Shrinky Dinks Keychains

When I was a kid I LOVED Shrinky Dinks!   I remember getting them on Friday when we went shopping and coloring them and watching them shrink in the often was pure magic.  I mean…they shrink.  And get hard.  Like, how?!  Why?!  My favorite shrinky dinks were He-Man (thumbs up if you remember He-Man!).  When I saw this video from Shared.com about making handprint keychains for Mother’s Day, I knew we had to do it with my class!   The results were awesome!

You’ll need:

Acrylic Paint (gloss finish)

Shrinky Dink paper (Click here to find it on Amazon)

Hole punch

keychains (click here to find it on Amazon)

Here’s the pretty simple process that we followed:

Paint each child’s hand with the paint.  Place the handprint on the shrinky dinks paper.  Allow the paint to dry.

Next, trim around the handprint.  Write the child’s name and year on the handprint.  Use your hold punch to punch a hole where you want the keychain.  Learn from my mistakes:   put the hole close to the edge!  If it’s too far away it will be nearly impossible to put the keychain into the hole!

Next, put your shrinky dinks in the oven at 300-350 degrees.   It take a couple of minutes for them to shrink.  THEY WILL CURL UP!  Don’t panic.  Leave them alone.  They will flatten out!  Once the flatten out, remove them from the oven and pat them with a spatula.  Allow to cool.

Next, you need to cover them with a clear coat.  You can use Modge Podge, but I used a clear spray that I grabbed next to the acrylic paint at Wal-Mart.

Finally, insert the keychains into the hole.

These are the handprints right out of the oven!

The finished product!   The kids loved them and so did the mom’s!  These make great Kindergarten Mother’s Day gifts or father’s day gifts.  And they are super simple

Now you know me…I get obsessed with things.  So you know my mind is racing with ideas to use these in centers!   And the sensory bin.  And yes, you can even by PRINTABLE shrinky dink paper!   So you know this summer is going to be full of shrinky dinks awesomeness.

Shrinky Dinks Video