So way back in 2008, one of the first big “experiments in craft” I did for Dabbled was what I called the Shrinky Dink Test Lab.  I had run across the idea for using #6 plastic to make homemade shrink plastic (aka ‘Shrinky Dinks’) at various places on the crafty webs, but I decided to delve a little deeper.  I started with a basic project (Doodle Charm Earrings), and that led to other questions.  What about coloring with other materials like colored pencils?  How do you seal your plastic afterwards so the marker doesn’t rub off?  And successes and failures in all this also led to interesting effects that could be achieved.

So flash forward to 2012.   Blogs are prettier and fancier now, and more professional looking.  We have Pinterest and Facebook and all kinds of visually focused sharing tools.  The technology is cooler now.  Dabbled gets a bunch more traffic than it did back then.  I ran across a really cute tutorial to make a shrinky bracelet and it made me look back  at  these old Shrinky Dink Test Lab posts and they just look so ….old.   Well, I’m not going to totally redo them or anything, but I did think that perhaps an index of them was in order, for better referencing in the future, and maybe some pretty graphics, too –in case you guys..um…I don’t know… wanna Pin this? ;)

Part 1: HOW TO- Doodle Charms – Jewelry from recycled plastic

This section is a good basic tutorial on how to make shrinky jewerly from old takeout containers, with just sharpies, scissors, a hole punch, and a bit of creativity.  Be sure to read the comments, there are extra tips there about how long to heat them, and whether there are issues with fumes, and some other good points.

Part 2: What would happen if..? (The Shrinky Dink Test Lab)

This section is the first of the experiments.  We cover several cool ideas, like drawing on the front and back of the plastic.  Also we tried several ways of sealing the charm, which produced different effects.  You could totally incorporate these effects into your design.  The comments include several good suggestions for other methods of sealing the shrinky.

Part 3: More experimentation in the Shrinky Dink Test Lab

The second day of odd experiments included what would happen if you sealed the shrinky PRIOR to shrinking, as well as a really neat effect using spraypaint.  We also shrink non-flat plastic (the side of a to-go box) and make a ring out of it.  And we combine several of the techniques to make a giant suncatcher, seeing just how big a shrinky we can make!  Finally, we use colored pencils, rather than Sharpies, to color our design.

Part 4 of the Shrinky Dink Test lab: Successful sealing.. maybe

This is the post where the commenters really come through.  Not only do we have the (mixed) results of my sealing using polyurethane, the commenter pipe up with a bunch of other solutions, and several do their own tests to really give us all the data.  If you’re interested in sealing, this is the post to read (including the comments).

Shrinky Dinkies – Special Edition : Make Wraparound Wine Glass Markers

This is not really part of the test lab, but was a fun project tutorial to make temporary wine glass markers.  Plus the idea of doing a shrinky making party with your friends!

Some Other Shrinky Projects:

• Eco-friendly Charm Bracelet
• Christmas Ornament Template and Tutorial

Fabric Flowers Tutorial at Some Art Talk

Tutorial: Make a fabric flower wreath

While we’re on the subject of flowers..Here’s some paper flowers she did last year.

And no post about fabric flowers would be complete without mentioning Craftypod Sister Diane’s Kanzashi in Bloom
book, and her cool video on making kanzashi flowers.

But, I did manage to collect a few cool links for your chilly January pleasure!

I love these washer necklaces at Little Birdie Secrets…Go check out the tutorial!

Crochet a Mustache Hat!

The Boy is seriously into Star Wars… So we made papercraft Star Wars characters the other day! Check out all the designs for free download on Toy-a-Day.

Oh, and a big shout out to Instructables… I won second place in their Halloween Contest (Food Category) with the Flayed Skin Cheeseball… I got my prize… a T-shirt and a Dremel the other day!
– I love Instructables as a great place for project ideas and how-to’s : See My Instructables!

Too funny – A Bloody Severed Hand Waffle at The Pancake Project… See that and more cool links at the always fun Superpunch

Do you sell crafts? Check out the Crafty Seller Roundup on One Pretty Thing!

A classy cool play kitchen (and other homemade gifts), at Creative Kismet. Made by hacking Ikea stuff, I love it! [See past posts on homemade play stoves here and here.

Some incredibly cool stuff from Just Something I Made…

• Perforated Postage Stamps with your sewing machine! So clever.
• Incredibly cool Faux Engraved Jewelry from Acrylic Stamps!

(thanks for the tip, Dudecraft!)

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 of faux shrinky dinks from #6 plastic (previous instructable here or check out my Shrinky Dinky Test Lab experiments) for a fun, updated twist!

Of course, bracelets aren’t the only thing you can do with this — you could make drop earrings, necklaces, bead curtains, or whatever! This would also be a great project for kids to do, I could see this at a pre-teen girl birthday party…

All the instructions are here as an Instructable

PS… Don’t forget to please go vote for my Chocolate Dipped Chocolate instructable in the Sweet Treats contest!

Related:
All the Shrinky Dinks Test Lab Posts
Shrinky Xmas Ornament
Shrinky Wine glass markers

I don’t know if anyone else did these in the Eighties, but if not, maybe you can find other Eighties stuff you did do at Crafting with Cat Hair!

Oh, and the winner of the Anti-Valentines contest hasn’t contacted me yet. I’ve tried to find him/her and haven’t been able to. So please contact me in the next 2 days for your choice of prizes. Otherwise I’ll just start giving them out to the other winners, and you’ll have to take what’s left :)

1. Felted Sweaters, cut into fun shapes – I’m lucky enough to have borrowed a die cut machine (thanks, SomeArtMama!), but you can just cut them out with scissors. Trace around cookie cutters or look for shapes on the web to make a paper template (search google images for things like heart template and flower template).
2. Supplies: Embroidery floss, a button, 3 felt shapes in graduated sizes, safety pin(make sure you needle will fit through the holes in your button!). Felt shapes: for the 2 I did, this one was heart, then flower, topped with circle. The other was flower, star, topped with circle– be creative!
3. Use wire pliers to sprong out your safety pin – You’ll want to separate the loop at the end so you can slide your fabric around it.
4. Stick it in, centered where you want the pin to go, (look at the back – all the silver showing should be able to be covered by your next layer).
5. Slide it through until its on the other side, you’ll have to bunch up the felt and twist it to get it around your loop.
6. Close pin, If you’re giving this to a small child, you may want to dull the point of your safety pin so they won’t prick themselves as easily.
7. Stack your design, (well, you probably did this earlier!)
8. Ready to assemble, Start with the side without the safety pin closure.
9. Place first flower,
10. Sew it on, starting in the center of the flower so your knot will be covered by the next layer. Make as small stitches as possible on the back side. For extra security , you can stitch around the saftely pin so it’s held by the thread as well.
11. Sew on top layer and button, You’re just sewing these to the middle layer, so you don’t have to go all the way through to the back (hides most of the stitching)
12. Note you’re hiding most of the stiching in the middle.,
13. Tie off thread, hidden in the middle,
14. Completed Front,
15. Completed back,
16. Looking adorable! I gave this as a gift for a three year old, attached to the cute heart pink shirt.

Update:

A second version

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 more than a doodle, and you end up with pretty & interesting jewelry!
These charms can be used for earrings, necklaces, or whatever you’d like. They are made out of plastic recycled from a to-go container (#6 plastic). The directions below are for 2 matching ones, which could be earrings. Because plastics & pens vary, you might start out with a test piece so see how much your plastic will shrink, and how your colors come out. Or just jump right in! It’s only trash.

Materials
Plastic: It needs to be marked #6. Many to-go containers seem to work.
Sharpie Markers in a variety of light colors, plus black.
Hole punch
Toaster (or regular) oven, preheated to around 250 degrees F

Cut out two pieces of the flat parts of the plastic container in the size/shape you want. Mine was about 3 inches x 2 inches. You could also do circles or other shapes, but you need to round off any corners because corners will get sharp when shrunk. (note: all plastic doesn’t melt the same and keep the same proportions, so cut both pieces running the same way. e.g. if you’re doing 2 rectangles, cut out one large rectangle and cut it in half to ensure your pieces run the same way. If you’re doing circles, be sure to mark the top and put your holes in the same place.)

On each one, use a hole punch to make a hole in the top center.

Draw your doodle design on each one with the black sharpie. The designs don’t need to be the same, and be creative. Just a series of shapes and doodles. If you’re nervous about drawing it, practice on a spare piece. And you can always draw something on paper and trace it on to the plastic. Remember, shrinking hides a multitude of sins!

Randomly color in the design using a variety of light colors. Colors get way more intense when shrunk. The black will smear if you touch another color to it, so be careful. Again, shrinking will hide most issues.

Place your colored piece on a square of parchment paper, on a tray in your toaster oven. Watch the magic happen! Don’t worry… it will curl up. and curl up again. then finally settle down to the smallest size.

If it’s not quite flat at the end, you can press it down flat immediately. Note, depending on your plastic, it may not be quite the same proportions as you started with.

Voila!

Another fun option: Punch holes in the top and bottom of the charms, and you can string them together into dangly earrings.

Note: these aren’t sealed, so treat them gently… We’ll get to the hassles with sealing in the next experimentation phase!

If you try this (or have your own previous attempts!) comment here with a link… Also, all commenters for this series of posts (links or not) will be entered in a drawing to win one of the featured attempts!

Related:
Introduction to the Shrinky Dinky Test Lab
Part 2: The Experimentation Begins!
Part 3 – More experiments!
All Shrinky Dink Test Lab Posts

Note: the idea of shrinkies from to-go plastic is certainly not original – i think i heard it first on Curbly