Do you remember Shrinky-Dinks®?
I participated in a “Crafternoon” at the Orillia Museum of Art and History (OMAH) this week, where we got to revisit this crazy magical activity, one that I remember doing with my boy back in the mid-1990s.
Under the guidance of Olivia Rozema, OMAH’s “Community Engagement Co-ordinator” and an artist is her own right (although she works WAY bigger than in Shrinky Dinks®), we learned how to take #6 recyclable plastic and shrink it down into pendants, earrings, key-rings, charms, or in my case an anniversary gift!
If we had had more than a couple of hours, I am sure some in the workshop would have come up with some serious artistic results – but more about that in a moment.
Shrinky-Dinks® originated with a couple of Cub Scout moms in their Wisconsin kitchen in 1973 looking for a craft project. The craft was licensed to several major toy companies. Another brand name was Shrinkles®.
In our case, Olivia had us use up-cycled plastic – the kind of clear thin plastic clamshell box that croissants, cookies, or a lunchtime sandwich might come in. But MAKE SURE it is #6 plastic or (Olivia warns) it will melt all over your cookie sheet. We cut out a flat piece of the plastic, coloured it with markers, baked it on a foil-lined cookie sheet, and Voila! A shrinkle! Or a dink!
Our first tries were not big enough – these things REALLY shrink up – and my 1st wee mouse drawing would have required a magnifying glass to appreciate it. So we all had several “go’s” at it.
In my case, I have a 33rd wedding anniversary coming up, and a husband who collects pigs. At the suggestion of my friend Gail, I grabbed a handy napkin and sketched out a pig and a number 33 that I thought would be a better size. Then I traced the 33 onto my plastic, sketched the pig freehand, coloured them in with my markers (decided to add a heart too), cut them to shape, and sent them to bake. 2 minutes at 350˚. The quarter gives you an idea of the “before” and “after” size.
Not only does it shrink down in size, but the thin #6 plastic becomes a lot thicker, and very hard. It’s important to remember to punch a hole in the plastic BEFORE baking. Jump rings or other jewellery-making notions can be found at arts and crafts stores.
Some of the participants in our Crafternoon tried acrylic paint instead of the permanent markers and that made for an interesting textured result. Non-wax coloured pencils apparently work too. A number of serious artists have started to create with this medium too. You can see some examples here:
https://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article20500794.html and on the Shrinky Dinks® Wikipedia page. The shrinking capability of Shrinky Dinks® has also been used in some science fields – useful AND inexpensive.
So get out there and up-cycle your #6 plastic clamshells. But if you have more will-power than me and you don’t eat cookies or croissants or yummy ready-made sandwiches, then you can find “heat shrinkable” sheets and Shrinky Dinks® packs at Walmart, Michael’s, Amazon, and elsewhere.
OMAH offers great programs: Crafternoons, Lunch and Learn, Wine and Paint nights, and more, so do check them out at www.orilliamuseum.org. Great gallery showings too. If you’re in Central Ontario, drop by!
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