I have tried ETSY and while I sold things, I found I have more joy in coming up with new things than having to cater to what someone might want to buy. I want to make things that please me. I want to make whatever, and do it just for the bliss of it.
So, I have been going nuts with Shrinky Dinks. I've realized I can't seem to find them anymore so I may have to switch to Grafix brand. Don't know if they have stopped making them or what. I know they were sold to Alex Toys, but other than that haven't heard much. So if anyone can tell me what is going on I would love to hear.
I don't think this Santa is the best work of art but it is the one I just finished. I will be posting more that I hope you will like.
If no one looks at these, I am ok with that, just felt the need to share. I will post them on my Pinterest account, so maybe someone will see them there.
This is an ornament I made. I hand drew the this little man. I had to make him in two parts. I made the bottom with a portion left clear so I could meld them together
These are the items I used for this project:
Shrinky Dink Ruff and Ready 2 sheets
Hole Punch or small drill bit, I usually don't use a hole punch for the hanging hole. I use the smallest drill bit I can find and drill after I have finished the ornament.
Colored Pencils
Mod Podge Gloss
Sparkle Glaze
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
Small Paint Brush
E6000 glue or something similar if you are gluing rather than melting the 2 parts together
Black Sharpie for tracing
Regular pencil
Parchment Paper,
Tile
Flat Spatula
Cutting board or some other surface to drill on
Now, I hand drew this, so it is far from perfect. You may also have to adjust his size if you are using a different brand of shrink plastic. And, when I drew his left hand I had plans to hang something from it with a chain but changed my mind so you may want to draw this as more of him waving. I think anyone could do this, so not a big deal
I want to say a few things about coloring and cutting this out of the shrink plastic.
1. I usually trace these onto the shrink plastic with a black sharpie, but for this one, don't trace the bottom of Santa's shirt with the sharpie, just line it up with the bottom of the plastic. that way you won't have a line splitting Santa's outfit.
2. For his pants, don't trace around the little trapezoid area, that is to be left blank. I usually trace lightly around this with a pencil and erase it once I am done but before baking. You want this section to be clear so when you meld them or glue them together it won't show through.
3. Also, don't use the black sharpie to trace the line at the top of his pants and at the bottom of the clear section. Use the pencil that you are going to color the pants with or a regular pencil and erase the line.
4. If you are using Grafix, you are going to have to play around with this. I haven't tried it with that brand and from what I have read it doesn't shrink as much as the Dink's brand.
How I made this.
1. Traced it onto shrink platic by laying my drawing underneath the sheet of shrink plastic with the frosted side up. I followed the steps above. I used 1 sheet for the Santa top and 1 sheet for his pants.
2. I colored his face and beard first and then was careful to color in the rest of his outfit. The darker colors tend to smear so be careful where you put your hand.
3. Don't worry about going over the black lines in his beard, they will show through the white pencil when you bake this.
4. I added a little pink on his cheeks and onto his beard after coloring his face for a little more character.
5. Cut both shapes out, once again be careful about smearing the red color onto the white.
6. Bake according to directions given by the manufacturer of the product you are using. When I bake these I put parchment paper on the pan and place the plastic on that, then I put another layer of parchment paper on top of the ornament. I have a small aluminum pan that came with my toaster over that I put on top of that. This seems to keep the plastic from curling on itself and sticking together. I use my regular oven for baking these but I know some people use their toaster oven, but since I am using the pan from that oven to put on top of the items being baked that wouldn't work for me.
7. Now, these things warp sometimes. I don't know why one does it and one doesn't, even when I am doing the exact same shape. If this happens I put it back in the oven for 5 minutes and then you can work with it a little to get it in the shape I want. I don't put the parchment paper or pan on it the 2nd time as it doesn't seem to curl up so much at this point.
8 I also have a fairly heavy floor tile that I put on top of these when I take them off the pan from baking. I put it on top and wait a few minutes for it to cool. This helps it get flat. Be careful with the dark colors.
Picture of back so you can see where they have melted together.
9. Once both pieces are baked, I line them up with the clear trapezoid section under his belly. I bake them again for 5 minutes, open the oven, use a flat spatula to press them together, then flip it over and bake for another 5 minutes, press again then take off pan and put under the tile I use. I guess you can use E6000 glue to glue them together, but I like melting them together.
10. After cooling completely I move it to another piece of parchment paper because I know I am going to be sealing and gluing and lots of other things that make a mess.
11. I work on the rough side of these things. I think the item looks more like what I intended. It also means I get 2 shiny sides, so all is protected.
I hope you can see the sparkle in his beard.
12. I used my sparkle glaze to paint his beard and ball on his hat. You could just use mod podge and glitter to add this if you want or not do it at all. Don't smear the red while you are doing this.
13. Use Mod Podge to seal face and beard, ball and any other very light colors. I do this first and let it dry so they won't run together. Then I paint the rest of it with the Mod Podge, being careful not to smudge the darker colors into the white or lighter colors.
14. After the Mod Podge has dried. I then use the Dimensional Magic and cover the whole thing. You are going to have to watch out for bubbles and if you get one just use a pin or tooth pick to pop them or move to edge to get rid of it. It is usually pretty good about staying on the item, but if I really go overboard and put to much on it has run over the side so use discretion. Let it dry, don't move it around. You can usually tell it is dry if it no longer has that hazy, milky look. This is another reason I don't use a hole punch as it would just fill in with this stuff. Once dry you can decide if it needs another coat, I wouldn't recommend more than two coats as it seems to crackle a little on me after this point.
15. I added a snowflake I had to his little hand with E6000 glue.
16. I used my small drill bit and drill to make the hole. I placed a plastic cutting board under it and drilled on top of that so I wouldn't drill my counters. Put a string through the hole, tied it and done.
I know I should have taken pictures while I was making this, but I never think of that. I will be posting several I have already completed, but I will try to remember to take picture of those along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment