Tutorial for Shrinkable Plastic Christmas Ornaments: A Perfect Project for the Kiddos

Three-Year-Old Self-Portrait: "Me with my hands in my pockets"
"Emerson-partner-Maggie in a crazy shirt"
"Mommy with a sixth invisible finger"
"Daddy in a tie-dye shirt" (he has glasses and facial hair)

I've posted on Shrinky Dinks before (I love them by the way), but now my son is getting into the action.

I had some Grafix ink jet printable shrinkable plastic (available on amazon.com) that I cut into squares and allowed my son to decorate with Sharpie permanent markers.  He decided to draw a portrait of each member of our family.  How perfect - and priceless - will these be as Christmas ornaments on our tree!?!

Be sure to punch holes in the plastic before baking (with a regular hole punch).  Follow instructions on package for oven temperature and baking time.  This is a fast project that can be completed in under a half hour.

My son also used this technique to make bookmarks and ornaments for his teachers as a holiday gift.  As he was only three years old at the time, I took the liberty of writing his message to his teachers onto the back of the shrinkable plastic before shrinking it in the oven!

Have fun with your holiday gifts this year; after all, you can't start too early!

Somehow I missed out on the childhood joy of Shrinky Dinks...

So, as a child, somehow I missed out on the joy of Shrinky Dinks. One year ago, my sister-in-law remedied this at my request. Armed with my first set of Shrinky Dinks, I began to create. I had high expectations... I wanted them to look professional... I wanted to use them in my jewelry making.

I had been making jewelry using my photography, applying my original images to polymer clay and then covering them in resin. Alas, my colored pencil Shrinky Dink creations did not have the look I was hoping for. What did I expect from a product created for children?

I even bought a book, which had some pretty cool ideas!

But, as I searched Etsy, I saw other Shrinky Dink jewelry. There must be a way to print my photographs onto this amazing shrinkable plastic. Finally, I found my solution. Now I am about to reveal a trade secret here...

I found Grafix brand ink-jet printable, white, shrinkable plastic that could be fed through my printer.

After much experimentation with color/contrast adjustment (the pigment becomes more dense *read "darker"* as it shrinks), I had found my material. How fun! Now I can make anything into jewelry and you can too, with the help of Photoshop, a printer, and shrinkable plastic!

So, now in addition to my polymer clay photography jewelry (pendants and earrings), I can create fun, extremely lightweight earrings. In a recession, it is always fun to seek product lines for all budgets. :)