Latternfly shrinky dink necklace
Insects are kind of my thing. And lately shrinky dink (the iconic 70/80s kids craft) has been my thing.
Here is how I make shrinky dink jewelry that is fit for the office or wherever else you want to wear it.
Supplies
Shrinky dink
Sharpie
Alcohol ink
Rubbing Alcohol
Paint brush
Q-tips
Chain
Jump rings
Hole punch
Optional
Printed image
Beads
- If you’re artistic, go ahead and draw directly on the shrinky dink. I am not artistic so I worked with an image I printed off the internet. Trace the outline of your pieces. I decided I wanted two layers.
- Trace or freehand the details. I used sharpie for the wing veins and a Q-tip with alcohol ink for the spots.
Top half of my latternfly is almost finished.
I filled in the red for the bottom piece with a sharpie and then quickly brushed red alcohol ink on top to help get rid of the lines.
Once again, I added veins with a sharpie and spots with a Q-tip just like I did with the top piece.
Using a Q-tip I dabbed white alcohol ink onto the wings and filled in the rest of the details on the body with alcohol ink using a Q-tip and brush.
Tips
I use the rubbing alcohol to dilute the alcohol ink if I just want to lightly tint the shrinky dink. You have to play with the ratio. And be warned a little rubbing alcohol goes a looooong way. I thought I was going to use this trick on the top wings to get a lighter brown.
But I decided last minute to mix white and brown alcohol ink and give a quick wash to the back of my piece. Please not that this only works on transparent shrinky dink.
- Don’t forget to add holes with a hole punch if you need to add jump rings!
- Preheat your oven to 325 or whatever temp your shrinky dink instructions indicate. Lay out your pieces on some foil on a baking sheet.
- Pop in the oven and try not to freak out as your piece curls into itself. All my pieces do. I usually open the oven and gently help pieces unfurl when my anxiety peaks.
I pull them out after they look mostly flat and quickly press them with a book.
- If your piece is more than one layer like mine, some E6000 glue works well.
- Add jump rings, chain, and whatever other findings your heart desires. For this one, I added some pretty little red beads.
And no worries if you’re not into bugs as much as I am. You can use the same steps to make something more to your taste.
