Shrinky Dink Memories

I got an email today from one of my mom's former students. He wrote this:

Silver Valley Girl,

I thought you would be interested in seeing this. It is a "Shrinky-Dink" ornament that your mom (and one of my very favorite teachers) made for me. I have hung it on the tree every year since 2nd grade! Of course when I moved out and on my own, my mom let me take it. Here is the picture of it in all its glory on our tree this year. Feel free to share it with your mom.

Merry Christmas!

Simon

What a wonderful surprise to receive this picture from Simon. I remember the Shrinky Dink phase in our family. For those of you not familiar with this phenomenon:

Shrinky Dinks is an arts and crafts product for children. Thin, flexible plastic sheets can be coloured with felt-tip pens, colored pencils or crayons and cut into shapes. When heated in the oven or with a heat gun, the plastic shrinks by about 5/8ths and becomes thicker and more rigid, while retaining the colored design.

Shrinky Dinks were invented in 1973 by Kate Bloomberg and Betty Morris from Wisconsin. The first kits were manufactured by the major toy companies of the time such as Milton Bradley, Colorforms, Western Publishing and Skyline Toys. The shrink plastic is still available from many retailers and can be used for anything from charms to pins.

I remember taking a picture and tracing it and coloring it with magic markers. Then we took a paper punch and put a hole in the top so the ornament could hang. Then the sheets went into the oven, and curled and folded and became thicker. It was like magic. It was a fun craft project to do as a kid. I still have a few Shrinky Dink ornaments in my ornament collection that are often hung on our Christmas tree as well.

Thanks, Simon, for taking me down the Christmas Shrinky Dink Memory Lane.