Shrink Plastic
 

The directions on my shrink plastic say, "Bake on medium weight cardboard or a teflon sheet. Avoid baking on bare metal... for several minutes."

Okay. I am not putting cardboard in my oven -- I've set chicken breasts on fire (which made me do the screaming dance and run out and dump the flaming chicken on my lawn, which started the grass on fire). I hate being the one in my neighborhood to single-handedly lower the property values.

Anyway, can I lay wax paper in a glass baking dish? I don't have teflon. I don't even know what teflon is. I don't cook, which is why I am now divorced. My ex-husband thought I should cook, of all the ridiculous things. ;)

And what, on God's green Earth, is "several minutes"? Do I just watch the shrink plastic until it uncurls and then pull it out?

Thank you, in advance, from the Household of the Inept.

okay hunny you say you dont cook but if you get you some baking parchment to lay on you cookie sheet it will work just fine and no do not use wax paper it will ruin your stuff. and yes you watch the shrinky curl up then lay back out flat then take out of oven. but remember if you are making a charm to be sure to pierce the shrinky before you bake it . the baking parchment I find it at walmart where the foil and wax paper are located and you can find it in your local grocery store where the baking items are located. I hope this help good luck with your shrinky dink and have fun creating

I use a heat gun to shrink my shrinky...works great. I lay it on a piece of foil and go to town on it...when it's finished I use a large wood block to lay over and keep it flat. You have to do this quickly. Also...if I'm making a hole...I use a large hole punch...it's going to shrink after all. I use tweezers or a skewer to hold it down while I heat...also great to keep it from getting too curled. if you use the heat tool straight over the item and don't move it around alot...your shrinky should flatten itself out...no worries. Don't worry...I don't cook either...or sew for that matter. HTH

i do heat gun or aluminum foil on baking sheet

I do the exact same thing as listed here. I used a 1/4" hole punch for the charm hole. QUICK TIP: Don't heat your shrinky dink with a heat embossing tool too close to an open toilet. Ask me how I know this? LOL

Karolyn,
LOL, I have it on good experience that shrinky dink does fly at un-appropriate times. I've decided stamping with you would be fun or at least entertaining!

Diana

Oh yeah, a barrel of laughs!! LOL Come on up - you're probably only about 8 hours away, huh?!! Hehehe

Karolyn,
It's the drive through Seattle that will get ya. I know, on your way down to Sun Lake come by (Maupin) and put me in your suitcase, Hee,hee.

Diana

Okie dokie! You don't mind riding in the back with the cat's litter box, right? LOL

Oh:eek:, Nooooooooooo!;)

Diana

Hi All,
Since I know you are into Shinky Dink, check out my Gallery for my new Shrinky Dink Inchies. Hope you Enjoy.

Diana

Your Inchies are adorable!! I am getting out my shrinky dinky plastic to play with tonight!!! Thanks for the inspiration!!

I love shrinky dinks! I use the cardboard, and trust me, I set food on fire too! The difference is I sit and watch the shrinky dinks. They make awesome wine glass charms!

I've done the shrink plastic in a toaster oven before. Be very careful, though, the plastic can curl pretty high. I have done this with vellum over the top to help prevent the plastic from curling onto itself and getting stuck. But, I've ended up setting the vellum on fire in the toaster oven because it got too close to the element.

The final results are so worth it!

Since Diana (justonemore) shared her beautiful creations using Shrinky Dink, I thought I'd show you my most recent Shrinky Dink project too. I made these for the Shirley's 2 Girls blog hop. Enjoy!!

Those are sooooo cute!!!

Oh, those are darling. They would add some fun 8) to a Halloween Party! Also a great project for Shrinky Dink. TFS.

Diana

These are just fantastic! What a neat idea for a Christmas gift-set of charms and wine glasses. Thanks for sharing such a cute idea!:-D

Too Cute! Excellent idea. I have several of these tins and was wondering what else to d with them :) :)

Thanks for sharing...

I put my shrinky dink in a small non-stick saucepan and use my heat gun. The sides of the pan keep it from flying away. And you can flip it easily because you have a handle on your pan - just pretend it's a flapjack.

hi
 

bake shrink plastic at 275 or 300 or 325' tops. No more than 325. When you remove it, the plasctic will strech at a higher temp. Ask me how I know.

bake for 1 min 30 sec to 3 min. tops. The higher the temp, the shorter the time. The type of shrink plastic tells you the temp & time. The plastic does curl and than sould straighen out. than remove from oven. Use heavy book (at once) to flaten. You can rebake again and again, etc if not happy with the flatness. Remember the heavy book.

I cut up an old brown bag to place my plastic on. I layer the bag on a cookie sheet. At 275 and in the middle of the oven, it will not catch on fire. I do use my toaster oven and only bake 6 or 8 items at one time. Other wise they cool too fast and I can not remove them from the bag without it sticking to the bag. I also have a pancake turner handy.

I think the plastic may stick to the wax paper?

Remember to punch the hole before you bake. I have heard that you can use your cod to punch the hole if you forget. I have not tryed it.

I love Shrink Art

have fun.

Betty

subing in

Don't know if you meant to but you made me laugh out loud :) My kids think I am crazy, in here laughing to myself. Hope your Shrink Plastic adventure goes well!! Thanks for making my long tired day have a funny ending!!

I've shrunk lots of Shrinky Dinks/shrink plastic in my toaster oven (at 275), and I've never used paper or cardboard. I just put them on my baking tray. If you want to protect the tray, just put a piece of aluminum foil under the plastic. Paper will not catch fire unless your heat is at 451 degrees. (Remember the novel Farenheit 451?) You're pretty safe at 275 - unless it touches the heating element, of course.

On the shrinky dink subject! I am making some keychains for a craft fair and there are 2 parts to the die I am using, which means I have to glue them together. I tried hot glue but within 5 mins my 6 year old came back with one part missing! So I dont want the same thing happening to some other child, any suggestions for what glue might work?

TIA

I use the heat-gun method with a bamboo skewer (learned in a class eons ago). Place the cutout in a shoe box or cigar box to 'contain' it (I used to line it with aluminum foil, but don't bother with that any more). A bamboo skewer held in the other hand will keep the little beastie from getting away: GENTLY hold the beastie down with your skewer ... if you punched a hole (such as for a jumper ring), hold it down with the skewer positioned in the hole.
-Mary

You could try Diamond Glaze or E6000.

You can also use your heat gun. Just put your shrink plastic item on a teflon ironing sheet. I hold mine down with my sharp pokey thing that you use to make holes in cards. I have never put it in an oven. Hope it works for you. Whimsy

subbing

lay on parchment paper on a cookie sheet or something flat. several minutes is just that you may have to watch at first to see how long your oven may take.

I'm wasting some time this morning before heading out with my daughter for appointments. You ladies are too, too funny! I'm here in my office, be myself, laughing out loud. My daughter thinks I've finally lost it! Thanks for the laughs. BTW, I love the examples that some of you have shared. I think I need to get out my shrink plastic again. Have a great day, everyone!

You're welcome StampinDeb! I sometimes feel like I'm somebody's cosmic joke, so I've had to find the humor in the things that go on around me. It feels good to share!

I am glad to find your site - now I know what a good one looks like.
Very good topic to share with us. Great info.:p:D

I got some shrink plastic this weekend and I used a heat gun on it also worked with a heat mat. Mainly because I am too idle to walk to the kitchen and put the oven on heheheheeee Punched a hole in the charm at the beginning before the shrink and after the shrink attached an elastic charm strap. I also did some more but made them double sided which looked much better. The charm shown here is only one sided. They also look good covered in embossing powder to give a lacquered look and lovely shine !!

Made a charm for my mobile

Hope you like it .. cool technique

Mobile charm

Ok, ok...I give! I admit, all this time I've read various threads about Shrinky Dinks and I thought "Didn't they ban those in the 80's?". lol (Obviously, I am not one who keeps up with trends. lol)

Now I am intrigued with the wine charms. Not that I'd use them because I'm a lone drinker - j/k. lol Is there a tutorial out there to make the wine charms? So adorable!!

Thanks for the laughs, ladies!

I did a tutorial on my blog a couple of weeks ago. You can check it out HERE. Hope this helps!

Glad to hear you're using this: I plan to keep it much more aggressively up-to-date than has been the case in the past, but don't hesitate to let me know if you find errors or need clarifications.:cool::-D

I bake my apple pies inside of brown paper bags. So I know you could use one as a cookie sheet cover.

question about markers?
 

It's been years since I've used shrinky dinks. Anyway I saw the cutest keychains and I'm trying to duplicate them. I'm using stazon ink for the outline stamped image but what works best to color it in. I've tried to use SU markers just didn't work out to well. Do any of you have ideas or tips that could help me out. Thanks in advance.

Shauna
Stamping in Delaware

Shauna, Try colored pencils. Before baking you have sandpapered one side, this is the side that will be receptive to the colored pencils. Good Luck.


Diana