Homemade Shrinky-Dinks
We love crafting and when I found out that we could recycle some of the plastic food containers to make homemade Shrinky-dinks it was a double win.
When I was younger I remember making Shrinky-dinks. So, it was nostalgic to make them again with my girls. All you need is a few household items to get started and the possibilities are endless.
We made a Shrinky-dink necklace.
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So, your probably asking how do you make Shrinky-dinks with recycled plastic?
1- Get a #6 plastic container and clean it.
2- Make a design with sharpies.
3. Cut it out and place on baking sheet.
4. Bake at 300 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes or until shrunk and flat.
5. Enjoy your homemade Shrinky-dinks.
Lets see it..
The plastic container
I found it best to use the thicker clear plastic containers. They have the number #6 imprinted on the plastic for recycling. You can find these at the deli or you local supermarket. Take out food is another place where you can find them. Keep your eye out next time you get food. Then you’ll be on your way to making your very own Shrinky-dinks.
Another place to look would be a Costco’s of Bj’s club if you think you are going to make a lot of them.
This is the container that we used. It’s best to cut them in half. We found it makes it easier to work with instead of wrestling it to stay open.
Just cut it in half, then you have two separate pieces to work with.
Sharpie markers and hole punch
For our first Shrinky-dink we made a necklace.
My daughter used a black sharpie and colorful sharpie markers. She also used a hole punch to add a string later for the necklace.
Colored sharpie markers are best because they are permanent. Find some colored ones here.
Get a hole puncher too. To make the hole for the string to go through.
The necklace design
Starting with a design that she created with a black sharpie for the outline. Then, she used the colorful sharpies to color it in. After she was all done coloring in her design, she cut it out. You want to cut just outside of the outline. That way when it is shrunk you could still see all the details. What we learned about cutting out the plastic.
First, don’t make pointed edges. They become pretty sharp after they are shrunk.
Second, don’t make them to large. We noticed some of their bigger designs rolled into themselves in the oven.
After it was done being cut out she punched a hole in the top of the plastic with a hole punch to make it a necklace. That way it left a small hole at the top. We used a piece of white yarn for out necklace string.
See the difference…
As you can see it is quite large to start off. This Shrinky-dink necklace started at about 5 1/2 inches. When you get ready to bake them. Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. You want to put it in the oven on a baking sheet. Placing them on the baking sheet make sure to have the side colored with the sharpie markers facing up. If not, we learned that the ink from the sharpie will stick to the baking sheet and could ruin your piece. The heat from the oven will bake the ink from the markers onto the plastic. Make sure to stay and watch it, that’s the cool part. It will take about 5 to 10 minutes depending on the size of your Shrinky dink.
Grab a ruler to really measure the difference.
In the end, this is after we shrunk it in the oven. This finished design shrink down to 2 1/2 inches. WOW! It really worked.
It was amazing watching the art we created shrink while watching through the oven door window. I think that was the kids favorite part.
Be careful using the oven, it will be hot! Its best if your parent can help you with it.
Beautiful Shrinky Dink Necklace
My youngest daughter modeling the finished homemade Shrinky-dink necklace. We loved how the necklace turned out so me made a few of them.
What else can you make with Shrink-dinks?
We come up with some ideas on how to use your homemade Shrinky-dinks.
- Suncatchers
- Beads for a bracelet or necklace
- key chains
- bracelet charms
Watch them SHRINK!
Some others we made, watch them in the oven…
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This is SO cool! I’ll be keeping my eye out for #6 plastic. My kids are going to LOVE this!
Fascinating!! Seems like a great homeschool/Christmas break project!! Have a Happy New Year!
This brings back memories. We did this many, many years ago. Great tutorial 🙂
I have GOT to try this with my little one! I think she’ll love it! Thanks for sharing such a great idea!