I'm not a nostalgic-type person. I don't sit around waxing poetic about "the good old days" and wishing I could go back in time to relive moments in my life. Sure it's fun to reminisce, but I don't choose to live in the past.
But there are things I remember as being fun that I think might be fun again, so sometimes I bring the past to the present. For instance, ShrinkyDinks. When I was a kid, I loved ShrinkyDinks. Nothing made me happier than to take pieces of frosted plastic, color them in with colored pencils, cut them out, and bake them in the oven until they shrink down to useless pieces of hard plastic.
So when I saw that ShrinkyDinks are still around AND available for inkjet printers, I just had to buy some. Fun!
First you print something out at 50% lightness on ShrinkyDink plastic...
Then you bake it and it shrinks down (after some mildly entertaining acrobatics)...
Wheeeeeee!
Yeah, not quite as fun as I remember.
Things so rarely are.
But you have to consider that stuff like home computers, video games, and the World Wide Web didn't exist back when my ShrinkyDink infatuation was underway. Turns out it's not that ShrinkyDinks were ever that great... it's just that there was nothing better to do back then.
Like create Mii characters on my Wii! For those who asked, here's what "MiiLizabeth HurWii" looks like...
Given the limited options for Mii creation, I think she turned out pretty good.
Bleh. I have to work all weekend. Considering I woke up with a migraine the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, this does not promise to be a fun day. Still, it's better than waking up with a migraine the size of a Hummer (the giant H2 model... not the wimpier H3) because those are the days I just want to stick my head in the Whirling Blades of Death and be done with it.
Who knows, by the end of the day I just might anyway.
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I don’t remember the (french) name of this plastic… But I remember the fun when I colored them and saw this plastic like your pictures !!! Maybe, it is less funny because with the printer, we do nothing… Or just click !!!
Liz HurWii is pretty !!!
Wouah…A migraine the size like a Volkswagen Beetle (here, the name of this car is “la coccinelle” (ladybug) ou “la cox”)
I wish you a happy day !!! I hope your migraine will disappear…
Things are never as good as we remember them…but yes, we did grow up in a much simpler time.
Though, I think if I had a Snoopy Snow Cone Machine, it would still pretty much rock the house. 🙂
(you did a very nice job coloring your Shrinky Dinks)
(and thanks for the Liz HurWii shot, you did a very nice job on her hair and makeup!)
Over the holidays we were playing the new Cranium like board game called Pop5. The topic was “fads” – the answer was “Shrinky Dinks” and no one else knew what they were. I am either older than most of my friends (which I know I’m not) or I remember more about my childhood than they do.
Or I guess they could have been sheltered from the evilness of the ShrinkyDinks (due to the flagrant use of DINK in their brand name).
Nice job with Liz HurWii. Thanks for sharing!
That’s not bad for the Mii. One of my friends is very good with the Miis – she makes them look uncannily like the person. With all the permutations of shrinking the sizes of the parts you add, moving them up down or farther apart or closer together, and all the variety, she can get pretty close to anyone.
I don’t remember what exactly was the point of ShrinkyDinks, though I do recall how I was enthralled with their “magic.” We have to remember that through the eyes of a child, most things are amazing, while through the eyes of an experienced and oftentimes jaded adult, those same things are just “not the same.” That’s why childhood is so precious.
I hope you feel better! Don’t want you to stick your head in food processor.
I liked Spirographs. And ShrinkyDinks. I was easily amused as a child. Oh who am I kidding, I still am.
It’s very cool now to watch my 3 year old colour me a picture of what of to uninformed looks like random squiggles in various colours and tell me a whole story about what it is.
OK, I too have fond memeories about Shrinky Dinks, but what I want to hear about is the recipe for the enchiladas. I went back to reread about the whirling blades of death from yesterday and was sidetracked by thoughts of cheesy spicy mexican goodness. Forgive me – I’m trapped at a weekend retreat where they’re feeding us mountains of fried food and recycled food. (What we don’t eat of the au gratin potatoes tonight will show up as corn & potato chowder tomorrow, and so on.)
Thanks for Liz. My kids were so excited to turn it on today and find a message containing her. I’ll make sure she gets plenty of Star Dave exposure. You did a nice job on her, too.
I didn’t have Shrinkydinks when I was younger because we were poor. I may just have to go out an buy some as I’m still easily impressed by things.
What I want is an adult size Sit n Spin. That would rule!
What, would it have killed Nintendo to allow the Miis some breastal “augmentation”? I’m trying to stretch my imagination, but somehow I’m having trouble seeing Elizabeth Hurley with a 13 year old body.
ShrinkyDinks were always cool.
I liked that since they shrunk, in essence they were increasing the resolution of your drawing and making it look crispy and shiny. (So it took out the crappy edges I drew or bad coloring between the lines).
And it looks like an easy way to make a Lil Dave and Bad Monkey keychain…
Where’d you get that ‘Shrinky Dink for inkjet printers’ stuff? It’d be great for making custom Christmas ornaments and other crafty projects…
Still have fond memories of my My Little Pony Shrinky Dinks…
ShrinkyDinks has their own website here.
Tell me you’re going to sell Blogography ShrinkyDinks in a variety of fun images!