This was a quickie project using #6 plastic to make faux “shrinky dinks”. We’ve done this type of thing before on dabbled, but usually with the clear stuff. I see tons of possibilities with today’s raw material, Solo drink cups. These are those disposable cups that seem to be at every party, and in the trash afterwards… so loads of good recycling you can do here!

MSCE April Day 3:
I decided to make a quick ID tag for a bag or backpack, with just a name and phone-number on it. You could, of course, do almost anything. After I played around with…

This is a fun and easy project, costs less than $1 to make, has tons of possibilities for customization, requires no jewelry making skill or real tools, and is a way to recycle stuff that would be thrown away! What could be better??

This was inspired by something I used to do when I was a kid back in the eighties, make friendship bracelets out of fishing tackle (specifically a barrel swivel). You can buy these anywhere they sell fishing gear – I paid 99cents for a pack of 12 and didn’t even use them all.

I combined that with my love…

For my IF this week, Santa (who was flying a few weeks ago) is now hanging out on an suncatcher ornament. What a rambunctious little scamp (ok, stretching the theme again, I admit it!) This is done as a faux ’shrinky-dink’, using the plastic lid from a to-go box (#6 plastic) and sharpie markers. See below for the ‘how-to’. This would be great to do with kids, for personalize ornaments for the grandparents!

And the drawing, colored in Photoshop, just for fun:

If you want to make your own, here are some quickie directions. [I have very detailed directions, ideas and experiments…

–Don’t forget! The Summer Doldrums contest – It’s fun to share your stuff!–

See all 5 installments in this 4 part series! If you’re starting with this one, go read the first several to get to this point.
Also: an Instructable on the original doodle earrings, including some of the lessons learned.

So, I thought I had it all figured out. After some web research, and checking what supplies were in my basement, I figured I’d seal the shrinkies with a jar of Polyurethane.. There are other methods (embossing powder, nail polish, and other stuff–ValGalArt mentioned in the comments that Shrinky Dinks makes something to…

–Don’t forget! The Summer Doldrums contest – It’s fun to share your stuff!–

Shrinky Dinky Test Lab – Intro
Shrinky Dinky Test Lab – Part 1 – How to make Doodle earrings
Part 2: Experiments
Special Holiday Edition – Glass markers and a Shrinky Party

Tomorrow: How to successfully seal your shrinkies.. maybe…

Part 3 – More experiments:

1) What happens if you coat your shrinky in clear coat, PRIOR to shrinking?
Let’s use the lightening effect to our advantage for an interesting watercolor effect. And create an opaque effect! Note, we did get some cloudyness where the spray top coat was on too thick, but it IS unusual!

2)…

We’ll be back with more Shrinky Dink Test lab tomorrow–the experiments continue–, but today is your special Holiday edition!

For the 4th of July, my husband and best friend were running the Peachtree Road Race, so I decided to have brunch at my house and invite over friends for mimosas and food. Since we were doing mimosas (champagne and OJ for the uninitiated), i figured everyone would be drinking out of stemmed glasses and they’d get mixed up, so what about making some fun, temporary glass markers using shrinky dinks. I made up 6 the night before on a whim, and they…

–Don’t forget! The Summer Doldrums contest – It’s fun to share your stuff!–

Shrinky Dinky Test Lab – Intro
Shrinky Dinky Test Lab – Part 1 – How to make Doodle earrings

The Shrinky Dink Test Lab – Part 2
After I finished making the doodle charms, I sat down to write up the tutorial… but I got distracted thinking about what other things I could try. These are the first of the results. Includes instructions for making charms with a different technique.

Test 1: Coloring on the front and back.
One of the difficulties in coloring the Doodle Charms was that the black sharpie would smear…

–Don’t forget! The Summer Doldrums contest – It’s fun to share your stuff!–

All Shrinky Dinky Test Lab Posts

The Shrinky Dink Test Lab – Part 1
This started so simply. I was going to make these charms and that was going to be that. The project was to make cool looking jewelry, rather than childish stuff. Well, it grew from there as after I was finished I got some more ideas, and kept trying things, so stay tuned for more fun successes and failures playing around with recycled plastic shrinkies!

Doodle Charms
Here’s a quick fun project! You don’t need to be able to draw…

Stay tuned… a 4 part series on making shrinky things by recycling plastic stuff that would go in the trash… starts tomorrow! Armed with a bunch of old #6 plastic to-go containers, the Dabbled Lab performs a series of experiments on techniques, and you’ll see the successes, the failures, and the “hmmm, what if I tried this instead”s.
Just like the shrinky dinks you played with as a kid, but cheap and good for the earth!

Check it out!
Shrinky Dinks by Recycling Trash Series

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