Our house is strange in that it has two front doors, so after I put a lock with charms on one door, my husband suggested we do a lock on the second. That got me thinking—what would I put on them? Naturally, I thought of the Lenox Spice Village and decided to do DIY Lenox Spice Village Charms!

The little houses are so cute! I decided to make them into charms for the lock. But these could work for a charm bracelet, necklace, or even a keychain.

For this DIY Lenox Spice Village Charms project, we’ll use printable Shrinky Dink film to print the Lenox Spice Village designs onto. You can also draw your own designs or print anything you want!

how to make DIY Lenox Spice Village Charms

SUPPLIES

Printable Shrinky Dink sheets (for inkjet printers)
Lenox Spice Village images (I purchased mine as downloadable files from Etsy)
Inkjet printer
Scissors
Hole punch (⅛” or 3mm)
Heat gun (or oven)
Heat-safe surface (ceramic tile, silicone mat, metal baking sheet, or glass cutting board)
Metal tweezers or a long Pin
UV resin kit (which includes a UV lamp/light)
Jump rings
Jewelry pliers
Security Lock

step 1- print the design

To begin, format your images. To do this, I’m using online graphic design website PicMonkey. I’m using images of the Lenox Spice Village that I purchased on Etsy. You could also take pictures of the spice houses if you own them and would like to save a little money.

The paper I’m using shrinks to 1/3 of its original size, so I formatted each house to be 3″ tall for a final height of 1″ after shrinking.

Note, I did a test print first with what I thought would work, but they were too big at 5″ tall. So make sure to print one sheet, cut out the item, shrink it down, and make sure it’s the size you want. I want my charms 1″ tall and the 5″ tall printed houses shrunk to 2″- too big. But 3″ tall houses ended up being perfect!

Once you’re happy with the sizing, print the design onto the shrinky dink plastic.

How to print on printable shrink sheets:

Check the sheet orientation – Print only on the matte/frosted side.
Make sure to use an InkJet printer. It’s the only type of printer suggested to print on the plastic.
Print & dry – Handle carefully and let dry 1–2 minutes to avoid smudging.
Seal if needed – Some brands require a light spray of clear acrylic sealer before shrinking. Mine doesn’t, so I didn’t seal right after printing, though I do add a top coat later on to get that shiny finish.
Cut out your design with scissors – cut carefully- smooth curves prevent snagging later.

Pro Tip: Colors will darken and intensify after shrinking, so you may want to adjust the color saturation to be 50% lighter before printing. This is another thing you can see with the test sheet. I personally didn’t touch the color saturation.

step 2- Punch the Hole

Next, punch the hole.

Use a 1/8″ hole punch (which is 1/2 the size of the standard hole punch) to make an opening where your jump ring will go.

This will shrink to about 1/16″- the perfect size for jewelry findings.
Place the hole at least ¼” from the edge to prevent tearing.

step 3- Shrink the Plastic

And now, shrink the plastic.

I used a heat gun, but you can also bake them according to your package instructions.

Heat gun method:

Place on a heat-safe surface (I used a silicone mat)– place the charm frosted side up.
Secure if needed – Use tweezers or a long pin to hold a corner until it curls enough to stay put. This also helps it so the plastic house doesn’t blow away.
Heat evenly – Hold the gun 6–8 inches away, moving in circles.
Watch it shrink – It will curl, then flatten within 15–30 seconds.
Flatten – Press under a kitchen spatula, or a heavy flat object for 5–10 seconds while still warm.

Tips:

Don’t hold the heat gun too close—plastic can scorch or bubble.
If it sticks to itself, separate with tweezers before it cools. I’ve found that the shrinky dink curls up and then flattens out so keep using the heat gun and be patient if it’s curly. But once in awhile the tweezers will come in handy so keep them close.
Work in a well-ventilated area to minimize exposure to potential fumes released during the heating process.

step 4- Seal with Resin

For the next step, seal the charms with resin.

To give your charms a glossy, durable, and waterproof finish, add a thin layer of UV resin after shrinking:

Place your cooled charm on a piece of parchment paper or silicone mat.

Use the bottle to apply a few dropsof UV resin to the top (or frosted) side. While doing this, place a long pin in the hole of the charm to hold it in place AND keep the hole from filling with resin.

Then, use a paint brush or popsicle stick to smooth out the resin and cover the charm completely. Keep the pin in place for this step as well.

Place under a UV lamp/light and cure according to your resin’s instructions (usually 1 minute).

Pro Tip: A resin coating also helps protect printed designs from scratching or fading. Plus it gives a shiny top coat that looks fancy.

step 5- Turn It into a Charm

Finally, turn the shrinky dinks into a charm.

Once the resin is fully cured, attach your new DIY Lenox Spice Village Charms to whatever you like:

Keychain ring
Necklace chain
Earring hook
Zipper pull

To add a jump ring:

Use a pair of needle nose pliers to twist open the ring (side-to-side, not pulled apart).
Slide through the hole in your charm and attach to your chosen item.
I attached mine to my security lock. Since I’m attaching mine to a security lock, the 9mm size works nicely.

charm necklace

While I had all the supplies out to make the charms, I decided to print even smaller charms to make them into a necklace! This is the same steps above with a few small tweaks-

Print the houses so they are 1.5″ tall (you can do all 24 houses on one sheet of shrinky dink paper). These will shrink to 3/4″ tall.

I found on the smaller charms tend to fill with resin during the sealing process. If this happens, drill out the hole with a drill bit.

Use 6mm jump rings to apply the charms to a necklace. I had this necklace already, so I used it as the base.

after

The charm security lock is done! I think the Lenox Spice village is SO cute so I loved turning them into charms!

It’s one of those things where the closer you get, the more adorable it is. I love having this sweet touch on this lock!

I’m really pleased that this turned out. I’ve never used shrinky dinks before. But I can say that it was very fun to watch them shrink down and my vision come to life.

price breakdown

For this project, here’s what I spent- Printable Shrinky Dink sheets $10, Lenox Spice Village images $9, Inkjet printer $41, Hole punch (⅛” or 3mm) $4, Security Lock $11.

I had the following supplies on hand- Scissors, Heat gun, Heat-safe silicone mat, Metal tweezers, UV resin kit, Jump rings, and Jewelry pliers

So I spent a total of $75 on this project. Most people will have a printer already so you can probably save some money there.

You now have adorable, personalized DIY Lenox Spice Village Charms perfect for jewelry, keychains, or—like me—for decorating door locks. This project is fun, nostalgic, and a great way to turn tiny designs into durable, wearable art.