How to Make Acrylic Key Chains

source

Making acrylic key chains can be an easy and economical activity. This activity can be done to distract oneself or make something personalized. It is also a great activity to teach young kids when they are bored or have spare time. With this activity, one can get creative with the design of the key chain.  Note that this is one way to make this type of key chain. This how-to will teach you everything, like what you need, to have a better understanding and make your activity process easier. 

1. First: What You Need

There are a couple of items that you would need to complete this activity. 

• sharpies/permanent markers
• hole puncher
• key rings
• toaster oven
• toaster oven pan
• protective sheet for pan
• scissors
• tape
• printable/design 
• shrinky dink
• mittens or tongs
• optional: jump ring

source

2. Start to Copy Image Into Shrinky Dink

After you have chosen the image you want on your key chain you will print it out. Make sure the printable is large enough because the acrylic paper (shrinky dink) would shrink about five sizes down. Then, you would tape the shrinky dink below the printable and this way it would hold still will you are tracing over it. After you finished taping the two papers, grab all the colors you will need and start tracing the image. After you finish, make sure you let the ink dry for a while. 

Source

3. Cut the Shrink Dink and Hole Punch

Once you let the shrink dink dry for about 5 minutes, you would cut it into the desired shape. Most people cut it into circled or rectangular shapes, but it is all about preference. You can get creative with any other shape. Then you would hole punch the shrink dink where you want to attach the key ring. Make sure you don't punch a hole close to the edge of the paper because the paper might tear or might break the key chain when trying to attach the key ring. If in case the hole is not big enough to fit the key ring after it has been shrunk, there are also jump rings that are thinner that would fit in the hole. You would then attach the key ring. 

source

4. Place Shrinky Dink in Toaster Oven

After you have finished cutting and hole punching the shrinky dink, you will turn the toaster oven on. Make sure the toaster pan has a protective paper on top. Then using mittens or tongs, place the shrinky dink on the toaster's pan. Be careful not to burn yourself in this step. If you are doing this activity with children, do this step for them and make sure they do not touch the toaster. After seconds in the oven, you should see the paper shrink. Expect the paper to crumble together, then fall flat on the pan. Wait until the shrinky dink is flat and then using the tongs, carefully remove the paper from the oven toaster. 

source

source

5. Place Key Ring

After removing the shrink dink from the oven, carefully place the shrink dink on a flat surface and let it cool down. Do not let kids touch the shrinky dink until it is at a normal temperature. You would notice the difference of the paper. The paper gets thicker, the color of the design gets darker, and the design is smaller. After it is cool, you will place the key ring in. If you notice that the key ring does not fit because the hole is too small, like I said before, you an use a jump ring first and then you would insert the key ring on the jump ring. After this, the activity is complete and you can also add other accessories. You can place your craft with the rest of your keys and admire your creativity. 

source