Materials

Shrink film

Acrylic paint

Sharpies galore

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Pin backs

Method

1. Get inspired: hit up Etsy, Pinterest or unleash your inner Tumblr girl. WARNING: Once you start scrolling, you cannot stop. And the number of Etsy cart items you have will exponentially increase. DO NOT BUY THEM. They’re ripping you off. You’re reading this article for a reason. Don’t buy them.
2. PRO TIP: IF IT’S FUNNY … IT SHOULD BE ON A PIN. Don’t doubt yourself. Memes are what dreams are made of.
3. Draw out your designs! BIG! Shrink film actually shrinks to a third of the OG size. Also, the colors become darker once you put them in the oven — don’t make the same mistakes we did and use dark blue in your designs. It will turn to black. Also, don’t just make pins out of cut-up pieces of your cardboard jewelry gift boxes. It may seem easier in the short term, but really, DON’T DO IT (#TEENREGRETS).
4. Anyway, now take your big ol’ design and cut it out with scissors. Don’t do a fourth-grader job on it unless you’re trying to make it look #edgy with your rough edges. You could either cut it along the edge of your design, or you could be cool and leave a little border. Whatever your jam is, you know. You do you.
5. YOU’RE DOING AWESOME. KEEP IT UP, BUD!
6. Put your cut-ups in the oven on some aluminum foil. (Don’t be a fool and forget the foil.) By the way, your oven should have been preheated to 325° F. Duh! Hope we told you in time, buddio.
7. Now, just hang out and let them bake for three to five minutes. Your design will curl. But you should not (curl up on the floor and cry). It’s OK. It will uncurl before the three minutes is up.
8. Pull ‘em out, put ‘em between the pages of a book, let ‘em cool for 10-15 seconds.
9. Hot glue a pin back on the back of your pin and put it on your jacket/hat/whatever!
10. Take the $10 you saved and go buy yourself a movie ticket or an açaí bowl or some other chronically overpriced luxury item while you flaunt your pin bling.