Saturday Creations with Jo Ann: More Shrinky Dink Ornaments

This post was originally seen on the Honey Bee Stamp Blog on 12/23/17. It is being added to my personal blog so that it can be archived. Enjoy!

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I am popping in this Saturday to share a quick last minute project before the holidays. Last Sunday I walked you through the basics on making Shrinky Dink Ornaments, using Honey Bee Stamps. You can see that post here.

As I was finally cleaning up my work space and putting away those supplies, I had another idea. I wondered if I could find a way to use the large and lovely sentiment from the Adore Him stamp. Not only does it work, it is even faster and easier to create.

The Adore Him sentiment stamp is large enough that it didn’t need to be enlarged. I knew that using Staz-On would probably be the easiest to use on the slick plastic but my ink pad was on the dry side so I pulled out my Ranger’s Black Archival Ink. It can be heat set on a glossy surface. While this is an easy project there is a particular order that is best to follow.

With all the pieces, I prepped the back of the plastic with a white fingernail sanding block to give it some tooth. Lightly sand the plastic and then turn the sheet and sand again in the opposite direction. This is now the back. Wipe both sides with a piece of Swiffer cloth to clean up the white powdery dust.

I first stamped the sentiment on the front of the Shrinky Dink plastic using my Misti tool. It needed to be stamped several times to get a good even coverage.

I soon realized that it would never dry enough to allow me to turn it over and color on the back. I went ahead and drew a ragged rectangle around it with a black Sharpie marker, cut it out, and punched a hole in the top.

You can shrink your ornament in an oven using the temperature and time recommended on the package. I opted to use my heat gun. I placed my non-stick Ranger mat on top of a cutting board to protect my work surface. Make sure to have a pair of tweezers and an acrylic block nearby.

If you use a heat gun try to start in the middle and apply heat evenly all around the piece. Because the ink was still fairly wet the piece wanted to stick to itself. Try not to panic when it curls into a blob. LOL Turn it over with the tweezers and keep heating. It usually uncurls at the end and starts to flatten. If you have a piece that sticks to itself you can quickly try to pull it apart with the tweezers. Use an acrylic block to smoosh it flat when you are done heating it.

This one is fairly simple and could be done in minutes if you use Staz-On. You would not have to wait for it to dry.

I decided to try this ornament again. I drew some simple holly and berries in each corner, using a black sharpie, on the shiny side. I colored them in on the back using my new Chameleon Colored Pencils. Back to the shiny side…I stamped the sentiment using my Misti Tool. It really takes several stamping layers to get good even coverage and the Misti works well for this. This time I let it all dry for about several hours. It melted much better and flattened out easily, with minimal sticking.

I was looking though my Honey Bee collection for other stamps that might work when I spied my large Globe & Ornament Shaker Card Die set. I got another idea! I laid out the dies and traced around them onto a piece of copy paper. I used this as my guide to transfer it to the plastic, using a Black Sharpie.

I used light blue and white pencils on the back to give the globe some dimension and a curved glass like appearance. I colored in the topper and base. Remember to keep your coloring on the light side as the colors tend to darken and intensify as the plastic shrinks.

I put the piece in the Misti and stamped the sentiment. I scattered a few snowflakes around the edges, using a small snowflake from the Snow Birds stamp set, and Ranger’s Archival Aquamarine Ink. I let everything dry for a couple of hours. A water based white Sharpie Paint Pen was used to draw a few highlights for a reflective glass look.

After cutting it out and punching a hole, I shrunk this ornament with the heat gun. I was really pleased with it. I think that you could also add the birds, snowmen, or other critters to the inside of the globe for a cute ornament.

These ornaments really were quick and easy and gave me another use for this simple, yet elegant sentiment. Tuck one into a card for a last minute hostess gift as you visit with family and friends this holiday season. They will look beautiful on your own tree as well.

I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season. Merry Christmas!