Art Fun Cheap

I forgot to mention in my last post on shrink plastic that the holes you punch will shrink, too. So a 1/4-inch hole should end up being about 1/8-inch in diameter after shrinking.

For shrink plastic pieces that are to be used in making jewelry, artists generally use a 1/8-inch punch, which results in a 1/16-inch hole. That’s perfect for most jump rings.

Notice, though, that the distance from the edge of the piece will also shrink proportionately. Be sure to punch any holes far enough from the edge to allow for wide enough margin after shrinking. The plastic is fairly strong, but it can break or tear on under stress if the margin between the hole and the edge is too narrow.

When shrinking plastic cups or other industrial (not artist-grade) shrink plastic, you may need to experiment to get holes that are the size and shape you want. As I mentioned in my last post, the plastic from the cups, especially, shrinks drastically in one direction but hardly at all in the other.

You may need to improvise. For example, you may have to punch long, narrow, lengthwise holes before shrinking in order to end up with more or less round holes after shrinking.

The same principles apply to assemblage, though you may want bigger holes.

Luckily hole punches are made in all kinds of sizes and shapes nowadays. We’ll talk more about those another time.

Art Fun, art fun cheap, assemblage, hole punch, holes shrink, jump rings, making jewelry, mixed media, punching holes, shrink plastic

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