It’s Dangerous to go Alone! Make this DIY 8-bit heart necklace set in ten minutes.
Things you might know: We love 8-bit hearts (here…here), and Shrinky Dinks are awesome (we made some Shrinky Dink cameo necklaces, here). Combine those things, and you get this quick geeky DIY project.
Start with PRINTABLE Shrinky Dinks. They go through your regular inkjet printer. If you can’t find ’em, you could try to just draw/trace the shapes on regular Shrink Plastic. We get ours at Michael’s, or you could go with Amazon.
In addition to Shrink Plastic, you need two necklace chains and 2 jump rings (Joann or Michael’s will have them), and optional clear coat spray. That’s it.
Print this out full size (test it first on regular paper, before using the plastic):
Here it is as a PDF, which might work better: 8-bit-heart-necklace
The reason there are four 8-bit hearts there is because sometimes Shrinky Dinks laugh in your face and ruin themselves for no reason (by curling up in a weird tight ball that won’t open, or twisting themselves all around). If you’re already going to be printing, why not do some backups? Plus then you have more geekery for gifting.
Once they’re printed, cut the shapes out. Then – IMPORTANT – cut a hole for the necklace chain to attach. Remember to make the hole 2-3 times bigger than you want it to end up.
Bake according to package instructions, doing one set at a time. Takes about a minute. If one curls up, keep it in the oven 30 seconds longer, and it might uncurl and flatten.
They’ll shrink like crazy, after doing a funny dance in your oven. They become maybe 1/3 of the original size, and the color gets much more saturated. Example:
Color the white side parts with black sharpie, and spray a clear coat or put a coat of Mod Podge on it, to seal it. Both of those are optional, but the clear coat will keep the color from fading. We did a matte finish clear coat.
We each hung ours from our car rearview mirrors. Look how gloomy it is in LA!
Are you working on any geeky Valentine’s Day gifts, or have any fun plans? We’re thinking about doing a quick camping trip, before it gets too hot.
Lisa Black says
February 8, 2014 at 12:27 amOh, what a cool idea! I never knew that printable shrinky dinks existed, but I really want some now! I’m planning on making a giant Darth Vader shaped brownie for Valentine’s Day; but we’ll see if that’s something me and my meagre baking skills can actually acomplish! ~___^
ournerdhome says
February 10, 2014 at 11:13 pmWha?? Giant Darth Vader brownie?? That is fantastic. I wish I could bake. :/
Wendy says
February 8, 2014 at 8:15 amCute! Shrink plastic is awesome – I made a charm bracelet with comic book covers using the printable sheets. (I reduced the saturation about 50% to get reasonably true colors once they were shrunk.)
For Valentine’s Day (this is our 25th V-Day together) I am going to take 25 Avengers valentines and hide them in the bathroom, in his coat, his briefcase… Since I get up an hour before he does, I should have plenty of time. 😀
ournerdhome says
February 10, 2014 at 11:17 pmAww, I love that! I also love that Avengers valentines exist. 🙂
And thank you for the tip on reducing saturation for printable shrinks dinks – we were wanting to try them with photos, but were worried about how the colors would turn out.
nina says
December 9, 2015 at 2:44 pmHey can I just print the paper hearts out and poke a hole in them and make the necklases? Will look good one dimensional ? Do I have to bake anything? Will the print outs be big like in the picutes?
ournerdhome says
December 9, 2015 at 4:15 pmHey there. You probably wouldn’t want to print them onto regular paper, since they wouldn’t last very long (paper tears so easily, plus would discolor from oils on skin, etc). The print outs are big, since they’re designed to be used with shrinky dink paper. Shrinky dink paper shrinks down to a hard plastic. 🙂
nina says
December 10, 2015 at 7:42 amThanks for the advice!:)