Disc Bead Bracelet - Cheap, Easy, and recycled shrinky plastic!

Disc Bead Bracelet - Cheap, Easy, and recycled shrinky plastic!
This is a fun and easy project, costs less than $1 to make, has tons of possibilities for customization, requires no jewelry making skill or real tools, and is a way to recycle stuff that would be thrown away! What could be better??

This was inspired by something I used to do when I was a kid, make bracelets out of fishing tackle (specifically a barrel swivel). You can buy these anywhere they sell fishing gear - I paid 99cents for a pack of 12 and didn't even use them all.

I combined that with my love of faux shrinky dinks from #6 plastic (previous instructable here or check out my Shrinky Dinky Test Lab experiments) for a fun, updated twist!

Of course, bracelets aren't the only thing you can do with this -- you could make drop earrings, necklaces, bead curtains, or whatever! This would also be a great project for kids to do, I could see this at a pre-teen girl birthday party...

So, if you like this, be sure to rate it!
And if you try this, or a derivation thereof, I'd love to see it ... come find me at Dabbled.org

xxoo
Dot
 
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Step 1Materials

Materials
Here's what you need:

#6 Plastic - The thin clear kind marked with a 6 in the recycling triangle. No, not the Styrofoam #6 or any other number. I save to-go boxes, boxes from the bakery section of the grocery store, and so forth every time I see a #6 on it! Also, #6 is not recyclable in many cities recycling programs, so it usually ends up in a landfill somewhere. And that's no fun!

A package of brass barrel swivels, found in your fishing supply section of your local discount store or whereever they sell fishing tackle. They come in various sizes (I used #10 for this example, which was 12 in a pk), and it took about 7 for my (small) wrist.

Sharpie markers -- I used red, orange, and magenta.

A hole punch

A circle punch (something like this - you can find in craft or scrapbooking stores)
...or you can cut out the larger circle with scissors, its just more tedious.

Acrylic Top Coat spray

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34 comments
May 29, 2011. 5:52 AMporcupinemamma says:
So glad I found your excellent Instructable. Your bracelet is a work of art! I've subscribed to your ingenious instructables. Thanks for sharing
Apr 12, 2011. 4:24 AMArtCraftGo says:
I love your tutorials!

I’m trying to find information online about melting plastics with recycling #s 1-5. I’m curious what will happen, how they melt, and whether they’re usable for crafts. I hesitate to experiment myself because I figure someone somewhere has already tried!, and I don’t want to sacrifice our toaster oven or fill our house with horrible-smelling toxic fumes, if that’s what the other numbers of plastic do when melted.

Do you have any information about what happens when you melt plastics other than #6? How did you come to know #6 was best for crafting?

Thank you! Happy crafting!

P.S. — Have you tried any eco-friendly resins as sealers? How do they compare to standard sealers?
Apr 12, 2011. 10:41 AMArtCraftGo says:
Thanks! Perhaps I will just have to be on the lookout for an old toaster oven in our local thrift stores. :)
Dec 27, 2010. 10:43 AMpennyg says:
Dot--You knock me out! Thanks so much!!
Mar 11, 2010. 8:58 PMBangaliBabyGirl says:
 Do you have any other cheap alternatives for the brass barrel swivels? I don't have a fishing store anywhere near me unfortunately
Mar 12, 2010. 10:28 AMBangaliBabyGirl says:
 Thank you! :) 
Dec 20, 2009. 10:50 AMdjgracie says:

these are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'm going to make them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):)

Oct 26, 2009. 10:02 PMRavend says:
I think Mcdonalds salad containers is #6.
Sep 13, 2009. 1:48 PMchristine ang says:
:( My daughter and I tried this three times. The plastic became bubbled and would not lay flat. I even tried to flatten while still hot...no go :( I did use #6 plastic...hmmmm. Then we tried an opaque cup...that worked very well. Are there any suggestions? I haven't given up yet, maybe it was just that one particular to go box. I'm really excited about this project and would love to go create with it :) TY!
Jul 5, 2009. 11:49 AMswartley3ga says:
I love this...I am going to make some today =) I will post pics if I get a chance to make them!
May 13, 2009. 9:23 PMChrysN says:
I am curious, what is the difference in size before and after (percentage of shrinkage)? I want to make something a specific size and I am wondering how large a piece I would need to start with.
May 15, 2009. 7:00 PMChrysN says:
Thanks, that's good to know! I'll give it a try.
May 15, 2009. 6:06 PMKilldoomkid says:
Dude! This is like the simplest thing EVER, yet I've never thought of it before! You're clearly very creative and the end product looks great! I'm going to go make one of these right now. lol.
Apr 23, 2009. 11:40 PMyadavnatasha says:
Its a great idea!!! I am gonna try it out right now!!! Eco-friendly!!! :>
Mar 11, 2009. 7:28 PMheadlessbubble says:
awesome! great idea I can't wait to try it
Mar 10, 2009. 6:13 PMsilverhawk319 says:
this is so cool,being a cheap hippie and semi green i love it.
Mar 6, 2009. 10:41 PMHimeNoHana says:
Oh thanks! I've been wanting to try the shrink wrap 'beads' for a while now, but just never could justify spending $$ that the craft stores wanted for it. Now I know what to look for!
Feb 26, 2009. 3:25 PMmdeblasi1 says:
I am forever checking, before I recycle or throw away, for the illusive no. 6 plastic. What usually comes wrapped in it? Marya
Mar 1, 2009. 2:45 AMKJS says:
I have found fx ice containers, meringue containers, take-away salad container or cream puff/cream bun/chocolate marshmallow(these are the possibilities my dictionary gave me) containers. If it's clear and makes a lot of noise when crumbled, there's a good chance it's no. 6 Hope it helps :)
Feb 26, 2009. 4:29 PMCorvis says:
cd jewel cases are also no.6 plastic. they might be too tough to cut for use in this project though.
Feb 26, 2009. 7:11 PMmdeblasi1 says:
CD cases would cut easily with a jeweler's saw. I'll have to try that, if they'd shrink up you could get some really interesting effects. Marya
Feb 27, 2009. 11:45 AMmdeblasi1 says:
I'm in the hospital this weekend, (Crohn's disease, semi-annual "tune up",) and the cafeteria is a gold mine of number six plastic. I can spend otherwise wasted time designing baubles. See, there's a positive side to everything. (imagine some sort of wry grimacing emoticon here.) Marya
Feb 26, 2009. 9:10 PMLftndbt says:
Very nice indeed!
Reminds me of these.
i think they would go well together. ;-)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Uber_High_end_fashion_earrings_from_recycled_water/

Feb 26, 2009. 9:12 PMLftndbt says:
.
DSC01476.JPG
Oct 5, 2010. 9:23 PMroneisaqt says:
so pretty, it looks like jade. :)
Feb 27, 2009. 4:55 AMcraftygreen says:
take out food usually comes in number 6 plastic. like take out from qudoba.
Feb 26, 2009. 4:37 PMChrysN says:
Those look really nice hanging in the window, I just saw #6 the other day, now if only I can remember where it was.
Feb 26, 2009. 1:46 PMlemonie says:
These are nice, have a glass-effect look, and simple too. L

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Author:DotatDabbled
Dabbler in All Things Creative...