Shrinky Dink with Me! Tutorial & Tips

As a kid I have always wanted to try these, and now I finally could!

I must say I could not believe how amazing the things are, especially when they shrink down in the oven. I almost had a hard attack when I saw them begin to warp. I thought to myself, "Oh s***! I messed up." Then after a couple of minutes, I saw that they flattened out (phew~). If you have not tried these yet and/or part of your childhood dream, do not wait any longer, get them and try them out, I promise you will not be disappointed.

The first one I made was this:

Oh my goodness was I excited to see my FIRST shrinky dink come out. This I made as a gift for my friend Ryan on his birthday. To be honest, I was reluctant in giving it to him because I loved it so much. In the end, I knew that it was meant to be a gift for him...also that chibi in the cup is supposed to be him, so I think keeping this charm by me might give him the wrong message teehee. Then again, I love all my friends and want them all to stay by my side!! *cough cough* okay back to talking about shrinky dinkies ;) I made this little guy on my first try, so there is a highly good chance yours will come out wonderful as well.

The paper I used was Ruff N' Ready Shrinky Dinks Paper, pack of 10 sheets.

It was an Amazon add-on item, so I thought I would give it a go. And after my first charm I made, I watched some videos and realized to help the ink stay on, the shrink paper needs to be sanded or "roughed up." Glad I got this one, it is already sanded and thus all ready to go right out of the package for you to draw on. Whoopie!

Note: This is about a letter-sized paper and for me, I could make around 4 charms a sheet or more. It really depends on the size of your drawings too. THEY SHRINK DOWN HALF THEIR SIZE. Yup, they do not call them "shrinky" dinks for nothing.

I used SHARPIE markers for this, and I suggest if you are coloring to get the sharpie kit with multiple colors so you can do shades in between. Like the ones below :D

Tips in the tutorial above:

TIP 1: I suggest drawing out your image before hand and trace it onto the shrink paper instead of free-drawing it. It will help minimize mistakes when lining your art.

TIP 2: If you are using an iPad to trace over like I did, use apps like procreate that have "palm-rejection" to prevent your image from moving when tracing. Also, when you draw on there you will be able to adjust the size of your drawing XD How cool is that?

TIP 3: Unlike me who outlined black first, I would suggest a lighter color when tracing because if you are planning to color your piece, the black outline tends to smear if you are not careful. Perhaps use a light gray instead.

TIP 4: When hole punching, make sure it is not too far from the edge unless the jump ring you are using to connect them to a strap or something is big enough to stretch that far.

TIP 5: In the oven, if they look warped as shown in the video, keep it in there, it will flatten. When that happens, some may look a bit wavy, if so, use a paper pad or something flat and heat resistance to flatten it out. (It needs to be warm for this, but if you find that it is warped AFTER it is cooled, pop it back in the oven for a bit, then flatten it out).

Any Questions? Just Ask ;)