Puffy Pumpkin I'm-azon Thing

For some time I've been thinking of different ways of using these Amazon package bags as a crafting material and since my last year instructable:
https://www.instructables.com/Im-azon-Aviator-Hat/
...where I used it to sew a hat I had a couple more ideas on how the qualities of this material can be worked around. In this Pumpkin Challenge entry I want to show how you can make puffy flat shapes out of AQmazon packing packets (a pumpkin) using a simple technique.

So recently a set of scissors I've ordered from amazon had arrived and I was left with the packaging material along with an idea of how I'm going proceed with it in my progect. So come along.

First thing to do - is to remove the lables. Heating them with a fan and slowly pealing them off is the way to go.

I used a solvent product by the name "Antisilicon" to remove the residual glue, and I have no experience of using other solvents - so that's a field for experimentation.

To prepare the template - first you have to do is to print the outline of desired shape. You can download the pumpkin design I made.

Instead of printing I just traced the lines from the screen.

Now, glue the print onto a piece of corugated cardboard and cut the template out with a sharp knife.

I'veft out the stem bit since going to be flattened anyway.

The core idea of this technique is to flatten the outer paper layers together around desired shape by applying heat. Since the inner bubble-wrap lining is made of HDPE plastic (most likely) you can fuse it just as with plastic bags, except for here the plastic layer is get sandwitched between the paper layers.

To do this a regular iron is used. I figured that the max temp. setting does the job the best for me but you may want to experiment on non-essential part first.

After the template is positioned on the material (I placed a can of paint ontop to press it down) and the iron is hot you can go ironing the major shape around it. After - the more refine details with the tip but be careful since it's not all that hard to poke a hole in paper.

When you've finished fusing the material following the edge of the template - you can remove it and adjust the outline if needed.

You want to use flat hard surface in order to iron the material properly. I use a piece of plywood.

To work out the inner details you can make a separate set of templates if needed. Here I just used the rounded edge of the existing template. To create embossed lines I used the edge of the iron.

One thing, I probably should have mentioned earlier... - cut the edge with the glued strip off before ironing (it may stick to the ironing surface).

Anyway... After "adding" the stem back my pumpkin is ready to be cut out. You want to maintain a certain distance from the fusion line: about 3mm would be sufficient.

And this is it. It's a cute little thing that can serve a nice decoration. You can paint it over but I like it the way it is.

Initially I wanted to go for a bit more complicated project but in the process I decided to keep it simple. And I glad that I did: i've got some experience and feeling for the material and I'll be able to approach my next package project.

So yeah, this is it for today, thanks for your attention and have nice scissors (I do).