Shrinky Dinks. Who remembers them? They're those drawings you make on thin plastic, pop in the oven, and then presto! A fun little plastic charm! I used to make Shrinky Dinks as a kid often... and recently I busted them out again.
Back in March, I was supposed to go on a girls trip - a big crafting weekend we do twice a year. Some of us quilt, others scrapbook, but no matter what project we bring to work on, we all have a blast. One tradition we all do every time we go on a crafting weekend is make each other surprises. They're always just little things - tokens of our friendship. But theses little 'prizes' have become a big part of our crafting getaways.
This year, COVID-19 forced me to skip my highly anticipated girls craft weekend. And I'm still heartbroken over it. Still, I want to share the project I made for all my girls. I seriously had so much fun making these. My 10-year-old even ended up making a couple to give to his teacher for a present. (I wish I had a picture to share because his were so sweet!)
So here you go... Shrinky Dinks 101: (linked here)
For my Shrinky Dink charms... I traced the first letter of each girls name (super super easy to trace with Shrinky Dink plastic!), and then I drew an animal that starts with the same letter around her initial. Cute huh :) Color it in with colored pencils, and cut AROUND your design. These puppies will shrink up more then you think. When cutting out your designs, make sure you keep ample space around your drawing so when they shrink up, nothing gets cut off. ALSO - (super super important!) You need to punch your hole (to hang your charm) BEFORE you shrink.
Next, put all your cut-out designs on a tinfoil lined baking sheet - COLORED PENCIL SIDE UP. Place in a 325 degree oven and WATCH the baking process very carefully! This will take anywhere from 1-5 minutes. You will see the edges of your Shrinky Dinks start to curl up. After they flatten, give it another 30 seconds and then pull them out of the oven. Your charms are done!!
Now your ready to get crafty with your charms! I purchased these cute leather keychain tassels on AMAZON (linked here) and some extra jump rings (linked here). Using my needle nose pliers, I fastened my charms onto coordinating key chain tassels and ... done! My cute personalized keychain charms for all of my crafting besties!
And girls... if you all are reading this, your keychains will be in the mail as soon as this 'rona' quarantine is over. :)
Have fun making some Shrinky Dink art for your friends, with your kids, or just for your self! These would be perfect as gift tags on a bottle of wine, a hang tag on a baby or birthday gift, or even Christmas ornaments. I believe that being creative and making art is just another form of self care... something we all could use more of these days. Be sure to tag me on IG or TIKTOK with your creations! I can't wait to see what you make ;)
Remember to check out my Instagram @smalltownme and TikTok @small_town_me
Love Emily.