Sometimes things don't work

See this plastic picture frame? It was going to be a cute little desk frame for wallet-size photos, made with the plastic shrink film you heat in the oven. Except it curled up like a piece of bacon. Maybe Salvador Dali would have appreciated it, but I threw it in the trash.

An inkjet printable product gave me good results once before, so I opted to try the white, non-inkjet sheets made by Graphix (purchased at a local hobby shop).

I made a quick paper template to trace, sized 200% larger than the final frame would be. I traced it onto the plastic sheet and colored it with a permanent marker. Then I cut out the front of the frame, a piece for the backing, and a stand to attach to the back.

I baked the front of the frame for three minutes on a piece of cardboard with a sheet of parchment paper on top to prevent curling, per the instructions. Here's the before and after. Boo. This is what it looks like after I flattened the hot frame with a spatula. I tried another one and it was even worse.

Here's the back piece for the frame. It used to be a rectangle. I tried placing a thin sheet of cardboard on top of the parchment layer to hold it down during baking, and the plastic went crazy.

I plan to submit it to a modern art museum where it will fit right in with the rest of the objets d'art. This thing just went from a cheapo craft project to a sculpture worth thousands. Awesome!