My 7 year old daughter has never been so excited for me to work on a post. She loves The Powerpuff Girls! And now you can watch all of the episodes of the classic animated series exclusively on Hulu!
If you aren’t familiar with The Powerpuff Girls, you can watch the trailer below. The show is based on three sugar-coated superheroes, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, whose missions in life alternate between going to school, fighting crime, winning at hopscotch and saving the world before bedtime. Along with sugar and spice and everything nice, they rely on teamwork, trust, and friendship to thwart evil. Girl power! Hulu is THE streaming destination for the best of TV, and a great selection of films! Plus, you can stream almost anywhere, on any device, including gaming consoles, set-top boxes, tablets, mobile phones, and more. Visit Hulu.com to start your free trial. It’s the only place to find the full classic animated series The Powerpuff Girls!
Shrinky Dinks Powerpuff Girls Jewelry
Do you remember Shrinky Dinks from when you were a kid? Oh my goodness, I used to think they were pretty much magical! I’ve never been very good at drawing, so the fact that I could just trace a picture, cut it out, throw it in the oven and have any mistakes shrink and disappear was pretty much amazing.
And let me just say that Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles are the PERFECT characters for Shrinky Dinks! They are simple, adorable, and really easy to trace. Even my 4 year old was able to make some pretty awesome Powerpuff Girls Shrinky Dink charms all by herself.
Make Your Own Shrinky Dink Powerpuff Girls Jewelry
Here’s what you’ll need (this list includes affiliate links):
Shrinky Dinks “Clear”, OR Shrinky Dinks “Bright White” OR Printable “Ink Jet” Shrink Film Sharpie Assorted Fine Tip Markers Single Hole Punch Metal Jump Rings Elastic Jewelry Cord Needle Nose Pliers Fun Chunky Gumball Beads
And of course your free printable template…
Powerpuff Girls Printable PDF Template
Printable Ink Jet Shrink Film
This stuff is pretty amazing! Here’s an affiliate link for the Ink Jet Shrink Film by Grafix that I used. Just print out your images and the pictures look absolutely PERFECT! I have an HP ENVY 4520 Inkjet printer (affiliate link). The printable inkjet shrink film ran through the printer with no issues at all.
Cut the shapes out using scissors. Don’t worry about cutting right on the line, it really doesn’t matter if there’s some empty space around the edges of the characters. It will shrink away.
Since we’re turning these into jewelry charms you’ll need to use a standard sized, single hole punch to cut out the hole.
Now the fun part – Shrink them in the oven! And oh my word, it is surprisingly entertaining to watch them shrink! It takes about a minute before they do anything, but then the edges start to curl up, and they curl so much that you start to panic that the whole thing is going to curl up onto itself. But then it gradually flattens out again, and you get to watch in awe and wonder as they shrink down to less than half their original size.
You can use a toaster oven or a regular oven. Mine needed to cook for about 2 minutes at 350F.
If they don’t completely flatten, use a silicon spatula to flatten them out as soon as they come out of the oven.
This is a comparison of the before and after sizes below. They shrink by about 40% to 45%, depending on the type of shrink film you use.
So cute! Don’t they look adorable?!
You can always thread the charms right through a piece of jewelry cord, but I find it looks so much nicer if you use these little jump rings.
I used my fingers to pull apart the ring to open it up and thread it through the hole in the charm.
Then I used needle nose pliers to gently squeeze the ring closed again.
Thread the charms onto elastic cording with your favourite beads and you have a super simple DIY bracelet with awesome looking Powerpuff Girls charms!
Bright White Shrinky Dinks
Now, the traceable Shrinky Dinks. THESE are what I remember from when I was a kid! There is something so fun about creating the shapes by yourself! You’ll get the best results if you use the Shrinky Dinks “Bright White” Creative Pack (affiliate link). The only problem is that they are barely translucent, so it’s hard to see the shapes underneath the shrink film if you try to trace them on a table.
But I discovered that if you tape your Powerpuff Girls Printable Template to a window, and then tape the white shrink film over top, the light behind the window shines through and it’s sooooooo much easier to see the shapes to trace!
Then you cut out the shape and punch a hole through it.
Shrink it in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes at 350F.
Thread some bright and colourful beads onto thick elastic cording along with your Powerpuff Girls charms.
Such an awesome and super simple piece of jewelry that your kids are going to love!
My daughters have been having so much fun tracing the Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles characters! They’re so proud of their work!
If you’re a geek like me, you might be wondering what the difference is between the different Shrinky Dink types. So here’s the deal…
Printable Inkjet Shrink Film
The Printable “Ink Jet” Shrink Film (affiliate link) was definitely the easiest and fastest way to get perfect looking characters. They ended up shrinking to 45% of their original size. But rather than having a nice shiny texture after they baked, the surface has a matte finish with kind of a fuzzy looking texture from the printer ink shrinking. I was only able to get clear Inkjet Shrink Film, which was actually more of a translucent gray. So while they were extremely perfect, they have a darker, and grayer look to them. If you can get White Inkjet Shrink Film, that would probably brighten work much better.
Clear Shrinky Dinks
The “Clear” Shrinky Dinks (affiliate link) are awesome if you have younger kids because they are completely transparent making it really easy for kids to trace the characters. My 7 year old traced the example in the photo below, and I thought she did a terrific job! The Clear Shrinky Dinks ended up shrinking to about 40% of their original size. The only downside is that since they are so clear, they don’t stand out very much when you attach them to the jewelry. You can kind of see the ink, but mostly they disappear.
Bright White Shrinky Dinks
The “Bright White” Shrinky Dinks (affiliate link) looked the best in my opinion. They ended up shrinking to about 43% of their original size. They had a shiny texture in the end, and the bright white really made the colours pop. It’s easy to trace the characters when you tape everything to a window, but it will really depend on how much you trust your kids with Sharpies near your windows… I was nervous enough letting them colour with Sharpies at the table with a big protective place mat, let alone going anywhere near our windows and walls.
Follow Hulu on Facebook | Twitter |Instagram | Google + These Shrinky Dinks jewelry charms are inspired by the classic animated series The Powerpuff Girls. The full series is only available on Hulu. These charms are SO EASY to make and they are completely adorable! Trace your shapes, cut them out and shrink them in the oven! Then use your favourite brightly coloured beads to come up with your own amazing jewelry creations!
