Shrinkable Plastic Zipper Pull Charms

If you had spoken to me two weeks ago, you would have noticed that I could not contain my excitement about school starting for the girls. Summer had been just a week or two too long and I think all three of us were about to lose our minds. A series of unfortunate events didn’t help the situation; a flat tire, the a/c going out and the laptop being knocked over by the dog and the screen cracking. So the first day of school was like Christmas morning for me. Making lunches was akin to opening presents, you get the picture. Suddenly I could listen to the music that I wanted…no more Disney Channel. And amazingly enough, if I cleaned the coffee table, it stayed clean when I looked at it an hour later! But it’s been a week since they’ve been back at school and I think I’m a little lonely. Sure, I have the dogs and the cat, and the little person kicking my belly from the inside. But I don’t have anyone to make treats with or to snuggle in front of a movie with. Sure Henri the goldendoodle is snuggly, but he’s a little stinky today.

Since I’m missing the girls today, I figured I’d make them a little something to remind them that I love them when they are at school. Being girls, they love all kinds of charms, tassels and dangly things. Using a variety of sharpies and shrinkable plastic sheets I created these little motivational saying charms to put on the zippers of their lunch bags. Super easy and they came out adorable.

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Supplies:

• Shrinkable plastic sheets
• Permanent marker pens (Sharpies in fine, medium and/or brush)
• Hole punch
• Scissors
• Aluminum foil, baking sheet
• Foam brush
• Triple Thick Glaze or Liquid Glass
• Small split rings

Draw out your design on a scratch paper with a pencil, then go over it with a pen to make sure it looks right. Trace your design on to the shrinkable plastic sheet using the permanent pen. When using the brush pen I had to go over my upstrokes with the pen again, since the ink showed up lighter than on the downstrokes. If you don’t the lighter ink marking will still be visible when it shrinks.

Punch a hole at the top with a 1/4 inch circle hole punch, then cut out around your design. For my sayings, I used a small star punch to add stars in the white space.

For the pineapples, I sketched the design on to paper and traced with the fine pen. Then I carefully used colored pens to color in the spaces. You don’t want to color on the black lines too much because they will wipe off with the pen stroke. I used magenta for one girl and made a blue pineapple for the other, since we both love blue pineapples.

Preheat the oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the designs ink side up on to the foil and put in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Be sure to check on the charms after 2 minutes. The plastic will curl up and then flatten itself out. Don’t be alarmed if you look and the plastic is folded over on itself. It happened to me and it did flatten itself out. Remove from oven when flat and let cool.

The ink will scratch off over time if you don’t seal it. I believe most clear varnishes and sealants will work. I used DecoArt Triple Thick Glaze with a foam brush for the sayings and just painted a thin coat on.

For the pineapples, I wanted a more dimensional look, so I applied DecoArt Liquid Glass to the top, taking care to avoid any bubbles and not getting the Liquid Glass into the hole at the top. The Liquid Glass will appear white and a little uneven when you first apply it, but it will smooth itself out and will turn into a clear gloss when dry.

Attach the split rings through the holes to the charms, then to the zipper pull or wherever. The split rings should be sturdy enough if the kiddo uses the charm instead of the zipper pull to open up the bag.