Shrinky Dink Hell

This year, my hubby and I are going on another beach trip with our good friends Steve and CW. I wanted to do a craft while at the beach and started searching sites for a really fun and easy craft. I came across Shrinky Dinks. I thought to myself, this should be tons of fun! We can take the supplies with us, they won't take up much space while traveling (12 hour drive ugh), and they give almost instant gratification. Besides, who doesn't remember (those of us of a certain age) watching the little buggers shrink up in the oven?

I shot CW a message on facebook and she sounded stoked to try them too!! So the next day, I trecked out to look for the supplies I would need to create my very own charms (thats what I was planning on using them for) When I got to the store, I saw that they now have Shrinky Dinks that can be printed from your computer printer! I was totally stoked! This gave me endless possibilites for creativeness! lol.

Long story short, I got my first batch of charms with my initial on it, cut them out, and put them into my little toaster oven. They didn't turn out like I expected them to. I then tried another batch, this time a larger design... Yeah... total disappointment...

Burned and crinkled.

Crinkled.

This is the only one that came out decent.

So I guess its a big N-O on the Shrinky Dinks. I checked out many websites for troubleshooting and did as instructed. The ones that burnt was because I kept putting them in the oven to get them hot to try to flatten them out. (and I did forget about one set lol)

Oh well, Epic Fail!! Lesson learned.

Fail

I forgot to blog about another cat toy that I made the same day as the Tube o'Nip lol. The problems I went thru trying to make it was only part of the fail. Continue reading to get the Epic Fail.

I wanted to make a little cat toy that they could bat around and toss into the air and do whatever with. So I got the idea to make a little cat head toy. I went to my computer and started to draw it up. Unfortunately on my laptop, the only "graphics" program I have is Paintshop or whatever the hell its called. I have a degree in graphic design, so I'm use to nicer graphics programs. It took me awhile to figure out the rudimentary tools. I finally got my cat head to look how I wanted. I went to print it out and low and behold.... the print screen couldn't find my printer. Long story short, I had to uninstall and the reinstall my printer. Thank god I had only installed it the other day so I still had the disk handy.

So I got it printed out, and of course it was too big. I reduced it. Too small. Tried 2 more times until I got the size I wanted. *WHEW* Printed it and cut it out.

I traced it onto my fabric and cut it out. Sewed it up. Had trouble at the ears when I turned it right side out, but I used the back end of my marking pen so it wasn't too bad. Poured some cat nip into it and stuffed it with stuffing.I even did a decent job of whip stitching the top :)

 

I liked it so much I made another. This time I didn't fill it with as much stuffing.

 

Yes, those are the fabrics I used on a sleep mask and my hubby's Kindle. Gotta reuse those scraps!!

 

Mojo really liked it. He's behind my ironing board pouncing on it lol.

Now comes the Epic Fail. I went to work for a few hours on Saturday. When I got back home, this is what I saw.

 

Yep, the toy was ripped open at the seam and all the stuffing was pulled out!! I almost cried lol. So now I have to figure out a way to make it stronger. That's where mom comes in. Thankfully she has a lot of knowledge in sewing and is a really great sewer herself. She made a lot of clothes for me when I was little. 

So remember kids, not everything you do will work out the way you want. For me, life has always been about trial and error. I guess that goes to crafting too. I will let you know if this Epic Fail gets resolved.

Until then, happy crafting!