Does Acrylic Paint Work Well on Shrinky Dinks?

Artists usually love to see their final artwork look beautiful, colored, and vivid. Acrylic paint is famous for doing the magic of giving beauty to a wide range of surfaces and pieces of artwork.

Does Acrylic Paint Work Well on Shrinky Dinks?

Yes! Acrylic paints work well on shrinky dinks, producing great and vibrant color results. Paint on shrinky dinks with acrylic paint, then bake in the oven for 3 minutes and finally seal with a mod podge sealer to prevent dust and UV rays. Crafts 4 All is the best acrylic paint on shrinky dinks.

 

I did some shrinky dinks yesterday. And learned that acrylic paint doesn't really work for this sort of thing. 😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/NuCRKP4W3f

— DinkyInky (@Dinky_Inky_) January 12, 2020

Pros of Acrylic Paint on Shrinky Dinks

It’s known for its extreme versatility and wide application. Acrylic paint is perfect on clay, glass, canvas, and glass surfaces. This type of paint is water-based and will provide the needed visual effect on your project. Don’t forget, Shrinky Dinks and acrylic paints are non-toxic. They come through a low-temperature process in making them. So, you can be sure of compatibility and safe use. 

How to use Acrylic Paint on Shrinky Dinks

Applying acrylic paint to this medium requires a lot of skill and time. It doesn’t matter if you are a veteran, a beginning craftsman, or an artist. As long as you don’t rush any of the steps, that will be the best. Take your time so you can achieve the best result that you desire. Interestingly, acrylic paint produces excellent and vibrant colors on Shrinky Dinks. 

Supplies needed:

• Acrylic paint
• Shrink Dink paper
• Tracing pencil
• Hole punch
• Ribbon (paperclips will also work for hanging) 
• Acrylic paint pencils or markers
• X-Acto knife or Scissors
• Oven: Conventional or toaster
• Coloring pencils or markers
• Sealer

Steps to Apply Acrylics on Shrinky Dinks：

Step 1: Preheating

Switch on toaster or conventional oven. Set the oven at 1770C or 3500F and preheat (consider the shrinking condition).

Step 2: Cutting and designing 

Using cookie cutters, cut out the design of your Shrinky dink ornament into shapes. Decorate the color.

Step 3: Tracing

Start light tracing using an acrylic pencil. Adjust the size accordingly. Bear in mind that the design will shrink up to one-third of its original size. 

Step 4: Painting

Start to paint using your acrylic paint and acrylic paint pencils markers. At this stage, you should avoid paint buildup. Paint in thin layers. Allow the first layer to dry well before adding an extra layer of color. The paint layers are essential to give vibrancy, saturation, and depth to the colors. The kind of design you want will define the base color and second-layer color. 

Step 5: Baking 

Place the shrink dink in a baking tray. You can also use an aluminum foil sheet. Using a baking tray takes a longer time to bake.

Bake the shrinky dinks for up to 3 minutes in the oven. While baking, the dinks will curl and show lain flat back out 

Step 6: Sealing

After completing the baking process, it’s time to protect your homemade project. Otherwise, they’ll flake due to dust, UV rays, and debris. Using an acrylic-like mod podge sealer, you can seal the shrink dinks. 

Step 7: Creating a hole

After cooling, remove the dinks from the oven. Then, it’s time to create a hole where the paper clips or ribbon will pass to hang. Use the hole punch.

Step 8: Your project is ready

Your acrylic-painted shrinky dinks are now ready for use as a gift. 

Best Acrylic Paint for Shrinky Dinks: 12mL Crafts 4 All Acrylic Paint Set

If you’re in search of acrylic paint with an incredible assortment, this acrylic paint kit is the right pick. Its color pigmentation and consistency make it perfect for various shades and hues. This makes your project shine brightly and show vibrant colors. 

This paint set comes at a relatively affordable price despite the immense value and quality. You won’t have to break the bank before you get this professional-grade paint. Plus, the paint won’t leave behind any bumps, stray bristles, or bubbles on your Shrinky Dinks. You want to add too much paint because the paint set comes with a wide range of colors. 

Pros 

• Ideal for canvas, wood, ceramics and fabrics
• Non-toxic and safe to use
• Excellent consistency for layering and blending
• Perfect for a wide range of surfaces and shade spectrum

Cons

• Tubes may be too tiny
• May require you to soften it a bit

Best Acrylic Pencil for Shrinky Dinks: SKKSTATIONERY 50Pcs Colored Pencils

These acrylic pencils from SKKSTATIONERY are the perfect supply for your painting and drawing needs. The kit comes with 50 colored pencils that feature 50 light and vibrant colors. The pencils are also excellent for coloring books and as gifts. It comes in a wide variety of colors, up to 50 in total. 

Made of top-quality wood and pigments, these acrylic paint pencils are popular for their resistance to breaking. Besides, the lightfast pigments make them suitable for easy and clean sharpening. If you want to draw on coloring books or color your garden or Shrinky Dinks, these pencils will do magical work. 

Pros 

• Perfect for drawing and coloring
• Affordable
• Smooth, easy and clean sharpening
• Vibrant colors

Cons 

• Not well erasable
• Not too bright colors 

What Color of Acrylic is Best for Shrinky Dinks?

Typically, light-colored acrylic paints work incredibly well on Shrinky Dinks. It’s better to use acrylic paint on an alcohol-based permanent sharpie marker. The reason is that light colors give off significant visual effects and rich results. However, the outline color of the painting can be dark. Usually, dark outline colors will not only make the light color pop. They’ll also prevent the light colors from flowing out over the Dinks plastics.

What Materials can you use on Shrinky Dinks?

The best materials to use on shrink dinks are colored paint pencils. You can also use inks. You may be doing great damage to your Shrinky Dinks if you use waxy, high-temp, or oily substances on them. This is why oil paint or crayon isn’t the ideal material to use on Shrinky Dinks. They readily melt under high heat.

How to bake shrinky dinks with acrylic paint

As a general rule of thumb, baking your Shrinky Dinks has to come first before you start to paint them. If you don’t, the plastic will shrink when you place it in the oven for baking. This way, painting your design will become a little bit harder. Ultimately, the resultant colors on your Shrinky Dinks will be poor and dull. On the other hand, the colors will be deeper and shine brightly when you bake before painting. Color saturation will also be excellent and give your Shrinky Dinks a bolder finish. 

You’ll need some supplies to bake your Shrinky Dinks effectively. They include:

• Aluminum foil (brown paper is also good)
• Oven (conventional or toaster)
• A pair of scissors 
• Paper punch
• Colored acrylic pencil or permanent sharpie marker

Step-by-Step Guide to Baking Shrinky Dinks:

Here are the steps to follow to bake your Shrinky Dinks:

Step 1: Prepare the supplies

Using colored pencils or permanent sharpie markers, trace and decorate the plastic sheets. Use pencils on pre-sanded, frosted sheets and markers on transparent non-sanded sheets. 

Smoothly cut the sheets into desired pieces and shapes, using scissors. As it shrinks, the outline becomes sharper.

Punch a hole into the sheets. Ensure the hole is large enough to prevent it from shrinking away during baking.

Step 2: bake the Shrinky Dinks 

1. Switch on the oven 
2. Set the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (3250F or 1630C)
3. Preheat the oven 
4. Add the Shrinky Dinks. Before putting the Dinks, make sure the oven has heated up to about 1½ minutes.
5. Bake the Dinks for about 3 minutes 
6. Observe the Shrinky Dinks curl when baking
7. Take time to see the Dinks start to flatten after 30 seconds of curling
8. Turn off the oven
9. Allow the pieces to cool 
10. Remove the baked Shrinky Dinks 

One thing is that your Shrinky Dinks may not flatten back out in the oven. You can achieve this by using a small cotton towel. Press the Dinks lightly. 

How Long do you Bake Shrinky Dinks?

On average, baking shrink dinks will take about 30 minutes to complete. This includes the time it’ll take to preheat the oven, trace the design, and cut the ornaments. Plus, you’ll need to color, paint, allow the paint to dry before baking in the oven. Yet, it depends on the artist’s skills and level of expertise involved. A beginner crafter will take longer.

Can you use Acrylic Paint Pens on Shrinky Dinks?

Definitely, yes! It’s not only acrylic paint that you can work well on Shrinky dinks. The paint’s pens and sharpies also work effectively well. As a general rule of thumb, ensure you thin down the acrylic paint before applying it on the Shrinky Dinks. The paint sharpies or pens should do one or two coats. Otherwise, if you go for a thick layer or apply a complete design, you may create an ugly or bubbly piece of artwork. 

Final thoughts

Acrylic paint boasts excellent versatility, and shrinky dinks come as materials that will suit the application of the paint. It requires a careful artist and painter to achieve a good result when baking shrink dinks. While acrylic serves the best paint need, you must look for the best colors. Also, look out for acrylic colored pencils or sharpie markers to use. Do not use washable or water-based pencils on Shrinky Dinks. In the end, you’ll marvel at the results you’ll come up with.