Shrink plastic backpack zipper pulls

Remember Shrinky dinks?  Well, you can still buy them in craft stores.  If you buy the ones that are non-printed you can make your own personalized items.  It so easy and you can make all sorts of personalized zipper pulls for backpacks and more. 

You will need:

Frosted sheets of Shrink plastic (you can find it in the craft store or the office supply store) 

Colored pencils

Large rubber stamp (I used one that was 4 ½” x 4 ½”)

Rubber stamp inkpad

Scissors or decorative paper edgers

Large paper punch (Keep in mind that the hole will shrink too)

Brown paper bag

Toaster oven or home oven

Small ball chain key chain

Newspapers to protect your work surface

Waxed paper

Small paintbrush

Acrylic gloss finish

1.    Cover your work surface with newspaper.  Use the inkpad to apply ink to your rubber stamp.  Stamp onto the non-shiny side of the shrink it and press down.  Quickly remove and let dry for a few seconds. Cut out your design with scissors or decorative paper cutters.

2.    Use a paper punch to punch a hole in the top of your cut out design.

3.    Color individual parts of your design with colored pencils to accent if desired.

4.    Cut a rectangle of brown paper and place onto a cookie sheet.  You will bake your shrink-it on this paper.  Pre heat your oven or toaster oven to 325 degrees.

5.    Place in the pre-heated oven for 2-3 minutes.  Don’t fret if it curls.  When the shrinking is finished it will lay flat. Remove your shrink-it from the oven.  Use the bottom of a glass while it is still warm to press down on the design to flatten further if necessary.  Let cool.

6.    Cover the work surface with waxed paper.  Apply some gloss finish to the un-shiny side of the motif and let dry. 

7.    Insert a ball style key chin through the hole and attach to the backpack zipper. 

Note:  Adult supervision is required when baking.  You must use a home oven or toaster oven. A microwave will not work.  Shrink plastic will shrink to about 1/3 of its unbaked size and be the thickness of a nickel.