Review on 💎 Design and Create Stunning Jewelry, Crafts, and More with Grafix Shrink Film – Pack of 50 Clear, Transparent Shrink Sheets, 8.5 x 11 inches by Amy Mcleod

I appreciated the Shrinky Dink shrink wrap and realized it would be too expensive for my large group of kids, so I started looking for alternatives. This film from Grafix is perfect and has a very good price. This film is transparent so the resulting shrink designs closely resemble stained glass windows. Grafix also offers white foil and even inkjet foil! If you've never used shrink wrap before, here's a little guide. You will need shrink wrap, permanent markers or crayons, scissors, some parchment paper, and some baking. I use a cheap toaster that I keep for this and for baking Sculpy Clay. Accessories include fine sandpaper for easy sanding of foils when using crayons, a hole punch, several adapter rings and needle-nose pliers, key rings and several magnets with an adhesive back. I cut each sheet of cling film into quarters because a quarter sheet is a good size for shrinking. Large leaves sometimes strangely shrink and curl in strange ways. Have your child draw a drawing on a quarter of the slide and try to fill the slide as much as possible as it will shrink by 50%. If your design is too small, it will be tiny after baking! If you want to turn your shrink designs into pendants, keychains, or necklaces, you'll need to punch a hole somewhere in the design before baking. If you want to make fridge magnets, you don't need a hole. Then cut the pattern as desired. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees and let it heat up. The toaster is perfect for this because it heats up very quickly and has a glass door to watch the magic through. Place the design on a sheet of parchment paper, place on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Pay close attention because the baking process is short! You will notice that the design will start to shrink and curl. Do not worry. When the shrinkage is complete, the pattern unfolds and becomes flat again. When it's almost straight, take it out of the oven. I use pliers and gloves for this because the plastic is very, very hot. Place it on a heat-resistant surface and hit it with a heavy book to flatten it completely. (Kids LOVE this part.) Ta-da! They made heat shrink tubing! Sometimes on larger designs, or on longer, thinner sections, it curls up badly and may stick to itself. I have a chopstick that I keep by the toaster to intervene if that happens. You will see that after shrinking, the film becomes much thicker, meaning it is no longer flexible. If desired, you can seal the design with clear nail polish or spray sealant. Magic tokens can chip off a bit if unsealed. Colored pencils seem to be the most durable drawings, but you will need to sand the foil lightly before drawing on the drawing. The grinding creates a tooth for the colored pencil to cling to. Sand lightly in both directions using a stroke method. Tip: Buy some Sharpie metal markers, even if you want to use crayons. They add flair to any design and kids seem to love using them. They are gold, silver and bronze. Any child old enough to draw will love creating mini designs. Children from 11-12 years can even bake themselves under supervision. If you are looking for a fun art project for kids, I promise they will love it.