Shrinky Dinks are probably one of the most archetype craft projects and likely one you’ve heard of. I remember making Shrinky Dink charms in middle school for keychains and jewelry making, and it’s a craft that I still enjoy today as an adult.
It’s fun for crafters of all ages, so long as you can use an oven, OR if you are making Shrinky Dinks with young children, you can torch the pieces for them.
Shrinky Dinks can be used for jewelry, keychains, pins, and lots of other projects. I’m going to share how to make them from recycled plastic as well as my favorite kits and papers to use. Everyone can have success with this project!
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I created this Shrinky Dink recreate necklace with some of my favorite typesetting covers. In specimen you are curious, the books are: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Never Let Me Go, The Stepford Wives, Pride and Prejudice, Murder on the Orient Express, The Night Circus, and The Poisonwood Bible.
The untried necklace has the imbricate of Kitchens of the Unconfined Midwest on it. Next, I want to make a necklace or maybe bracelet with all the Harry Potter typesetting covers. Lol.
What Are Shrinky Dinks?
Sometimes tabbed shrink art, Shrinky Dinks first became popular in the 1980s and ’90s. The vital idea is you decorate a piece of polystyrene (plastic) and then torch it so it shrinks lanugo in size. The final piece will be smaller, thicker, and increasingly heavily pigmented.
Shrinky Dinks were invented by Betty Morris and Kate Bloomberg, two mothers who created the craft as a project with their sons for Cub Scouts. Later, large toy companies including Milton Bradley created kits and other products for commercial sale.
While most people think of Shrinky Dinks as a kids craft, it has been used for many other applications as well.
Adults can moreover enjoy creating craft and art projects from this technique. And, Shrinky Dinks have moreover been used by university students and professors for STEM projects.
Best Shrinky Dink Kits & Papers
- Printable Shrink Plastic Sheets – These are the papers I used for my typesetting recreate necklaces. They work with ink jet printers and are semitransparent.
- Printable Shrink Plastic Kit – Same type of ink jet uniform paper, but with jewelry and keychain making supplies in the kit as well.
- Shrinky Dinks Kit for Kids – Princess, Barbie, and Mickey Mouse options. Easy to use and unconfined for younger crafters.
- Shrink Art Jewelry Kit – From Kids Made Modern, unconfined for older kiddos.
There are many options if you want a kit or papers that have pre-made designs you can verisimilitude in surpassing baking.
If you want papers you can self-ruling draw, on I recommend the first option above. You don’t have to use an ink jet printeryou can simply yank on it with felt-tip pens or colored pencils.
Tips for Success
No matter if you are working with a paper, kit, or creating Shrinky Dinks from recycled plastic (more on this below) the most important tip for success is to use an oven or other heating tool (heat gun) that allows you to see the plastic pieces as they bake. So, easy torch ovens without a window or air fryers don’t work as well.
You want to be worldly-wise to watch the pieces torch as they will curl, and then uncurl when they are washed-up baking. This process will likely take 1-2 minutes, but it’s weightier if you can watch them as they torch so you can know when they are one.
If you have pieces that are still slightly curled without baking, you can printing them unappetizing (while they are still hot) with a typesetting or other heavy object. But take superintendency not to shrivel your finger as they will be hot immediately without stuff in the oven.
DIY Shrinky Dinks:
To make your own Shrinky Dinks from recycled plastic you will need: #6 plastic and felt-tipped pens.
While you can try and use other plastics, none will work as well as #6. I have tried! You can identify the type of plastic you have by looking for the recycle symbol which is three arrows creating a triangle. Inside will be a number.
Number 6 plastic is often found on removable supplies packages like takeout containers. At least at our house, it’s not very common.
I see much increasingly number 5 and number 1 plastic. I tried these for Shrinky Dink projects and they work OK, but not great.
Color the number 6 plastic with the felt-tipped pens. You can use other items like tempera paint or markers, but alimony in mind you want to stave things that are super waxy or that will not be worldly-wise to take the heat of the oven.
Once you have colored your designs, cut them out.
Bake at 325°F for 1-2 minutes, watching the pieces as they torch on parchment paper. You want to see them flourish and then fully uncurl, that’s when they are done.
FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shrinky Dink made of?
They are made of polystyrene, which is a type of plastic. If you will want to use number 6 plastic if you want to make your own Shrinky Dinks.
Can you use Sharpie on shrinky dinks?
Yes, permanent felt-tipped pens are the weightier for Shrinky Dinks. You can moreover use tempera paint pens or colored pencils.
How do you stop Shrinky Dinks from curling?
They are suppose to flourish and then fully uncurl as they bake. So, if yours are curled, they may have needed to torch longer. If they have a slight flourish without baking, you can printing them unappetizing while they are still hot with a heavy object like a book.
I prefer to use the ink jet uniform paper I listed whilom for my Shrinky Dink projects; but if you have number 6 plastic or don’t mind a slightly increasingly homemade look, you can make your own DIY Shrinky Dinks with the tutorial I shared above.
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