DIY Shrinky Dinks with Netflix #StreamTeam #TBT

As a fun rainy day craft, I thought we might try to make our own “Shrinky Dinks.” Do you remember those craft kits from back when? A picture on some plastic, that you’d colour and put in the oven to shrink, making your own jewellery, keychains, or whatever.  We followed this tutorial for DIY Shrinky Dinks from curbly.com, because you don’t need to buy the kit! All you need is some plastic with the number 6 inside the recycling symbol (like the clear plastic lid on foil casserole dishes or takeout containers), and some permanent markers!

We chose some images from a Sesame Street Colouring book and I traced them with a permanent marker. (Did you notice that there is no Elmo here? That was entirely on purpose – can’t stand him!).

The kids coloured them in with permanent markers (note: we used cheap dollar store coloured markers, which didn’t work as well as the black Sharpie –  I’d recommend using only good quality). We cut around them in a rounded shape, and punched a hole at the top with a hole punch. We made a thin tray from a piece of foil with the edges folded up, and put them in a pre-heated oven to 350.

These shrunk so quickly – the kids gathered around the oven to watch. I took ours out after about 90 seconds, though if you’re doing a bigger one, you can leave it in longer. Take a look at the size difference! And they didn’t just get smaller, but the plastic became thick and very hard.

You can see that the coloured marker kind of comes off from this one – I think real Sharpies would work better.  The holes were there so we could put them on necklaces or keychains, but the kids just wanted to carry them around and play with them. They really felt so cool! Imagine what sort of things you could make with these! Ornaments, jewellery, sun-catchers – really, anything!

Have you noticed this trend of #TBT? Throwback Thursday – a chance to look at some older pictures or some cool “retro” toys, and reminisce about our childhood? Well, it seems that Netflix has gotten in on that action! As parents, we love sharing parts of our childhood with our own children, (like these awesome DIY Shrinky Dink crafts) and now we can share those classic shows!

• The Mighty Ducks
• Ghostbusters
• Heathcliff
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
• The Secret of Nimh
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
• Spider-Man
• The Facts of Life
• The Smurfs
• Diff’rent Strokes

And for younger kids,

• My Little Pony: The Runaway Rainbow
• Sesame Street: Classics
• The Busy World of Richard Scarry
• The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation
• Curious George
• Clifford the Big Red Dog

On this rainy Thursday, we figured it would be a great time to watch some classic Sesame Street, going along with our fun craft!

The kids thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these original characters, and it was neat for me to watch these original episodes again! And the best part? No Elmo!!

What shows are you excited  to share with your kids? Which ones do you miss, or wish could make a comeback?

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Marya R

I live in Bowmanville, and am a mom to four young boys - it can get a little loud in my house. I am a Christian, a part-time French teacher, a piano teacher and former homeschooler. I love finding the best deals, which will come in handy when our boys become hungry teenagers! We just moved to a house with more outdoor space, and I'm still getting used to life in the country (a walk around the block is a lot longer here!).

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