelet, punch two holes- one on each side of the images you want to link. I use a 1/8″ punch. It might be a good idea to make a few more than you think you will need for a bracelet so you can adjust the length of the bracelet if needed. If you are making charms to hang from a necklace chain, punch one hole each in either the top or side of the images. Bake as directed to shrink the images. I only bake two at a time because there’s a chance that if you have too many in your oven at once they may curl into one another and stick while baking. It’s fun to watch them distort while baking only to lay completely flat when done.Once cooled, spray the charms with a clear acrylic to keep any ink from bleeding. Link the charms together with jump rings to make a bracelet. Finish with a toggle or clasp.If making a necklace, lay out your charms in the order you want them to hang from the chain, then begin adding charms with jump rings working from the center out towards the ends of the chain.Finish the necklace with a toggle or clasp set.
I personalized some of the charms on my necklace. An enveloped addressed to my sister Jennifer, because she’s always been so thoughtful to send me letters to me. An ID card. (Not my real address.)A personal calling card.A little name label for me and Mr. Wonderful.