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Flickrshrink plastic ring tutorial
Thank you to everyone who requested a shrinkydinks ring tutorial! I hope this will answer all your questions. Please leave me a comment if you have any questions etc, or link to pictures of your own rings!
This tutorial is Donationware – the instructions are available for free, but if you like it please consider sending me a donation to show your appreciation:
Send me a donation and receive the easy-to-print PDF version of the tutorial as a thank you! The PDF also includes my tips that I’ve made in the comments since creating this tutorial.
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The complete instructions are available below, regardless of whether or not you choose to pay for them 
This is a PlanetJune original tutorial. Please do not share or reproduce this tutorial; instead post a link to http://www.planetjune.com/shrinkydinks
I’ll answer some questions from the comments on my previous shrinky rings post before I get started, and add more hints and tips throughout the tutorial.
Shrink plastic, for the uninitiated, was originally marketed as a toy for kids. It starts life thin and flexible. You draw on it and then bake it in the oven, and it shrinks to become about 1/3 of the starting size, but 9 times as thick. This thickness makes it strong and hard. It will not bend after baking, so if you try to pull your ring open, or stand on it, it may snap, but it is strong enough to withstand regular use as a ring.
The last step (bending the ring into shape) is the most difficult, so I highly recommend that 1) you read through all the instructions before starting, and 2) practice on a blank piece of shrink plastic so you can get a feel for it and test your size and bending technique before putting too much effort into your design!
Full tutorial instructions are after the jump…
1. Find your shrink plastic
I use Shrinky Dinks Frosted Ruff N’ Ready, which accepts rubber stamped images beautifully. Any transparent shrink plastic will work. If you use the coloured opaque shrink plastic, you would have to decorate the outside of your ring instead of the inside. You could also use the inkjet printable type of shrink plastic.
Note: If you are looking for sources, search for “shrink plastic” (generic term) not “shrinkydinks” (brand name) and you may have more luck. For example, for you UK people, googling ‘Shrink Plastic UK’ (without the quotes) will give you lots of online stores that sell it. You’re looking for large sheets of it, not pre-cut shapes.
2. Measure and cut to size
Note: Different brand of shrink plastic may shrink by different amounts, so you might want to try baking a plain test piece to make sure you’ve got the size right before spending time on decoration.
If you know your ring size, you can use a ring size converter to calculate the desired circumference of your ring. The circumference in this case will be equal to the length of your strip of plastic (after shrinking). Shrinkydinks shrinks by approx 3 times, but I found I had to allow an extra 10% in the length measurement to compensate for the curvature in the finished ring. For my rings (finished size approximately US 6, UK J, and 6mm tall) my starting dimensions are 14.2 x 1.6cm.
To cut the plastic, I like to use a guillotine (paper cutter) to get straight lines, but it’s probably not good for the cutter blade (I use an old cutter blade). You could also use an xacto knife and metal ruler, or just cut the plastic with scissors.
The corners can be very sharp, so I like to round them off slightly with scissors before baking (don’t worry if you forget this step; you can file or sand them down after baking).
3. Decorate shrink plastic
Follow the decorating instructions that come with your shrink plastic. Here are some ideas:
- Rubber stamps + alcohol-based permanent inks (be warned: other types of stamp ink will smudge)
- Fine-point permanent marker (e.g. Sharpie) to draw or trace your designs
- Coloured pencils (use in combination with the above to add colour)
- Print designs directly onto your plastic (inkjet shrink plastic ONLY)
If you’re using the frosted type, remember to decorate the rough (frosted) side.
I used peg stamps to decorate my first rings. The designs are only 1cm tall so fit my rings perfectly. Below I have also tried some other rubber stamps:
Don’t forget to let your ink dry before adding any coloured pencil embellishments, and remember that colours will become more saturated and vibrant after baking, so less is more in this case.
4. Find a suitable form to bend plastic around
Here’s a useful tip to find an object of the right size to create your ring: take an existing ring, and try to slip it over various thin cylindrical household objects, e.g. marker pen barrel, wooden spoon handle, lip balm tube. You are looking for an object that is a tight fit inside your ring. If you don’t have anything suitable, you could buy a short length of wooden dowel of the right diameter. Your object will come into contact with hot plastic, so don’t use any treasured possessions for this step.
5. Shrink your plastic
This is the fun part!
Preheat a toaster oven or conventional oven to the temperature specified on your packaging. Make sure you are in a well-ventilated area so any fumes don’t build up.
Note: Please read the instructions below all the way to the end before baking your ring – the shaping happens very quickly after baking so you need to be ready…
Place your strip (decorated side up) on a piece of brown paper on an oven tray, and put it in the oven. Keep watching… this is where the magic happens. Your strip will begin to curl up and wiggle about as some parts heat more quickly than others and so begin to shrink more quickly. Don’t worry if it looks like it’s stuck together – in my experience it always flattens out as it continues to shrink. When it has finished shrinking, leave it in the oven for another 30 seconds to heat through evenly.
Here’s an animation of the shrinking process:
6. Shape your ring
When your strip comes out of the oven, you will have to work quickly – you only have about 10 seconds before it has cooled and becomes rigid. Disclaimer: to protect your hands from the hot plastic, you should probably wear a thin glove (for more control) or an oven mitt (for better protection against the heat) but I don’t bother – it is hot, but the plastic doesn’t stay hot for long enough to burn skin.
Remove the brown paper from the oven. Wait for about 2 seconds (so it’s not too hot to touch), then carefully wrap the strip around your forming tool, with your decorated side facing in towards the tool. Hold it in place for a few seconds until it becomes cool and rigid.
I’m not going to lie, this step is tricky. You really do have to work quickly, and not make any mistakes, otherwise you won’t have time to wrap the entire strip around your object before it cools. But don’t lose hope! There is a magic fix for a badly-formed ring like the one below…
Pop your misshapen ring back into the oven on the brown paper, balancing it upright on its curved surface so the join is at the top (as in the picture above). After a minute or so, the plastic will relax back out of its shape, and revert back into a flat strip… I told you this stuff was magic! Let it heat through for about 20-30 seconds, then try to form the ring around your tool again.
Left: unsanded edges; Right: sanded edges
That’s it! You can sand down the edges to give a smoother finish, but this may partially obscure your design. You could also paint the edges after forming for a different effect. For more durability of your design, use a clear coat to carefully varnish the inside of the ring (one coat should be enough).
You can make matching earrings, charm bracelets or necklace pendants – just punch holes for the jewellery findings before shrinking the plastic, and remember that the holes will also shrink, so don’t worry that they will be too large.
Enjoy your new jewellery!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Please leave me a comment if you did, and consider leaving me a donation. Thanks!
Hi, I'm 
Erin said
This is so cool. I hope to give it a try soon!
Peggy said
My mother made original shrink plastic in the “70′s”, I recall she used a plastic wrap of some sort. Do you have information on that?
Thank You,
Peggy
sherri said
I’m not sure of any plastic wrap, but if you check your to go containers for a recycle #6, those peices can be used! You’ll have to sand it a bit, but it shrinks down just the same!
June said
Peggy, you can shrink clear #6 plastic food containers, but I’ve never heard of shrinking plastic wrap – I have a feeling it might be too thin to give good results. Maybe your mother used #6 plastic containers and that’s what you’re thinking of?
Dustin said
I have heard about using laminated scraps from school…but I usually use Graphix Shrink film…comes in all kinds of finishes and color. My kids are going to love making rings…or maybe bracelets. Thanks for the lesson.
Tammy said
We always used clear deli lids -
Lynn said
You should sell these on etsy.com!!! (especially for those of us who don’t have the patience or talent to do this!)
J said
This is a great idea. I’d love to be able to have one, but I just know I’d burn the crap out of myself trying.
Don Draper said
wow these are really lovely I am going to make these for my nearest and dearest for Christmas.
thanks for sharing!
Kristie said
Wow! What an excellent idea! I can’t wait to try this!
D'Ann said
This is so awesome! I can’t wait to try this!!
Mellissa said
Peggy, Shrinky Dink plastic is #6 plastic, which a lot of food containers are made of!
Thanks for this tutorial! I super heart Shrinky Dink stuff!
tmv said
Excuse me, is this your ring? I love the pattern, and was trying to figure out who made it so I could see if I could buy one …
http://pinterest.com/pin/466204081/
June said
tmv, no, it’s not my ring – it’s actually a resin bangle, not a shrinky ring at all! I’ve just written a blog post to explain this confusion, and there’s a link in the post to the artist who makes the bangles, in case you’d like one
http://www.planetjune.com/blog/how-to-track-down-creditless-photo-sources/
tmv said
You rock. Thank you for the explanation and the link!
Shrinky Dink Ring Tutorial | Christmas Adam said
[...] June has a tutorial on how to make adorable rings with some shrinking plastic and stamps. And in case you don’t [...]
sheril mathews said
Well blow my hair back with a flute!!! Those are amazing!!!! Have you made bangles? How long would the shrink plastic have to be? And can you join them while they are hot?
I am SOOOO impressed with your tutorial too.
Thank you!!
Sheril
June said
Sheril, see my answer about making bangles here.
And no, you can’t join them while they are hot: Shrinkydinks will fuse together, but only in the oven at 450F for 15-30 mins, which would be far too hot to touch in order to shape it! You can only fuse flat pieces of Shrinkydinks (by placing them into the oven on top of each other so they will fuse). You’d have to make a bangle with a gap, in the same way as my rings have a gap.
DIY ~ Shrinky Dink Ring | *bespoke* zine said
[...] I had no idea they could make such beautiful rings! A big thanks to Planet June for sharing the easy, step-by-step tutorial for how to make your own plastic jewelry. The best part is that you get to decide on the [...]
pixelatedmushroom said
yay awesome tute! I want to try it
Stephanike said
I made these and have come across a problem with the ink rubbing off onto my finger. Have you had this problem? If so, how do you combat it?
June said
Stephanike, please see my previous answer to this question, here
Laurie said
You just put one or two coats of clear sealant. I’ve even used clear nail polish, but you have to reapply it every so often.
Susan said
What kind of clear sealant do you use? Are you talking about polyurithane? Thanks for clearing this up for me!
Misse said
how about fingerprints of your children? or fingerprints of grand parents for children’s rings?
COLLEEN said
GREAT IDEA! ! ! !
Jessica said
Great tutorial! I love shrinky dinks! I’ll be adding this to my 12 days of Christmas blog series. Thanks!
Chrissi said
Hi! I love your rings! When I tried to make these, the rings curl onto themselves and get stuck. I have tried 4 times, and each time I let it do its shrinky thing, but they still stay stuck! Any suggestions?
June said
Chrissi, I haven’t experienced this personally, but here are a few things you could try:
Michele said
Take vellum or parchment paper and place over top of the shrink film, it will keep it from bending and sticking to itself.
June said
That’s a great tip! Thanks, Michele.
Savitha S.M said
this is creative and amazing
PlanetJune by June Gilbank » how to track down creditless photo sources said
[...] There’s been much talk lately about how to share on Pinterest properly: giving credit to the source of your image, and making sure the pin actually links back to the source correctly before you re-pin it. I have an excellent example of why this is so important. Yesterday, I suddenly got a massive traffic spike on my blog and lots of new comments on my shrinkydinks ring tutorial. [...]
norma said
great tut. i have shrink plastic that can be shrunk with my embossing gun and am going to try these with my granddaughters!
michelle said
i have had shrink plastic sitting in my craft room for years. never dreamed of making rings from it! amazing!
esther said
This is so cool! I’m thinking about making these and selling them for our charity project. (:
Charley said
Awesome I can’t wait to make shrinkydinks!!
fun with Shrinky Dinks! (the owl set) « The Frabjous Versipel said
[...] good friend T. turned me on to this great tutorial for making shrinky dink rings. Yes, you can shape Shrinky Dinks when they first come out of the [...]
Heather B said
These are awesome. Great job on the instructions. It was good to know I could reheat and re-bend. I think I redid the first one 4 times. It looks great! My shrinky dink stuff did not shrink to 1/3, so I did have to recalculate the length I started with, but it all worked out. I can’t wait till naptime tomorrow to make another one.
Kay said
We tried these using some shrinky dink plastic from the 70′s. The plastic shrunk just as you described, but it only took about 10-s. We waited a bit longer before taking the first batch out, but it was too brittle to bend. We took the second batch out as soon as it had flattened out and wrapped them around a lipstick. These were too brittle and broke also. Do you think it is because the plastic is too old?
June said
Hmmm, I don’t know… It may be age degradation, or the plastic formula may have been slightly different in the classic stuff – when mine went wrong, they just solidified too quickly; they didn’t ever break, so it sounds like yours may be too brittle. Things you could try before you give up on it:
If none of those work, I’d save the classic shrinky dinks for flat projects and maybe invest in a new pack!
Jeremiah said
In testing, the final piece is generally 40% smaller than the unshrunk film.
Susan said
Hello
What can be done with recycled 4 plastic
that is all I can seem to find around here- I am having a problem finding recycled 6-
I tried the shrinky donk idea with the 4 it did not shrink- but it did turn white
and it did harden a bit but thats all
so what can be done with recycled 4 if anything at all.
I can not seem to find recycled 6 plastic
June said
You can’t shrink other types of plastic; only #6. The best thing to do with your #4 is to recycle it! And then maybe buy yourself a pack of Shrinkydinks
Ashley said
Hi, I was just wondering, about how many rings come out of one sheet?
June said
Ashley, a sheet is 8 x 10 inches, and my rings were about 5.6 x 0.63 in. So I’d get about 15 out of one sheet, plus maybe 3 more if I used the offcut edge piece too (but as the plastic may shrink by a slightly different amount in each direction, you’d have to do a separate test run for size if you cut a tall narrow piece vs a short wide piece). Obviously it also depends on the size of rings you want to make and which brand of shrink plastic you use!
Jenny Fincham said
These are amazing, I have made a couple now and love them!
One question? What do you sand yours with? I tried sand paper and it doesn’t work so well! Did you use a little machine?
You are very talented.
June said
Hmm… thinking back… I sanded gently by hand. If it didn’t work for you, you may be using a sandpaper with too coarse a grit, which would leave scratches – is that what happened when you tried? I have 320 grit and 600 grit that I use to get a very smooth finish for my craft projects.
Ivy said
Donation? Really?
June said
If you choose to recognise the hours I put into my tutorials and thank me for that with a dollar, I very much appreciate it, and you get a nicely formatted printable PDF in return. If not, well, as I say, it’s completely optional!
Melanie said
I remember using SOLO brand plastic cups to make “buckles” a LONG time ago. I don’t know the specifics of how we did it, I was in elementary school so mom probably did most of the work…
We bought SOLO cups, flipped them upside down, cut two semi circles out of the very bottom-leaving a diagonal line of cup through the bottom part- then put them on a cookie sheet and melted. They flattened out to have two holes with a bar in the middle like a buckle. No sanding, no bending, just two simple cuts and now those cups come in so many colors, someone today could use this idea and run with it, I’m sure!
Olivia said
I have a question.. Have you ever tried making a ring with words stamped on it? I’d like to try that (like using a word that’s said in a book or TV series often) but I’m just wondering if you ever have.
Thanks, Olivia
June said
Olivia, as you print on the back of the ring, rubber-stamped letters would end up reversed (a mirror-image). Please see my previous suggestions for making a ring with text here
Sharon said
They also make a specific stamp for mirror images. It is just a flat piece of stamp rubber on wood that you stamp your original stamp onto, then stamp the new, reversed image onto your work. HOpe this helps for people looking to stamp words onto their rings!
June said
Intriguing! Thanks for sharing that info, Sharon
Mando said
Awesome! i’ve made earrings, charms, etc. But this is great!!!
Thanks so much!
Katie said
If using the #6 plastic, to what temperature do you heat the oven?
June said
Katie, as it’s the same material, it should shrink at the same temperature, i.e. around 325F (or about 165C).
Molly Jane said
Hey, this is great! I have all my shrinky dink stuff from when I was younger and just grabbed that!! I made myself a mustache ring, which I am baking in the morning. Can’t wait, and thanks so much for the tutorial!!
angie p said
AWESOME ! thanks for the hard work.. i have been looking for a cute toe ring and this would be GREAT !!
Tiffany said
I want to make one of these but I’m having a hard time figuring out what my starting demensions need to be. I need a size 8 and 5 ring. Can someone help me with this?
Jess said
Oh my word these are amazing! I have to try them. I just have one question… do you know of an place I can find this shrink plastic in South Africa? We name stuff differently here so I’m not sure what #6 plastic is?
Thanks!
June said
Jess, the plastic # codes are standardised worldwide – it’s the number you see inside the recycling symbol stamped onto anything plastic, to identify which type of plastic it’s made from. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything made of #6 plastic in South Africa, and I have been checking; the type of clear plastic food containers that are usually made from #6 plastic in the US seem to be made from #1 here
However, you can buy sheets of shrink plastic from craft supply shops and scrapbooking shops, so I suggest you try to look for a source that’s local to you! (Obviously, buying it online isn’t really an option here in SA either…) Good luck in finding some!
Katie said
Thanks for the great tutorial. I have a large shrinking plastic project in the works. I hadn’t thought about buying shrinking plastic because it is so readily availible if you are willing to look. Any number 6 plastic will work. I get a lot of mine from the bakery where my husband frequents for donuts. It is basically free minus the donuts. It is also green and a little exciting going on the hunt for various packaging made out of number 6.
June said
I think that depends on which country you live in, Katie! I’ve been in South Africa for over a year and have yet to find one item made from #6 plastic; it’s all #1, #2 and #5 here.
Alice said
Thank you so much
Angelia said
Hi,
Just a heads up to US crafters, Target sells sushi rolls in #6 plastic containers.. nabbed a BEAUTIFUL violet colored one with my lunch today.. can’t wait to try it !!
Thanks !
Dara @ I Love Paper Beads said
This is really clever! I love the idea of making these rings. I had seen several photos on Pinterest but they had no tutorial. So glad I found yours! I’m going to have to give this a try.
InkBlotMom, Kimberly Calderon said
Wow!! That’s really neat! I love doing shrinky dink projects with my kiddos and this will be a fun project for me!
heather said
hi,
loved the rings, but when i went looking for takeaway containers, all i cud find was #5. Will it make do?
June said
Not at all, I’m afraid. #5 is polypropylene, #6 is polystyrene; they are completely different materials with different properties. Other plastics won’t shrink when heated, and may even give off toxic gases, so please be careful and only use #6 or buy a pack of shrink plastic.
heather said
thank u very much for your prompt reply. but i live in india and we dont get shrinky dinks here
Amy said
Your blog is great! Thank you so much for being so helpful. I am new to pintrest and typically just hit the re’pin button but wanted to insure you get due credit.. can you tell me if I need to do something different? I will wait to re’pin till I hear your reply.
June said
Thanks for checking, Amy! Provided the original pin linked to this page, re-pinning it is just perfect
Summer Wenzel said
Back in the 70′s, we made pendants using the container lids from chicken livers sold in the grocery store. I have no idea if that would still work today (if they are still made of the same material), but if you happen to have liver lids around the house, it might be worth a try.
Ashley said
You can microwave the mini potato chip bags (Lays BBQ, lays original, etc…) and have teeny tiny bags! Pretty much microwave them until they shrink up and then get them out, they are so cute!
Lee said
Hello there June! I have to say I LOVE your work!
you have all sorts of great ideas and style!
I do have a question though. I use the shrinky dink inkjet paper and i’m racking my brain. I’m doing rings of custom characters to fit people by their actual ring sizes and I can’t figure out the formula. I do the artwork in photoshop http://i.imgur.com/IaTWP.png and then keeping my fingers crossed and praying to the craft faeries they pop out http://i.imgur.com/iYbOy.png (as you can see there were MANY failed attempts) MY question is do you know of a equation for the sizes? as in Start at this size ___
so when it shrinks it fits this size____
I don’t know how else to explain it and I’m going nuts! please help!
and advice is GREATLY appreciated!
June said
Lee, I’d suggest you print a ‘ruler’ onto your shrinkydinks – draw lines at regular intervals (e.g. 50 pixels or something – the number would depend on your resolution). Then shrink the ruler and you’ll know exactly how large 50 px on the screen will be in the finished ring. Then you can do a basic calculation to work out any size using your conversion rate!
Laura said
That is such a simple answer-I cannot believe I have been putting off making these because I couldn’t figure out how to get the right size strips!!
Thanks for another great tutorial!
ktlin said
Genial, j’adore cette idée, merci pour ce tuto
Thanks a lot! I love this