Shrinky Dinks Valentine Garland

My youngest son had a fever over the weekend. I could tell he was getting a little restless, as he was not completely down and out. Wondering what we could do that was different and fun, I came across shrinky dinks on a blog that I frequent. Oh, I was so excited! I loved shrinky dinks when I was a kid...certainly my child would be just as amazed as I had. By the way, I tried to go back and find the post so I could give credit to them for inspiring me, but I couldn't find it...sorry whoever you are!

My son and I had fun creating cute little monsters, bumblebees and butterflies.



Just a quick little lesson on shrinky dinks for any of you that don't know what I'm talking about.



Ok, now that we got that out of the way...

I did a before and after photo using a quarter for size reference.


To shrink the shrinky dinks, you bake them in a toaster oven or a regular oven following the manufacturer's instructions. My instructions said to bake at 325 for 3 minutes.



They'll shrink up about 50%. We baked them on a baking sheet lined with brown paper bag. My son and I watched them curl up and then flatten during the shrinking process. It's so fun to watch! I used to love this part when I was a kid!



I wanted to make some sort of Valentine decoration with our creations, so I decided to make a sweet, little garland to hang in my kitchen window.

First, I sewed random buttons on to a few strands of red embroidery thread.



Then I grabbed twine from my husband's workshop.



I wrapped the button thread around a piece of twine to give it an added dimension of interest and texture.



Some craft glue and my shrinky dinks, and I was ready!



A little glob of glue...



position the green little monster on the twine...and let dry!



a little orange monster!



a little blue monster!



another little green monster! My son made this one...it's so cute! he's got one small yellow arm and one giant yellow arm!



I let the little monsters hang out and dry...



...and hung them in my kitchen window!



I think it's kinda cute! I love Valentine's Day! It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside...hearts, candy, love, paper valentines, love notes!

For the sweet little bumblebee my son made, I made a plant pick. I simply took craft glue and adhered a toothpick to the back side of the bee. Easy stuff here people!



It's overcast right now, and not too much natural light in my house, so I brought my plant out into the shivering cold to take a photo...poor little plant!



Dang, I think this bumblebee is my favorite of all!



But then again, there IS this cute little arm with a tattoo heart that my son also made.



This just cracked me up! How did he come up with this? I can't decide what to do with this piece. I gotta think a little bit more on this one!