I hope you love this swan, I sure do.
My obsession with Christmas ornaments continues. I have made hundreds of shrinky ornaments and now I am just trying to find new ways to use it.
I am unsure if they have stoped making the Shrinky Dinks brand or what, but I can't find them. You may have to use another brand like Grafix. I have not used this brand, but I am sure it works fine. From what I have read it doesn't shrink as much as Shrinky, but you will have to play with it. I will probably switch to it if I can't find Shrinky.
I am not uploading a pattern on this one. I am sure you can find a drawing that is better than what I drew. My drawings always have lots of corrections. So just look around I am sure you will find one.
I picked a simple form as I thought it would be easier to fill in with buttons(they only make them so small). Then I decided to use seed beads, gems and small beads. You could also use glitter. So, after doing a few of these I suppose you could do any form that you can cut out of the shrink plastic.
That is the nice thing about the shrink plastic. I can make any form I want. The plastic is strong so it holds up.
This is a picture of the back, just so you can see how I colored it.
This is a picture of some of the many of the items I use. I used Shrinky Dink brand, but I am not sure if they have stopped making this or not. You can also use Grafix brand. I have never used this brand, but may have to try it if I can't get more Shrinky. From what I have read, the Grafix doesn't get as small while baking, so you have to play with the size of my pattern to get it the size you want.
A list of what I used for this project:
Shrinky Dink Ruff and Ready, 1 sheet
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.
Orange Pencil
White Pencil
E6000 glue or something similar
Tooth Picks
Black Sharpie for tracing and coloring
Parchment Paper
Tile or some other heavy, smooth flat item
Flat Spatula
Cutting board or some other surface on which to drill
White Buttons of all sizes
Flat Back gems in White colors - just an assortment of things in White
Rose Beads with Flat Backs - Bought mine at Michael's in the strung bead section, backs were a little rounded but with enough glue they stuck
Orange Seed beads(or glitter)
White Seed Beads(or glitter)
Black Seed Beads(or glitter)
Flat Back Black Gem
White sequins
White Boa - the small size
How I made this.
1. I traced it onto shrink plastic by laying my drawing underneath the sheet of shrink plastic with the frosted side up. I used the sharpie.
2. I used the sharpie to color in the face and the orange pencil to color the beak. I colored the rest of it white. I colored it just because I thought some of the plastic might show through. I wasn't particularly neat when I did it. Just filled it in.
3. Cut shape out.
4. 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.
5. 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. But remember, these will sometimes warp and it may never get to the exact shape you want. Just consider it as having a handmade look and move on.
6. 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. Anything smooth, heavy and flat should work. This helps it get flat.
7. Once baked, use a flat spatula to remove to counter and cover with the heavy object you are using to flatten, like the floor tile I use. Allow to cool for a few minutes
8. 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.
9. I used a tooth pick to spread the E6000 glue where ever I was putting a button or gem. I squirted out a glob of glue on the parchment paper to begin and used the tooth pick to dab it on. I started with the eye, just use the tooth pick to put a dab of glue where you want the eye and affix the black gem. I then started in the middle and adhered the larger buttons or gems by applying glue to the shrink plastic and placing the items down. I worked my way out to the edges and up the neck. Don't worry, you will fill in any blank spaces with the seed beads, glitter, small beads or whatever you have decided to use. Use the orange and black seed beads to fill in the face and beak. I would stop and let things dry, so they wouldn't move around and then go back and fill in some more until it was filled in the way I wanted it.
10. I just smeared the glue on the spots that were blank and poured the seed beads on, pressed them in with my finger and poured off any excess. You will have to play with what works best for you.
11. You may want to leave 2 blank spaces for the hanging string. If you do it this way, remember to use a hole punch to make the holes before you bake it. Or you can drill through those spaces. I just drilled right through buttons and the shrink plastic, but I did it slowly, so I wouldn't loosen what was glued down. If I did loosen it, I just re glued it. You just have to plan how you will handle this. But I managed so I'm sure you will too. Remember to put something under the swan so you don't drill through your counter.
12. Make sure all is dry and firm, I rubbed my finger over everything to make sure it was firmly affixed. If it felt loose, I used a tooth pick to add more glue.
13. To add the boa, put swan on it's front. Cut about a 3 inch piece of boa. Add E6000 glue along edge of tail. Press boa onto back of swan. I tore a small piece of parchment paper and place it over the glued down boa. I then place a small heavy bottle over this and allowed the glue to dry.
15. Put a string through the hole in the top, tie a knot and you are done. I actually made 2 holes on the body of the flamingo for hanging. I just thought it would hang better.
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