Does it ring a bell or sound foreign to you? No, it is not the name of a cartoon character or a washing detergent. In fact, I bet you have seen shrinky dinks around, just that you didn't realize that this was the name for it.
Shrinky dink consists of large flexible sheets which, when heated in an oven, shrink to small hard plates without altering their color or shape. It was invented in 1973 by two housewives in Wincosin and reached the height of its popularity in the 1980s.
I first came to know of it when I was a teen. Handphone, actually I mean pager, charms were the in thing during my secondary school days and I remember my friends and I created shrinky dink charms which had colourful flowers and even our chinese names. Don't you love anything personalised? When I first saw how it shrunk when placed in the oven, it was sheer magic.
Remember our visit to Eatplaylove Café which was featured in the last Creativity 521 post? Well, you could say I was thrilled to be able to reminisce the fond times and be awed by the magic once more.My first shrinky dink piece that day was a pendant for Angel which she totally adored. From a selection of pictures found in the books, she chose this cute and relatively easy-to-draw bunny. Using a frosted, pre-sanded shrinky dink sheet, I placed it over the picture, traced it using a pencil and then coloured it with color pencils followed by an outline with a fine black marker. Of course, I couldn't help it but personalised it for my girl too!
When heated up, the plastic shrinks by about five-eighths and becomes thicker and harder. The first Angel saw her pendant shrinking in the oven, she was fascinated beyond words too.
The great thing about shrinky dinks is that with just one piece of plastic sheet, you can make so many things with it! Pendants, earrings, rings, handphone charms, magnets, key chains, bookmarks, coasters and the list goes on. Since we had time to spend at Eatplaylove, I decided to make a pair of matryoshka doll earrings for myself whilte the hubby made his first DIY present for Angel - a ladybird ring. The earrings took me a good half an hour to color and add in the details but I love how they turned out, don't you?
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The fun doesn't stop!
I bought some shrinky dink plastic sheets so that we could make some magic at home too!Materials:
1) Shrinky dink plastic sheets (Eatplaylove and Daiso sell them)
There are different types available: Frosted, opaque (white and black), printable
Note: You can only use color pencils on the frosted sheets
2) Hole puncher
3) Colour pencils
4) Permanent markers (fine)
5) Scissors
6) Pictures
7) Toaster oven
While I don't understand the craze about Hello Kitty and will never be bothered to queue up for plush toys, I do know that my girl loves this fictional character very much and so, I decided to make her a couple of hair pins.Firstly, I printed out Hello Kitty pictures and then I used an opaque white shrinky dink sheet to trace them out. I added in the names, cut out the shapes and put them in the oven. All you need to do is place them over a baking sheet on a tray, turn up the heat and they will start to curl. Once they flatten out, give it around 5-8 secs more and they are done! Remove them with a tongs and make sure they stay flat when left to cool.
Can you see how small and cute the Hello Kitties turn out to be? These are Angel's first personalised hair accessories and the great thing is they don't cost a dime.
Last but not least, my favorite shrinky dink project was using the printable sheet where I could design and customise anything I desire. I decided to make keychain charms for everyone and a small little gift for myself. Can you guess what it is?
Ta-dah! A keychain charm for the hubby in celebration of our 10th year of being together, a mini one for Angel, and a pair of earrings just for me. Woohoo!Yes, sounds like a weirdo mom but I actually love to 'wear' my girls when I go out nowadays. Angel on one ear, Ariel on the other, it's like they will be with me wherever I go. I don't fancy diamond earrings, not that I have a pair, but these, I hold and treasure like a gem.
Even if my girls make me weary and upset me at times, the truth is they bring me love and joy I never knew existed. I guess that is why I just can't get enough of them. Ever.******
