Shrinky Dink ?

[McKelly]

I have some shrinky dink paper which I am going to use for my Brownie troop, however, I am wondering what works best on the sheets for coloring purposes, crayons, colored pencils, permanent markers,.........anybody have any experience with this? Thanks!

 

[DisneyDork712]

Don't use crayons!! The wax will not shrink with the shrink plastic - they'll just melt - and you will have a huge mess! I really like using Tombow pens/markers, Zig markers, American Crafts markers - pretty much any good scrapbooking type marker will work really well. When working with kids however, I would let them use coloring pencils. Any coloring pencil will also work really well.

 

[Imzadi]

As I recall, they each gave different effects. Colored pencils gave a lighter, more opaque color, while markers gave a more saturated color. Give the girls both to try.

Also, for a nice frosted glass look, just take a very fine sandpaper & scuff up one side & leave it uncolored. I edged around it with black permanent marker to give it a "Leaded Glass" look.

Also, a thin wash of metalic acrylic paints or pearlized acrylic paints give a nice translucent look. Thin down the paints with water before applying to the back side.

 

[McKelly]

Do I need to color both sides of the shrinky dink? Sorry, it has been a lllooonnnggg time, since I made shrinky dinks.

 

[DisneyDork712]

Do I need to color both sides of the shrinky dink? Sorry, it has been a lllooonnnggg time, since I made shrinky dinks.

Nope. Just color the rough side! If there isn't a rough side, use some sand paper to make one side rough. I know that some of the colored shrinky dink papers (black, brown, yellow, pink, etc.) doesn't come with a rough side, you have to do it yourself. If you have stamps you could also stamp a picture and then color it. Have you seen the Inkjet shrink paper? You can print stuff from your printer onto it and shrink it! It's really cool! I've used it for a ton of little zipper charms for the kids at work. I get orders for those all the time. I always cover my work with Ranger Glossy Accents dimensional glass medium. It really makes your colors brighter, wether you've used markers or color pencils or the inkjet paper. And it protects your picture. Have fun!

 

[Imzadi]

Make sure it's very FINE sandpaper.

I also edged around the pieces with gold or silver paint before shrinking. For earrings, they really add a touch of bling!

Make sure you use a hole puncher to punch holes in earrings (for jump rings & ear loops) before you shrink. It's virtually impossible to put holes in after firing. Leave enough shrink material above the top of the ring, so the hole will be sturdy enough after firing, without tearing or breaking. BUT, place the hole high enough so you can fit a metal ring through it.

For some designs, you do NOT have to fire the dinks completely flat. I took some out of the oven while they had shrunk some yet were in the "Pringles potato chip" curvy phase & hadn't flattened all the way yet. They will be bigger, thinner & not quite as sturdy, (so scale designs accordingly) but for earrings, which can be more delicate, the wavy dimension was fun.

I pre-made several designs for the gals, so they could see the before size vs. the finished results. Also, they could compare the look of markers to colored pencils, to paints. Fine point black Sharpie permanent markers work great for adding squiggles, lines, names, etc. it's a very saturated black. They could also see if they wanted fully flat or slightly wavy.

To get permanent marker off hands or clothes afterwards, have a spray bottle of hairspray nearby. It disolves the permanent ink.

I had photocopied basic shapes like squares, circles, triangles, diamonds, stars, etc. onto paper in their preshrunk sizes, so they could easily trace them and get the finished sizes they want. It's hard at that age for the gals to picture the ratio of shrinkage from before to after. They don't want to end up with an earring or charm the actual size of a Pringles chip.

 

[DisneyDork712]

Just wanted to add that if you have a pin vice, they work really well for making the hole in a piece that you have already shrunk. I made some little strawberries that I was going to use on a scrapbook page, but I decided to use them in a charm bracelet instead. I used my pin vice set and it worked great!