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Baby Handprint Crafts Baby Keepsake KeychainShrinky Dinks are making a comeback! I'm so glad because I really did have fun with these as a kid. You may have a hard time finding them in local stores, but they are available on the internet. You do not have to limit yourself to using actual Shrinky Dinks kits either. You can buy generic plastic shrink or shrink film. They come blank so you can make whatever you want. Trace pictures on them, or in this case make baby handprints or footprints. You can even buy printable shrink film to run through your computer. That is just perfect for making baby photo keepsakes, or even a baby announcement key chain keepsake.
Follow the directions on the shrink film package. I was working with original shrink film from Shrinky Dinks. I pre-heated the oven to 325 degrees. Get out your ink pad and simply start making handprints or footprints on the shrink film sheets. I recommend blotting a bit of the ink after you make the footprints, as the shrink film will not absorb all of the ink if there happens 
to be an excess. It will sit on the surface and eventually seep away from the image, ruining it. Try to space them apart so you have room to add the baby's name or birth date or even a cute little graphic. I added some lettering and even a small graphic on the handprint charm. You can use rubber stamps to add little pictures and things, or even lettering. I added the lettering to mine by printing the lettering from my computer and then simply tracing it through the shrink plastic. You should only use water based inks. Nothing oil or wax based. They will not work with the shrink film and may cause problems. Colored pencils work best for any graphics or lettering you might want to add. After your images are complete cut them out from the shrink plastic. Make sure and leave a space for you to punch a hole. The hole has to be fairly big since it will shrink down quite a bit after baking. Get out a baking sheet and line it with tin foil. Place the shrink plastic down with the colored side up. The packaging says to bake for 1-5 minutes. I just hung out right in front of the oven to watch em' bake. I waited until the shapes shrunk down and laid flat. Once they were flat I gave it another 30 seconds and took them out. Let them cool for a couple minutes and then stick them on key chains, or string them as necklaces! These are perfect baby handprint crafts that are great to give as gifts and make excellent keepsakes!
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You can cut the images out any shape you want. Using regular old scissors and hand cutting works fine, but you can also trace a shape around the object, like a star or heart, and then cut it out. You could also use decorative border scissors to create a scalloped or wavy edge.