Colorful Feather Jewelry

Hi there, Crafters! 

Today I have a double feature for you; fun and funky earrings and a matching pendant. This project was actually inspired by Bethany over at our Enchanted Lakes location. After she introduced me to the awesomeness that is shrinky dinks, I just couldn't resist using this new medium to go back to my  jewelry making roots, and make some colorful new pieces. 

This was an amazingly simple project, only requiring four steps. 

Step 1 is to outline and color your chosen design on the matte shrinky dink film and cut them out. Here's what they looked like once they'd been colored:

Step 2 is the fun part; shrinking them! You can use a heat tool or a toaster oven to do this. It's so cool watching them curl and shrink! Check out the difference in size in this picture where there's one of each design pre and post shrinking:

For step 3 they all get coated in UV resin and hardened to make them super durable.

The 4th and final step is to add detailing such as beads, wire wrapping and the findings that turned these adorable feathers in to wearable art. How adorable are these!? 

I had so much fun making these, hopefully you will too!

-Chelsea @ Mapunapuna