Do It Yourself PHOTO Shrinky Dinks!

The guide walks you through designing colorful patterns on shrink plastic, cutting out earring shapes, baking them to shrink, and assembling the final pieces. Create your own vibrant DIY Shrinky Dink earrings using alcohol ink techniques with this tutorial from Persia Lou. Three cool earring designs to choose from, from Marimekko flowers to angel wings.

They are available in clear, frosted, white, black, and other colors, but lately, I found an awesome set with gold and silver glitter sheets. In this post, I will share hundreds of traceable and printable shrinky dink patterns so you can create the most amazing projects with this wonderful craft material! Kids can make custom shrink art pieces to share and swap with friends. As children draw, color and assemble their shrink art designs, they build artistic skills from composition to fine motor coordination.

Design Space

Shrinky dinks come in sheets that are white, clear and frosted. And I can’t wait to share it again with future grandkids (if I have any). These pre-printed packs are the easiest way to get great results using shrink art.

If outline the handprint, consider letting your child fill in the handprint with vibrant colors, or leave it as a simple outlined design for a more minimalist look. Once your designs are cut, use the Cricut BrightPad to light up the designs and add your own colors and styles to the shrinky dinks. Crayons and colored pencils stay more true to their unshrunken colors. 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.

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And again, if you want to be part of the conference, check out all the information you need on the AOEU website. It’s definitely going to be worth checking out. And even though we talked a lot about this project today, Kerri will share even more in her presentation at the conference. And it gets noticed when they’re on computer bags, when they’re hanging from backpacks, when kids are wearing these Shrinky Dink earrings that they’ve made. I love the idea that she talked about, that a simple project like this can serve as such a great advocacy tool for the art room or for the art program. It’s going to look like it’s folding in on itself and you’re going to want to take it out, but you have to trust the process and let it lay back flat and let it do what it was meant to do.

Materials needed

Using hole punches, jump rings and earring hooks, you can easily turn shrinky dinks into earrings. If the mom in your life wears fun earrings, she will love a handmade custom set from her favorite kiddo. Whether you choose to use a heat gun or toaster oven, the possibilities for creating unique and personalized Shrinky Dink creations are endless. Just be sure to add any necessary holes or hooks before shrinking the plastic. – Yes, you can use colored pencils, markers, or even acrylic paint to decorate the plastic sheets before shrinking them. – It is recommended to use shrink plastic sheets specifically designed for crafting, as they are made to shrink evenly and smoothly without warping or bubbling.

So I decided to make our own shrinky dinks and let them choose the designs they wanted in Cricut Design Space. This is such a smart but simple way to figure this out! Sadly, my new Epson doesn’t have a flat feeder, so I can’t use this anymore. Sanded or Frosted Shrink Plastic (like Shrinky Dink Ruff n Ready) has a rough side that holds colored pencils and even crayon. It’s all about matching the right materials. Other types of plastic don’t shrink well, turn weird colors or worse — release smelly chemicals.

CS Printable Shrinky Dink Sheets for Inkjet & Laser Printers

Once the cutting is complete, and before unloading your mat, check to see if the cut went all the way through. Now, select the new material from the material list by clicking "Browse Materials" and changing the Categories drop-down menu to "My Materials." The Fine-Point Blade is already selected so I left that in place. Click "Browse All Materials," then "Material Settings." Scroll all the way to the bottom of the listed materials and click the green button labeled "Add New Material."

Wearing cotton gloves adds a barrier when you must reposition a piece quickly. Teach children to stand back until the plastic cools to room temperature. If you need to press the piece flat, cover it with parchment and use a heat-resistant spatula, keeping hands clear of steam.

• Use of shading and patterns will add dimension and class to your art.
• Preheat your oven according to the instructions on the Shrinky Dink paper package.
• You can download the designs I used by clicking on the photos below.

Crystal clear are the choice if you are stamping or have permanent markers to use, and you can always add your own texture to clear sheets with glass paper. Here are the materials you need for our how to make shrinky dinks tutorial If you prefer written steps with photos, we have these for you in this guide too. You can give it a helping hand by covering it with the back of ceramic tile, to ensure it flattens out completely. Usually, the plastic sheet curls up at first but will flatten out as you continue heating and the shrinking becomes more uniform across the shape. You can then use any colouring materials you like — we are using food old colouring pencils in our tutorial!

Once they lay flat again, remove them from the oven and let them cool. Use colored pencils https://shrinky-dink.com/ or markers to draw your designs on the parchment paper. We will also explore four interesting trends related to this DIY task, including the rise of eco-friendly crafting materials and the resurgence of nostalgic crafts. Our programs are developed with care and consideration for those that need additional support & assistance.

Gluing magnets or push pins to the back of your Shrinky Dink photo creates a fun way to decorate your refrigerator or corkboard. You can attach a pin/brooch back with strong adhesive to make flair pins of your photos. With photos printed on shrink-plastic sheets, you can make keychains of favorite family vacation photos, or a whole charm bracelet full of family portraits.