From the Mind of a Modern Mom...: Fathers Day

So for Father's Day my son and I decided to do some crafts for Daddy and Grandpa. A childhood favorite of mine was always 'Shrinky Dinks'. What an easy and perfect opportunity to do something fun with my growing toddler!

Preheated oven to 350°
#6 Plastic
Nail File or Sand Paper
Colored pencils or Permanent markers
Scissors
Baking sheet covered in foil

First you need to start with #6 Plastic. You can either buy this from a craft store OR if you like to save money like I do, you can look around your house for a clear plastic food container that you got from the grocery store. Make sure it is a #6 plastic though - We have experimented with other numbers of plastic and they do not shrink up the same. You can tell you have a #6 plastic by looking on the container for a triangle shaped recycling symbol with a number 6 in the middle.

If you bought your plastic from the craft store then you're ready to go, if not, then cut any excess plastic away to make a flat sheet. File one side of the surface area in a crosshatch or circular pattern. After your sheet of plastic is all filed, then its time to color!

Draw your design on the sanded side of the plastic sheet. Remember - the total image will shrink to about a third of its original size, and five or six times its original thickness. When you have a doodle worthy of shrinking, cut it out and place it on the baking tray that is coated with foil. When cutting your design out, remember edges can become very sharp and can also end up breaking off of your piece, so its best to choose a simple cut around your image.

Place your art on the tray and place it in the oven for 60 - 90 seconds. For the first minute your art will start to curl up... DON'T PANIC! It will flatten itself out. (Total time for a large piece 5-6” starting size will be about 3 1/2 minutes)

After they shrink, you can carefully remove them from the oven rack, and let them cool for a couple minutes. If you're still concerned with the curling after the piece comes out; you have about 10 seconds to flatten or mold it to your desired shape after it comes out. Of course its going to be hot, so I recommend placing a heavy object on to to flatten it out.