Make your own adorable lapel pins in sweet shapes using shrinky dinks! Totally fun and totally customizable. This post contains affiliate links when possible and was previously shared at Darice.
A little while back I shared some fun DIY emoji pins that were a lot of fun to make, and today I have another DIY pin project to share – a sweet shoppe version! Because everyone could use a cute little donut pin in their life. Right?
Plus, These little homemade pins make perfect gifts for friends. You can make their favorite treat, and they look especially sweet on the cute printable gift cards I designed for you all.
Let’s make some!
SWEET SHOP HOMEMADE PINS SUPPLIES:
- White Plastic Shrink Film (Get it HERE or HERE)
- Black Permanent Marker
- Fine Grit Sand Paper
- Acrylic Craft Paint
- Round Brush
- Water
- Gloss Decoupage or Clear Gloss Acrylic Sealer
- Tie Tacks or Pin Backs
- Hot Glue Gun
- Printable Sweet Treat Designs – Download Here
- Printable Gift Tags – Download Here
- Colored Cardstock
Step 1 – Sand Shrink Film
Start by gently sanding the shrink film and wipe off any dust. Roughing up the surface helps the paint to adhere to the plastic.
Step 2 – Trace and Paint your Design
I drew out some cute sweet treats for these little pins. You can download my designs HERE or you could use any clip art or image you like. Just print the images out on regular copy paper, place the shrink film on top of the images, and trace the outlines of each shape with the permanent marker.
Once you all the outlines are traced, the next step is to paint in the designs using acrylic paint that has been thinned out with water. It is important to get the paint pretty thin to end up with a nice smooth finish. If you get too much pigment on the plastic, it will kind of clump up and create a texture on top of the plastic after it shrinks, which isn’t great.
And don’t worry about any paint that goes over the black outlines because when you are done painting, you can go back over the black lines with your permanent marker if needed.
Step 3 – Cut out your shapes
When you have your sweets all traced and painted, it’s time to cut them out. Cut right along the black line so there is no white space on the outside.
Step 4 – Shrink!
Place your cut out shapes onto a parchment lined baking sheet and place in a 250˚ F oven. It will take about five minutes for your shapes to shrink completely. As they shrink they will curl up, but when they are completely shrunk they will be flat again.
Step 5 – Add clear gloss top coat
After your treats have cooled completely, you can add a clear topcoat to make them nice and shiny. I used brush on gloss decoupage, but I think a spray on sealer might work even better.
Step 6 – Attach backs to your pins
Finally, after the top coat has dried, use a hot glue gun to attach tie tacks or pin backs.
And that’s it! Your new sweet flair is all ready to wear! If you are gifting these cute homemade pins, you may want to print off some of the gift cards I designed to go with them. Download the “flair for you” cards right HERE. Just print, cut, and punch holes for the pins to fasten through.
These are the perfect little gifts. How cute would these be for little Valentine’s Day gifts?
I think the donut pin is my favorite. What do you think? What sweet treat homemade pins do you want to make?
If you like this, you might want to check out these posts:
Comments + Project Love
Lisa says
I really need to get some shrink plastic! I keep seeing fun projects using it. These pins are so cute!
Alexis says
Yes! I hadn’t played with it since I was a kid, but it is so much fun!
Amy | Delineate Your Dwelling says
Cuuuuute!
Shonee says
These are way cute! What a great and easy way to add a little whimsy and fun! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Shonee
http://www.hawthorneandmain.com
Alexis says
Thanks so much, Shonee! 🙂
Madison says
soooooo cute! I love how you made these yourself!
Alexis says
Thank you so much!! 🙂
Laurel says
Loved these before, may like the sweet shoppe ones even more! So cute!!
Izzy says
Wow this is a really cool way to make pins!!!
Thank you for showing me how to make these pins. I have wanted to learn how to make them but they were too hard and now I know how to make them easier ???
Nav says
Of the two links posted for the Shrinking paper, which one is better for this project?
Alexis says
Either should work great! The product is basically the same, it just depends where you like shop. Consumer Crafts usually has slightly better pricing, but some people prefer Amazon if they are prime members. 🙂
sophia says
These are sooooooo cute! i followed the instructions and made my own designs my friends loved them so much now eveyone is asking me for them because there like “fashion pins”.They also do a pretty good job at making a statement on backpacks hats or even tees which is adorable. For the last month or so i’ve been looking for enamel lapel pins to buy, but this is even better now i can make my own!
Sophia says
Hi, where can I print the pictures of the pins and are the gift tags just paper or is there cardboard to support it?
Alexis says
Hi Sophia! The links for the pin design downloads and the printable cards are both included in the supply list. 🙂 And I just printed the gift tags on colored cardstock, and it worked great! Good luck!
Showers Schumann says
Hi there I am a tween and I LOVE these your so creative!