You can make your shrinky dinks in the oven, but using a craft heat gun lets you get up close and personal with the shrinking fun. Choose frosted shrink plastic sheets for a ready-to-use product with a textured surface that you can add colour to. Here are the materials you need for our how to make shrinky dinks tutorial

They’re Still Sold Today

You can then flatten it further with a silicone turner or whatever you have handy (I used my metal water bottle.) You have more control, you’re not melting toxic plastics in your food prep areas, and it can be done right in the craft room. When you have a paint that sits on a non-porous (smooth) surface, it scratches off very easily.

Kids adore watching their designs change shape and size, and adults love how easy and tidy the whole project is. Parents love handmade gifts from their children, especially https://shrinky-dink.com/ ones that feel unique and personal. Children learn best when they’re having fun, and Shrinky Dinks give you endless opportunities to build learning into the excitement.

Not All Plastic Shrinks

These tiny, transformative toys serve as a time capsule, preserving the essence of childhood wonder and creativity from the ’70s and ’80s. The joy of transforming a simple drawing into a tangible, shrunken masterpiece captivates both young and old, making Shrinky Dinks a timeless craft. This focus on personalization transformed Shrinky Dinks from mere toys into tools for self-expression.

Shrink film is so much fun, there’s really a lot of different ways you can create with it – it’s not just for kids! It’s like a magic art project – you draw on the shrink film, heat it up, and watch it shrink! While all these ornaments look really pretty on a tree with lights shining through them, I think you could also make Shrinky Dinks jewelry out of them. You can see from my photos how much the finished ornaments shrunk in size. Once they’ve flattened out, bake for an additional 30 seconds.

Tips for making your Back to School Shrinky Dinks

The plastic shrinks to about a third of its original size in a standard oven, giving you crisp charms, tags, ornaments, and jewelry. Here’s a look back at the kind of fun people used to have with these shrink art toys, how they were invented, how they work — and how you can make them today. Watching them shrink and curl was mesmerizing, making crafting feel more like a science experiment you could hold in your hand.

• The other pair of earrings were in the shape of angel wings, another favourite crafting theme of mine.
• If they struggle to flatten after you take them out of the oven, place them under a plate for a few seconds.
• Here is a great example of a shrinky dinks guide rule, where she also bakes them with the colors she uses so she knows how much they darken after baking.
• I even started punching a hole in them before shrinking.
• I don’t know what kind of shrinky dinks are available, if any, but I’ll always be able to make some on my own… I guess my parents actually taught me something.
• You can still buy Shrinky Dinks the brand, but the name now commonly refers to the miniature shrunken shapes you get after heating and shrinking plastic rather than these specific printed sheets themselves.

For frosted or sanded sheets, colored pencils work beautifully. Always test your shrink ratio with a scrap piece if you’re unsure. Be sure to follow the instructions specific to the type of plastic you purchase, especially when it comes to coloring and baking. Clear and frosted sheets are ideal for tracing designs and using permanent markers or colored pencils. To create Shrinky Dinks, you don’t need a lot of specialized supplies, which makes this an easy and accessible craft for all ages. The shrinking process also intensifies the colors, giving your finished piece a vibrant, polished appearance.

Color, bake, and watch your designs transform into unique, personalized treasures. From jewelry making to home decor, Shrinky Dinks offers a canvas for your imagination. Whether you’re young or young at heart, Shrinky Dinks brings your artistic visions to life in ways you never thought possible. Let them cool for a few minutes before removing from the sheet. The design will curl as it shrinks, then it will flatten – once the design FLATTENS, bake for an additional seconds and then remove from the oven. Preheat oven to 325ºF and put shrinky dinks on a cookie sheet.

We tested DIY Shrinky Dinks using plastic fruit packages

Starting from their humble DIY beginnings, they rode the massive toy branding wave of the eighties and while they dipped in popularity, they managed to stay alive. Shrinky Dinks are a legendary toy invented by two people who saw the magic in what could have been a simple craft project. Shrinky Dinks are inspiring people in art and science. Shrinky Dinks as a toy, do not seem to be going anywhere, but if we had any doubt about it viability as a future toy, we might just need to look beyond the toy chest. No problem, just find a decent line drawing, print it out and let your kids enjoy the process of making beautiful shrunken art pieces.

Shrinky Dinks you can still buy today

Parents please make sure to do this step for your children. Charm bracelets are a super fun handmade jewelry gift that you can make using shrinky dinks. Shrinky Dink film is often used to make keychains, zipper pulls, ornaments, and jewelry.

The shrinking process itself is scientific and perfect for introducing early learning topics. You can also use Shrinky Dinks to create classroom rewards, zipper pulls, or game pieces. When they see the plastic twist, curl, and then flatten out again, they get so excited.

After drawing on the rough side of the shrinky dink paper using sharpies, colored pencils or paint pens – cut out your designs and hole punch wherever you are going to attach your keychain ring. Scroll down to watch the video & scroll all the way down to download your Gardening Tool Badge for this activity! I used Shrinky Dinks to create the plastic middle on these little gems. I haven’t even thought of shrinky dinks for years and years, but this is such a GREAT idea! Get our tips and see the results for testing different colored pencils on shrink film plastic. Recommended for children 5 years of age and older.