Shrinky Dink Valentine’s Necklaces

Shrinky Dinks are fantastic!

Shrinky Dinks have been around for a long time but I discovered them again several years ago when my children were younger. There is something amazing about making a creation and having it shrink down to a miniature size. When my daughter was in grade 4 she made Shrinky Dink necklaces for all the girls in her class for Christmas. She and I had a great afternoon making these Valentine’s themed necklaces. You do not need to be artistic either. You can trace a design and colour it in or design your own. They have kits for Shrinky Dinks at the craft store but the cheapest way to buy it is in a package of large individual sheets ( instead of a specific kit). Here is a photo of the package I bought.

 

Here are my Instructions!

STEP 1 : For our Valentine’s necklaces we made them heart shaped. We traced a cookie cutter for the medium sized necklaces and I made a heart tracer for the bigger size. Use a hole punch to make the hole to string it for a necklace. I made one hole then enlarged it a bit so it was a bigger hole. I would cut the hole first before drawing (that way you won’t mess up and have to put a hole in your picture.)

 

IMPORTANT TIP -If you want writing on your necklace you need to reverse it! (as shown in the photo above) You can write on the shiny side with a permanent marker and then trace it again on the rough side where the colouring goes.

STEP 2 : Use your pencil crayons and colour on the rough side of the sheet. Cut it out. Be careful , it is brittle. Small nail scissors may make it easier.

TIPS ON SIZE – We made 3 different sized necklaces and I actually think the largest size looked the best. It measured about 11 cm before baking. The smaller necklaces measured about 6 cm tall. This next photo shows how small the hearts are once they have been baked (between 3-4 cm)

Above are the coloured Shrinky Dinks on a cookie sheet ready to go in the oven. I put them on a piece of brown paper from a grocery bag. Next photo shows the size of the Shrinky Dinks after coming out of the oven.

STEP 3 : Bake in the oven (follow instructions that come with the Shrinky Dinks) It only takes 1-3 minutes. They curl up as they get hot and then unravel – amazing! If you are making these with your children make sure you turn your oven light on and watch the process, it is fun to watch.

TIPS ABOUT TRACING A PICTURE

My daughter is showing how you can trace a picture onto the sheet. She printed this monkey picture off the internet, but you can use anything that is traceable. Trace it with a black permanent marker and then colour it in.

Here is the finished Shrinky Dink with the monkey picture beside it to show how big it was when we started.

STEP 4 : Put a piece of ribbon or yarn through the hole for a necklace. I used elastic cord which is great because it is stretchy and goes over your head easily.

OUR GALLERY of Shrinky Dinks that we made for Valentines Day and hopefully they will inspire you to make some too.

I hope my readers don’t mind that I am sharing this craft that I actually did and posted last year. My blog had just started so the only people reading last February were probably my Mom and a couple of friends! I did a few fun ideas that I thought would be worth sharing again for anyone new. Shrinky Dinks are so much fun to work with and you can really make anything – not just necklaces and certainly not just stuff for Valentine’s Day!

I am working on a couple of new projects too, so I look forward to sharing them.

I hope you are having a super day in your part of the world. The temperatures are pretty good in Kansas today and I have got my back door open and I am letting the fresh air in!

About these ads