Remember shrinky-dinks?
I do.
I still remember the best one I ever created. It was a very serene looking little girl, carrying a basket and wearing long braids under a bonnet. I attached her to a key chain and kept her for years.
My memory is a bit foggy, but it seems we bought them pre-printed on sheets of plastic.
Did you know you can make a DIY version of shrinky-dinks?
Get excited. :)
We have done this a couple of times and it's a real hit with our kids.
This time, I let them tell me exactly what pictures they each wanted me to draw.
You can tell what they are each into these days. :)
Oh, and yes, even I trace sometimes!
There are a handful of tutorials on the web, but I followed this one.
Thankfully, we have a toaster oven that I used to shrink them, so I didn't have to heat the oven. Our a/c is working hard enough these days!
Now the kids have been working to create beautiful jewelry using their newest little charms.
I doubt these will be cherished like I did that sweet little basket-carrying girl, but that's okay.
2 comments:
I knew about shrinky dinks as a kid, but somehow never got to do them! I did them one time at a friend's house, though. I do them with my kids now. So fun. We make tiny ornaments for tiny trees, Calvin made magnets for his Pablo Candy-Finger business he had to raise $ for his next sibling's plane ticket home. . . I had each of the grandkids draw on a square and we made keepsake magnets for Grandma and Grandpa. The only ones I did as a kid were pre-printed like you mentioned. Probably because they were more popular back then? I don't know. You can buy a package of blank ones at HobLob. I don't know how thick and sturdy the homemade ones become, but the ones we buy get thick and practically unbreakable. And you can buy ones that are clear/frosty, or ones that will be solid white!
Mom used this stuff to make us bracelets for Christmas...very unique...love them! They kind of look like charm bracelets... She printed old vintage pictures and (I think) glued them somehow to the blank shrinky dink sheet from HobLob, and I believe cut the print out. She used a hole-puncher before baking them, and then when they were done, the holes (on each side of the "charm") were tiny and perfect for making the bracelet. Does that make sense?? I'm sure it's on Pinterest or something. ;) Anyway...another fun use for shrinky dink.
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