Shrink plastic charms: a success story

I put the call out to my friends for Number 6 shrink plastic. This is found mostly in bakery and takeout salad containers, but not in fruit containers, which turn out to be Number 1 clear plastic, as I learned when I tried to make a few charms last week. One of my friends answered that call and gave me some plastic this weekend.

The first thing I did was cut out the centers. This piece is about 6 1/2 square inches. After cutting the pieces (and taking this photo), I carefully washed and dried them, since any fingerprints or smudges are magnified when the plastic is shrunk.
In the next step, I colored one piece with an orange Sharpie. Don't worry if it isn't perfect, as long as it's covered, it will be fine when it shrinks.
The next thing was to cut the plastic. Since I still had my friend Kat's pumpkin Sizzex die, I decided to put it to good use.
After the plastic is shrunk, it is about 1/4 the size of the original, as you can see by the comparison.

Just had to share, since my last shrink plastic adventure was such a disaster. One thing to note: the plastic shrunk and reacted differently depending on which hole I put the bamboo skewer in to hold the plastic from blowing around during shrinking. The pumpkins I held by their mouth hole have very unique faces.