I could have spent my New Year’s Eve mauled by vexing teenagers at Crystal Castles, or at one of the other debauchery-filed Chicago orgies.  But…I mean…I already did that last year, and I think any future New Year’s Eve show experience will be peas to seeing Justice.  (Plus, I feel old and listless with my 9-5 job, and escaping youth.)  As a result, I stayed at home to shrink plastic and play my ukulele.

Last week, my coworker caught me looking at embossing heat tools online.  This led to my spirited declaration that I had decided to embark on a new adventure in life: shrinky dink.  Having never played with it as a child, I have always been curious about shrinking plastic.  It is ubiquitous on etsy (1,287 results!), and I like the idea of things shrinking before my eyes (NOTE: I hated “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” REFLECTION: I must not enjoy all shrinking objects).  So, for the past week I have been gathering supplies for my adventure.

shrinky dink suppliesSupplies:

1. PolyShrink.  Thinking that I would not be able to find Shrinky Dink plastic in any store, I found PolyShrink on eBay.  Today I discovered, however, that MICHAELS SELLS SHRINKY DINK PLASTIC.  Harrumph.

2. Stamps. These are from Paper Source.  This sad dinosaur was on clearance, so the purchase was partly fueled by pity (but the stamp is really rad).  He just wants to party!!!

3. Hand Punch. I have always been meaning to buy a 1/8″ circle punch.  Craft-wise, it is the most useful circle size.  Until this purchase, I MAY (circle) or may not had been improvising my own 1/8″…by stabbing paper with a compass spear.

4. Embossing Heat Tool. Another life desire that I made happen this week.  When I turn it on, I like to pretend that it is a large blow torch or a bazooka.  To shrink plastic, you can also use ovens.  I wanted to use an embossing tool instead because I think an oven would waste a lot more energy shrinking a small piece of plastic.

I had all the supplies to make plastic pendants and rings, WITH THE EXCEPTION of a permanent black ink pad.  I am not sure why I forgot this crucial ingredient in the mix, but I became overcome with excitement when I saw EVERYTHING ELSE lumped together, so I forged ahead anyways.  On my side was a permanent marker, and the patience to trace things.

Shrinky Dink Ring Paper Source Bear with Heart Stamp

Using this tutorial as a guide, I first made a ring.  IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE ABOUT THE TUTORIAL: Different brands of shrink plastic will shrink at different percentages.  The PolyShrink I have shrinks to 45% of its original size.  This is important to note, as I overlooked this fact, even though it is on the package.  My ring is too big.  Fail, Tricia.  I traced the bear heart stamp using my permanent marker, and it seemed to work well.  The process is slightly laborious, however, I took multiple breaks to play my ukulele since I have a short attention span.  Today I bought a black permanent ink pad, so my future is void of stamp tracing.

shrinky dink necklace ratatat classics cover

My third project (My second creation was a party dinosaur key chain, but I already gave that to my friend.  He seemed to enjoy it.) was a necklace!  The image might look familiar; it is the cat on the cover of Ratatat’s Classics album.  Despite hating cats in the real world, I’ve always enjoyed the cat on the album.  So I traced it.

The end of my New Year’s Eve fun!  Have you ever played with shrinky dink plastic?  Do you have any tips you could share?

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