I love using special occasions as an excuse for having my kids learn to make things for others. With Father’s Day quickly approaching, I knew that we needed to make their dad something. This is easier said than done with a 1 year old and a 3 year old. When my son (the 1 year old) gets involved in crafts, we don’t have many options. But, one thing he can do in the craft realm is color. I have been prepping lots of Shrinky Dink book crafts for the local library’s summer program, so coloring Shrinky Dinks immediately came to mind. I knew both of my kids could make Shrinky Dink Father’s Day frames.
My husband has little acrylic frames with pictures of the kids on his desk at work. I asked him to bring them home (kinda ruined the surprise, but oh well). The kids and I then made and added the shrink plastic outer frames to them. He knows that the acrylic frames are part of a Father’s Day craft and that he won’t get them back until the actual day.
How to Make a Father’s Day Frame With Your Kids
Shrinky Dink Father’s Day Frame Materials:
- Shrink Plastic (you can also use #6 plastic)
- Colored Pencils or Permanent Markers
- Parchment Paper
- Acrylic Frames
- Hot Glue
Creating a Frame for Father’s Day:
Prep the Frame:
To start you need to do some math to figure out how big to make your frame. Measure a small test piece before and after you shrink it. I just made Shrinky Dink books, so I measured those. From those two numbers you can figure out what percentage your Shrinky Dink shrinks by. Then, use that percentage to figure out what size shrink plastic you need to fit your acrylic frame. But, do all this with the realization that every shrink is different and it won’t be exact. It won’t matter if you are off by a little bit, you just want to be close.
Then, cut your shrink plastic to the decided on size and cut out the middle. You want the frame to be pretty thick since it will shrink a lot. I used an X-ACTO knife and a pair of scissors to cut out my inside. I also rounded the edges since Shrinky Dink corners are pretty sharp.
Color the Frame:
Then, let your children design their Father’s Day frame. Colored pencils work on the rough side of the Shrinky Dink plastic and permanent markers work on either side. My daughter is 3 and I tried to get her to write I love Daddy on her frame. To do this, I wrote it on a piece of paper that I put underneath her shrink plastic. I tried to explain tracing to her, but she ended up just coloring around it instead. But that’s OK, we will tell my husband what it says and he will know. Then, she colored all over the rest of the frame.
My son is only 1, so getting colored pencil marks on the frame was enough of a challenge. When he started throwing the pencils on the ground, we called his done. He still had fun, even though not much color ended up on the frame.
Bake the Frame:
Next, we baked the frames. I preheated the oven to 330°F and placed the frames smooth side down on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Once the oven was hot, I put the Shrinky Dinks in. For some reason they bubbled instead of curling, but they still shrunk and flattened back out in just a few minutes. I gave them about a minute after they flattened out before taking them out of the oven.
Attach the Frame:
Lastly, I hot glued the Shrinky Dinks onto my acrylic picture frames. I will place the pictures of my kids back in them before giving them to my husband for Father’s Day.
Outcome of Shrinky Dink Father’s Day Frames:
My daughter had a blast making her frame. Every minute or so she would stop coloring to make sure I saw how good it looked. My son enjoyed it as much as he does any activity that he is getting attention. I think that the frames add a fun personal touch to pictures that their dad can put on his desk at work. I wanted to post this before Father’s Day to give you guys some inspiration, but I am not giving them to him until the actual day. So, I can’t say what he thinks of them yet. What is the sweetest thing your child has made as a gift?
