Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.

By *Rook No. 17: recipes, crafts & creative nesting*
Contributor profile | More stories

Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

DIY: Custom Earrings With Your Favorite Characters (Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk Book Review and Giveaway) #MLPFIM #Adventuretime

Friday, November 2, 2012 22:12

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

My girls and I are in LOVE with a new craft medium. Well, maybe not so new. Shrinky Dinks have been wowing kids with their shrinky “magic” every since I was a kid. I guess I never really stopped being a fan; I just got a little sidetracked with my boring grown-up stuff. That all changed when a copy of Kathy Sheldon’s new book, Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk! arrived in the mail from Lark Crafts. One look at the whimsical, artful, sophisticated, and playful projects on the cover and I felt like a kid again.

Shrinky Dinks now come in several different formulas depending on the look you want to achieve. My favorite is the inket Shrinky Dink paper — If you know how to print from a computer and turn on an oven, you have all the skills that are required to make some pretty incredible, professional-looking stuff.

Inspired by the Russian doll earrings and bobby pins on page 39 of Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk!, my girls and I set out to make our own creations based on some of their favorite cartoons — Adventure Time, Regular Show, and My Little Pony.

Have I piqued your interest? You can enter to win a copy of Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk! at the end of this post!

I’m hard pressed to think of a craft that takes less time and yields more professional results than these inkjet Shrinky Dinks. For a pair of earrings, you’re looking at around 5 minutes prep time and 3 minutes bake time. And the cost isn’t too bad either. We purchased our Shrinky Dinks from Michael’s with a 50% coupon (regularly $12.99 for 6 sheets), so we estimate our cost per earring set to be around $1.50.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to what you can print on Shrinky Dinks — favorite characters, vintage graphics, family photos…imagine the possibilities! Ready to get started making your own custom earrings and bobby pins? Here’s how…

Make Your Own Custom Earrings with Shrink Plastic!

Materials

1 sheet Shrinky Dinks Shrinkable Plastic for Ink Jet Printers
Images you would like to print
Kidney earring wires (ours were $3.49 for a package of 16)
or bobby pins with embellishment pads
A pair of small precision scissors (My favorites are the ones from EK Tools)
a 1/16″ hole punch
parchment paper or paper grocery bag
E6000 or other jewelry glue (only if making bobby pins)

Step 1: Find/Choose your images and arrange them in a MS Word document to maximize space on the shrinkable plastic sheet. For the finished 1″ inch charms, I set my images to around 3″. Lighten the image brightness by approx. 30%. If making a set of matching earrings make sure that you flip one of the images horizontally so that you have a left and a right facing set.

You’ll want to flip-flop one image out of every pair in the case of images that are facing in a particular direction (as shown above). You’ll also notice that the images are very light. They need to start out light because the colors will intensify as the plastic shrinks.

Step 2: Print onto shrinkable plastic sheet according to the directions on the Shrinky Dink package. Set aside and allow ink to set for 5 minutes.

Step 3: Using precision scissors, cut out the images tightly around the outlines.

Step 4: If making earrings, use the 1/16″ hole punch to punch a hole in the top of each cut-out.

Step 5: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place cutouts on a paper grocery bag or piece of parchment.

This photo shows how the colors intensify, but doesn’t accurately demonstrate how greatly the plastic shrinks. The “after” shot is actually about 1/3 of the size of the “before”

Step 6: Bake for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with a second sheet of parchment or paper bag. Set a large book on top to press the charms out flat as they cool (about 3 minutes).

Step 7: Loop the charms on to earring wires and you’re ready to show off your new custom jewelry!

Use the style of ear wire on the right, not the left

For bobby pins: Use a small dab of jewelry glue (I like E6000) to glue the charm to the embellishment pad. Set aside to dry.

Here are some of the other projects featured in Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk! that I’m excited to try…

Clockwise from top left: Tiger Lily Earrings, Mexican Oilcloth Necklace, Origami Paper Plane Earrings, Sweetheart Necklace. Photo source: Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk!, Cynthia Shaffer

From the left: Blooming Flowers Bracelet and Calla Lily Earrings.Photo source: Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk!, Cynthia Shaffer

GIVEAWAY!

Lark Crafts and author Kathy Sheldon have generously offered to give one signed copy of Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk! to a lucky Rook No. 17 reader. Kathy is going to kick start your crafting by including a sheet of shrink plastic as well! Enter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CRAFT, BAKE, GET INSPIRED

http://www.rookno17.com

2012-11-02 22:04:01

Source: http://www.rookno17.com/2012/11/diy-custom-earrings-with-your-favorite.html

Source:

Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!

Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Comments

Online:
Visits:	1,605,414,826
Stories:	8,156,216