Short Story: Shrinky Dink Pins

I haven’t made a Shrinky Dink in over 15 years. I know this because I was cleaning out a cupboard at my parents’ house and I found a box of them half used among my fourth grade school supplies. But after a good, solid break I figured why not give them another go. And here we are.

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If you need a supplies list for this little ditty, here you go:

Shrinky Dinks – don’t go cheap on these (I did and it was not great)
Ultra fine Sharpie
Colored pencils
Pin backs
E600 glue

You know how the rest of this story goes: draw your design on the rough side of the sheet, outline in Sharpie (if that’s what you want), and fill in with colored pencil. I did find that nicer pencils with a lower wax content – I’m talking the good ones sold individually at your local craft or art supply shop – worked infinitely better. These gave a much more satisfying and saturated color. Another word to the wise: fine Sharpies (you know, your standard type) tended to bleed a bit more and made the designs a little muddy. And of course remember to make your designs about three times larger than the size of your desired finished product

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Let me tell you how this one ends now: you cut it out, bake it according to the package’s instructions, and glue your pin to the back. And that’s all she wrote for this one!

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