Feeling unmotivated lately with my needles. So, just to keep my brain lubricated with creativity, I decided to revisit my childhood and do some neat crafts using Shrinky Dinks!
I’ve found that kids younger than 20 may not be as familiar as my age group are with these fun toys (I got a confused look mentioning them at work today, especially more when I pulled them out to show), so for those of you unfamiliar with them, Shrinky Dinks are sheets of special plastic that you draw on using colored pencils and markers. The original Shrinky Dinks have a frosted finish on one side and a glossy side that’s smooth. I picked up a package of clear ones, too, but after reading the instructions it seems that we can only use permanent maker to color these ones…it has a kind of ‘sun catcher’ opaqueness when colored in and shrunk.
After you draw your design (the sheets are thin enough to see through, so you can also trace a design on them–which I have done with the pictures I will include here), you cut it out, then take it to your oven (set at 325*) and put them in for a minute or two. If you have the kind of oven that has a see through window, you can watch the Shrinky Dinks tumble and roll as they shrink down to one-third of their original size! They also get nine times thicker–which may seem like a lot but it isn’t (it’s almost like taking the thickness of nine pieces of notebook paper stacked together).
So far I have made only keychains, and a necklace charm for my aunt (who loves Columbines). I do plan on making some jewelry with them as soon as I get the correct supplies, and figure out which size I have to start my projects out with first.
It’s a nice little break from the yarn and needles, and hopefully, when I get to pro-status, The Marketplace will find a place on their shelves for them! If not, then maybe I’ll finally get that Etsy store I’ve mused over for a few years now.
A before and after. The hole punch is thrown in for size reference.
While it’s got and straight out of the oven, you can bend them so I made Old Glory in all of her glory!
The columbines I traced (I only wish I could draw this well!) for my Aunt.
Unravelings 