Green Options

My days of Strawberry Shortcake Shrinky-Dinks are long past (although my childhood Strawberry Shortcake doll is still a prized possession–our household rule is that we are allowed no commercial culture toys in the house, unless they’re “vintage”. Ahem), but wow, were they crazy fun or what?

At last year’s Strange Folk festival, some Girl Scouts taught me and my kiddos the joys of #6 plastic. The basic concept: It shrinks! Like Shriny-Dinks! Equally awesomely! And because you get to draw your own pictures, not fill in some pre-printed coloring sheet, AND you get to re-use before you recycle, it’s a great activity to do with our budding little environmentalists.

There are lots of tutorials on the web for shrinking #6 plastic, all a little different, but here’s how my family does ours:

[photo by SEWphisticate used with permission]

Genevieve over at SEWphisticate has an awesome tutorial on turning plastic take out containers or cups into shrinky dinks! It turns out that #6 plastic, a type that many cities do not recycle, will shrink beautifully in the oven!