SHRINKY DINKS

[Eliea]

I agree with onyxnox if they are active they will probably break them. Shrink plastic does get thicker but also more brittle when you bake it.
But it's worth a shot for sure.
My best results have been achieved with rustolium clear spray sealant. It's available in the paint department at walmart, and at hobby lobby. (I'm sure other places to I just go there most.) In matte and gloss finish. I like gloss but either works well.

Do the first coat LIGHTLY and from about a foot away. Make sure to protect the area you are working on with newspaper to prevent overspray.

Spray starting off the shrinkie then move onto it and off again in a slow motion.  then move to somewhere to dry. (about 15 minutes. I do about 4-6 coats and with each coat wait at least 15 minutes to let it dry then let the last one dry overnight.

So far so good! I've made hair clippies with this method and they work great. No running and no ink or pencil rubs off.

I don't recommend using alcohol based ink though as it will run when you spray it a little. Certain colors are worse than others. I use a fine tipped "acid free" permanent scrapbook pen for my outlines and such and pencils for colors. I've also used black sharpie but it ran worse so I've stuck with the scrapbook pen.

Hope that helps!

[illuminatingone]

Do the Shrinky Dinks always curl after baking?

[Eliea]

If they didn't unsure they tend to have been a did. But try popping them back in a bit longer and see if they flatten out. Sometimes they take a bit longer to flatten.

[ratfiend]

I'm looking to make some "phrase" charms that will be used as charms on bottles of Absinthe, my question is there  a particular way to make the lettering stand out more without it being overly easy to break once cooked {IE: if I cut around the letters they seem to become more fragile, would a punch work better?}.

[Onyxnox]

If you want something sturdier, you may want thicker lettering, or to allow more connections between pieces

[Eliea]

maybe layer the plastic?  You shrink a flat base, and the lettering, then layer and reshrink. Someone else did something like this to make a fish pendant that looked like it was underwater. it's on this board somewhere.

That would give a more sturdy product.

[msminnamouse]

I don't know what's going on. I recently got a 50 pack of Graphix shrink film. Not the kind you can put in your printer. This: http://www.amazon.com/Grafix-KSF50-C-2-Inch-11-Inch-50-Pack/dp/B002H9RS66/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337413919&sr=8-1-fkmr0&tag=27411-20

It's not going right at all. The very first thing I tried to make was a ruler. It curled up on it's self and stuck together and there was no uniformity in it's shape at all. This was at 325 for 2 minutes. I put the plastic on a sheet of newspaper with nothing on top.

So then I set the oven to 350 and I put a new copy of a ruler on a sheet of newspaper with more newspaper on top of it so it wouldn't curl up and stick to it's self again. I set it for 3 minutes, but it wasn't enough. So then I set it for 2 more minutes. So finally it shrank but again there were problems. It was skinny at one end and wide at another end, the edges weren't straight and it shrank wayyy more than 50%. I copied a 12" ruler and it shrank down to 4 5/8" long.

What gives? I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

[Onyxnox]

I really hate that brand of shrink plastic.  I it distorted the worst of the brands I tried.  I had the best luck with Lucky Squirrel brand, and the actual Shrinky Dinks.

I am thinking it is not you, it may be the brand.  You could try going lower and slower with the shrinking - lower temp, slower, more controlled shrinking, but like I said, I hate that brand.

[Char79]

thanks for all of the replies
I dont have access to a heat gun unfortunately. how much are they, and are they hard to find?

I have been cutting everything in the same direction on the paper (I imagine that the grain all goes one way on each sheet?) which is why I was really baffled
I may be posting in a wrong place, so please excuse, as I could not find where to reply, but did want to try and help you with the curling.  Someone told me to place a piece of parchment paper over your pieces and it will keep pieces from curling.  As I do my pieces in my oven, I still keep a watch on the pieces, as you can see the pieces move, as the paper will rise up, so you can see and 99% of the time, no curling.  Hope this helps, give it a try.
Charlotte
Im not having a problem with getting them flat, its just the left-over burn mark from the curling. I will try the cornstarch method, though I must confess to being a bit nervous over putting cardboard in the oven!

maybe it is the quality of my plastic - I dont have name brand shrinky dinks, it is a different company. but it wasnt cheap and although i forget the name right now, it was made by a company that does tons of scrapbooking stuff.. who knows.

thanks for the help guys,

Cyn

[Char79]

To all who have posted about printing on both sides of Shrinky Dink sheets, it can be done, but I can't remember where I read just how to do it, so I would suggest just asking the question on goggle and you will get an answer and also there is a site called Lucky Squirrel.com which has all kinds of information on plastic, but has their own brand of plastic sheets to sell.

Good luck, Charlotte