Shrink art

i introduced delaney to the magic of shrink art this week. we used some fun illustrations generously shared by the super cool and creative joel henriques to make these simple discs. we have a few items with broken zipper pulls that needed replacing, so the idea was to make a few pulls, perhaps a few necklaces, and anything else delaney dreamed up. 

fixed, finally! was getting to be quite the challenge to open single handedly, while holding a baby =)
my math was a bit off though, should probably be about half this size. we'll have to make more!!

dad was intrigued by the project. he'd never heard of shrinky dinks. i was shocked! didn't everyone do shrinky dinks, back in the day? but then again, i shouldn't have been too shocked. this was the same man who tried to play it cool 16 years ago when it was snowing on one of our first dates. I suggested we make a snowman together. he's from the south. he'd never touched snow. so his technique, made up on the spot, while trying to impress me, was priceless. i was sold. he sucked at snowmen, but i figured we had time to work that out, he was a keeper =)

and here he is, 16 years later, trying shrinky dinks for the first time, and proudly wearing the necklace delaney made for him. definitely a keeper. and he can make a killer snowman now too!

here's another collaborative project delaney and i have been working on. a piece of vintage fabric from australia, found on etsy, framed under a glass frame, with a sheet of shrink plastic overlay. i've outlined the flower petals in black and delaney is helping me color them in. not quite sure yet what we'll make this into. check out all of the inspiring ideas below - so many possibilities!!

speaking of australia, if you have or know a young artist that loves to draw, I'm giving away one child's art turned softie keepsake on the australian blog adelle.com.au - there are still a few days left, enter here.

shrink plastic links:
make shrink art with recycled 6 plastic
hungry caterpillar shrink art charm bracelet
spirograph shrink art charms
silhouette plastic shrink art charm bracelet
shrink art statement necklace tutorial
shrink plastic rings here and here
super stylish jewelry roundup, made from shrink plastic, really?
freestyled, for ornaments, gift tags, and such!
lucky charms bracelet
photo necklaces, earrings, magnets and more!