Tutorial – Easter Bunny Shrink Plastic

I had been playing around with Adobe Illustrator a few months ago and one of the shapes I created was this cute little bunny rabbit. I was just going to give away the PDF shape as a pattern for embroidery or applique but then got the idea for a shrink plastic project!  I love shrink plastic, you can create such amazing things and using the bunny template you can make a magnet or necklace!
Shrink plastic comes in standard non-printable, which you can draw on with permanent markers or stamp with permanent ink, or inkjet printable that you can use in your inkjet printer to print the pattern directly!
You will need:
-My Bunny PDF Free Pattern

- EITHER A sheet of white PRINTABLE shrink plastic OR white NON-PRINTABLE shrink plastic
-Inkjet printer or permanent markers or ink pads
-Scissors
-Heat gun (or you can use your oven)
-Plate or other heatproof surface
-Strong glue, E6000 or a 2 part epoxy resin glue like Devcon
-Stick on magnets or chain and findings
1.Transfer the bunny pattern to your shrink plastic. For Non-Printable, print onto plain paper and pin to your shrink plastic using paper clips. For Printable, open the PDF bunny pattern and print onto the shrink plastic, selecting glossy paper or acetate. Whichever method you use, make sure the ink is dry before continuing.
2.Cut out both the bunny and tail

3.If you are planning on making a necklace, you will need to use a standard paper hole punch to create two holes near the bunnies neck (be careful to go too near the edge).

4.I’m using a heat gun to shrink my plastic, if you want to use your domestic oven, follow the shrink plastic manufacturers instructions. Place your bunny onto a plate and turn on your heat gun, moving the air flow across the surface of the plastic. The shape will move and curl as it shrinks, but don’t worry, it will flatten out! Stop once the plastic stops moving and shrinking

5.Now shrink the tail in the same way.
6.Glue the tail onto the bunny.

7.If you want to make a magnet, glue the magnet to the back of the bunny. To make a necklace, use two 5mm jump rings to attach to a necklace chain.

***You can also use colouring pencils to add a pink tail to your bunny! Depending on your brand of shrink plastic you may need to use fine sandpaper to roughen the surface before colouring***