How to make 'Shrinky Dink' Embellishments


Do you remember making 'shrinky dinks' as a kid?
That's where you take a plastic snack wrapper, place it in the oven and it shrinks to little pieces.
I remember using a Twisties packet and adding it to my keyring (I thought I was one very cool kid!).
Here I've used the same concept but made them into cute little embellishments for a headband.


1. Cover an oven tray with foil and pre-heat your oven. I set mine medium as I wanted some control over how they shrunk plus I kept the door open .  Empty all the contents from your snack packs and place on tray.
2. Use a baking tin to help keep them flat as they will curl.  When they have shrunk to the size you want, dip them in cold water and this will hardened them instantly.
3. Find something round to fit the shrunk packet and use pinking shears to cut.  A straight cut doesn't really work because they are 3 dimensional and they never look round.
4. These are more for embellishments that won't get a huge amount of wear and tear.  I added a button and then stitched them to a fabric covered headband for my daughter.  The stitching can tear the plastic so back it up with some glue.

Did you make 'Shrinky Dinks' as a kid?

7 comments:

trudi@maudeandme said...

Ah yes I remember. twisties was the popular one at my school.

Fussy Eater's Mum said...

Yes! we bought them as a special kit, but so glad to know that I can use everyday wrappers. Thanks for this. Cheered my day!

Merri WA said...

Oh the memories come flooding back. We used to use twitie & burger ring packets & then put them onto our earrings.

How cool were we (or not)!!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Angela said...

Yes I remember this! My best friend made heaps of them but I wasn't allowed :( Lol. Maybe now is my time!!

Megan said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing Jodie - I've never seen or heard of these :-)

Jodie @ The Haby Goddess said...

That's because you're not as old as I am Miss Robintail :)

Megan said...

True Jodie! But as a child of the 90's, I missed out on the shrinky dinks :-(