Shrinky Dink Necklace

Do you remember playing with Shrinky Dinks as a kid? Well, did you know the material is perfect for making highly detailed, comfortable-to-wear necklaces and other jewelry? Shrinky Dinks offer an inexpensive, fun-to-work-with material that is playful, durable and beautiful.

Begin with a package of Shrinky Dinks. Each package contains six 8" x 4-3/4" sheets.

You can use a Sharpie which works better than pencil for a monochrome design.

You will need a scissors and an X-acto knife plus a velvet ribbon and jewelery parts.

Keep in mind your design will shrink to a little smaller than 50% of your original size. I drew the larger motif at 3 inches in diameter. The smaller motifs are 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Trace the design on the rough side of the Shrinky Dink sheet using your Sharpie to color them.

Cut out the white part of the motifs using an X-acto knife. It's a little slippery so cut out inside of the motifs before trimming away the outside part (so it is easier to hold). When you cut out all the white part, use a scissors to trim the outline.

I touched up with the color using a Sharpie again to cover the whole surface black.

The amount of time you will need to bake each piece varies with size. I recommend baking each piece one-by-one.

As you bake, don't worry if the piece seems to shrink a lot. It will become flat again after about two minutes in the toaster oven.

When you remove each piece from the toaster oven you need to press each one quickly to make it completely flat. I used a jam spreading spoon to make the motif completely flat.

Attach the jewelry parts you'd like to create a necklace. I used the mat side for the front. (The back is shiny.)

I used a velvet ribbon but you could also make a beautiful piece of jewelry using a chain.