– Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for using a heat gun or toaster oven, and use caution when handling hot surfaces or tools. – Yes, you can create custom jewelry pieces using Shrinky Dinks made without an oven. – Yes, you can use colored pencils, markers, or even acrylic paint to decorate the plastic sheets before shrinking them. Place the parchment paper with the plastic sheet on a cookie sheet and carefully place it in the toaster oven. Watch as the plastic begins to curl and shrink. That’s right, you can create your own mini works of art without the need for a traditional oven.
To get started, purchase some Shrinky Dink sheets and supplies online or at your local craft store. I have created templates that you can trace. If you love our Shrinky Sheets, who not check out our huge range of other Arts and Crafts, as well as Sand Art and Plaster Painting Packs. The hole will also shrink to a perfect size. First place on a flat surface with rough side up.
You can typically find permanent markers for about $1 each, and if your budget is small, just buy a couple of colors. I traced a few three-inch wide butterflies onto the shrink film and let the kids color them with permanent markers. You might also need to use a metal spatula to help flatten them out at the end. Once the earrings have flattened back to their original place, their size will shrink considerably. Place the rainbows and circles on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. We need different colored permanent markers to draw the rainbow on the plastic sheet and a rainbow template to trace perfect rainbows.
What Kind of Plastic Shrinks?
On my test pieces, the image shrunk about 65% of the original size. The Resin Obsession crystal doming resin is perfect for this because it mixes thick. But if drawing isn’t your thing, you can find lots of digital clip art on Etsy. The dull side of parchment paper works great for this. Plus, you’ll need to cover it with a surface that the shrink plastic won’t stick to.
We have tried out clear store bought shrink film, printable injet shrinky film, and #6 plastic for shrinky dinks. This brilliant shrink plastic charm bracelet is created by tracing over clip art with a sharpie and colouring with posca paint pens. If you don’t have these items you could use a glass or another flat heat-proof object. But beyond this, smaller designs tends to work better as they maximise the cute factor and are the easiest to keep flat. If shrinking your shrink plastic sheets in the oven, use a flat surface like a baking tray, and place a wide wrap on top to help keep them flat.
Cutting Out Shrinky Dinks
- Shrinky Dinks let you turn simple drawings or printed designs into hard, mini keepsakes at home.
- If you used regular permanent markers to make your shrinky dink earrings, you don’t need to seal it (although you can if you want).
- Once the heart looks fairly flat take out of oven, if it needs a little help flattening take your hotpad and push it down on top of the heart lightly to finish the flattening process
You can use permanent markers for bold lines and colored pencils for softer colors. The Shrinky Dinks will curl up as they shrink, then they’ll flatten back out. It kind of curls up and flattens out once it done.
Supplies
While your plastic art is baking, you’ll see the edges curl up, but don’t panic! Also, keep in mind whatever colors you use will appear darker after the plastic shrinks. You can draw your design lightly with a pencil then go over it with a permanent marker or colored pencils. You could also do album covers shrinky dinks for favorite musical artists 🙂 I saw an idea where someone put a bunch of tiny book covers in an ornament to showcase what they read in a year, and it required a bunch of glue, cardboard, and foam stickers. Is it possible to do printed images on recycled plastic?
Seeing the plastic curl, warm, and settle into its final shape is fascinating for kids, though an adult should always be the one handling the heat gun. These ornaments shrink down to durable plastic pieces with bright colors and a slightly distressed look which happened by surprise. We created the KPop Demon Hunter version using this Derpy Tiger illustration as inspiration using paint markers.
(Once baked, the shrink film becomes really strong plastic pieces that are too hard to punch with a regular hole punch.) If you’re making a charm or keychain, punch a hole in your shrink film. Carefully trim around the image and color the sides, if desired. You can upload and resize your image in Microsoft Word. I made a cute design, printed it out on regular paper, and then started tracing allllllll the duplicates on Shrink Film.
Carefully place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 1-3 minutes, or until the designs have shrunk and are flat. Make sure the designs are not touching each other to prevent sticking during the baking process. Place the decorated cardstock paper on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once you’re satisfied with your designs, use a hole punch to create a hole in each piece.
Shrinky Dink Heart Wrap Bracelet
To get started, simply draw or trace your design onto the sheet and add some color to bring it to life. One of the most delightful ideas is to create custom shrink dinks that showcase your creativity. That’s why it’s exciting to explore new ideas, themes, designs, styles, colors, and techniques to bring our imagination to life.
The rough ones work wonderfully with colored pencils, while clear sheets tend to be best for markers. You don’t need a big supply list to get started. Kids can create charms for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, or end-of-year teacher gifts. They’re fast—most kids can finish their drawing and cutouts in 10–20 minutes, and the baking takes less than 3 minutes. Shrinky Dink crafts check so many boxes for caregivers, teachers, and parents.