Peace Concerns Refrigerator Magnets
Materials:
shrink plastic sheets (like Shrinky Dinks®), or else squares of clear polystyrene cut from the tops and bottoms of clear clamshell containers such as those used in salad bars and roughly sanded on one side to make them rough enough to write on with pencil
colored pencils, including a white one
permanent markers, various tip sizes
pencil sharpener
scissors
tape
cookie sheet
stiff flat paper, such a from a grocery bag
aluminum foil
oven or toaster oven preheated to 325F
oven mitts
disc magnets
hot glue gun
patterns of peace messages/logos printed out on paper, about 2 1/2 times larger than the refrigerator magnet you want
alcohol or whiteboard cleaner fluid
paper towels
1. Children choose whether they want their magnet shiny or matte. Matte will have more intense color.
2. Children choose the patterns they want to use. Have some printed out to size using images on the web. If they want to make an original design, they draw it on paper, tracing from one of the other patterns as a size guide. Cut a section of shrink plastic large enough for the design. You can get enough for four or more magnets from one sheet of shrink plastic if they are small. Square patterns are especially efficient.
3. For matte magnets: tape pattern picture to shiny side of plastic, so it show through when child traces it from the matte side. Child traces and colors on matte side.
4. For shiny magnets: tape picture to matte side of plastic. Trace on shiny side with fine black marker. Then remove pattern and color on matte side of plastic so image is reversed. Use whiteboard cleaner to remove marker lines from shiny side when completely finished coloring in matte side. Now you have your image showing through right-way on the shiny side. (This isn't necessary if you are using a pattern that you don't mind seeing in mirror image).
5. Trim plastic to shape of pattern, rounding off any corners. You won't be able to cut it once it shrinks. If the piece is small and about as wide as it is long, you can just lay it on the stiff paper to shrink. Otherwise, make a "sandwich" with stiff paper, the plastic to be shrunk in the middle, and then another piece of stiff paper. Fold a layer of foil over the whole thing and seal edges, so it can't curl much during cooking. Lay on cookie sheet. Heat for 3 1/2 minutes at 325F (or 30 seconds after it finishes shrinking and lays flat, if you are able to watch it during cooking).
6. Remove cookie sheet from oven and press down on the shrunken piece (or the foil containing the shrunken piece) with a magazine or other flat object that won't conduct heat. Hold flat until it is cool enough not to bend. Remove from packet. It will be a thick disc of hard plastic, a little less than half as large in width as it started. (Since it is shrinking in width and height, it will look about 1/4 the size.)
7. Teacher uses hot glue gun to attach magnet disc to back of shrunk plastic, being sure to glue it to the other side from the one the student chose to have in front. Best to apply the glue to the magnet, then press quickly onto the plastic.8. When choosing and coloring patterns remember:
-- The image will shrink a little more in one direction than the other. Keep your image oriented straight with the edges of the plastic or it will shrink diagonally. The difference in shrinkage is most noticeable in large pieces or ones that should look round (like Planet Earth logos, for instance).
-- Long, thin strips will get thinner and may get distorted during shrinkage if they stick to the paper.
-- Colors will get more intense, as the same amount of color ends up in a smaller space. Two dark colors next to each other (green and blue on Planet Earth) may all look like one glob of dark color if there is no light color in between.
-- You can color in an area using dots or cross hatching and it will become a more solid color without becoming as dark.
-- Thin lines will get thinner and may be hard to see, or may provide intricate detail, especially with marker lines.
-- Square corners will get sharp as the plastic thickens -- round them off first
-- You can't use water soluble markers, because they will come off, even after shrinking.
-- You can use acrylic paints, but they will be wrinkly and look like wood after shrinking
-- Be sure to color in "white" areas with white pencil before shrinking, or the magnet will show through from the back. There is translucent white shrink plastic available, but it may be harder to trace patterns through.
-- Sometimes you may have to open the foil and peek during cooking to make sure the plastic isn't sticking to the paper. If it is, it can be removed from oven, loosened, then reheated to finish shrinking.
-- You can use a pin back to make pins instead of magnet. You can also make charms or keychains, but be sure to punch the hole before shrinking.
-- No, you can't use a microwave!
The student wanted this pattern to be shiny side out. The paper pattern on the right was printed from a web image using draft mode on the printer to save ink, then cut out. It was taped to the matte side of the plastic, and the pattern was traced with a extra fine point permanent marker on the shiny side. Then the pattern was removed, the plastic flipped over, and the design colored in permanent marker on the matte side. White areas were colored in with white colored pencil. The plastic was trimmed to just the circular design itself. The design on the shiny side was carefully wiped off with a whiteb0ard cleaner-moistened paper towel while the plastic lay on a few layers of paper towel (so it didn't slide around and get cleaner on the good side). After shrinking, a pin was hot glued to the matte side. Notice the pattern was taped to the plastic slightly off the grain of the shrink paper and so the final shrunk piece is longer in the diagonal direction.
