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Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:20:00 -0700

" Inside me lives a skinny woman crying to get out. But I can usually shut her up with cookies."
Anonymous

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Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:40:00 -0700

Shrinky Dinks are a childrens toy/activity kit consisting of large flexible sheets which, when heated in an oven, shrink to small hard plates without altering their color or shape. They reached the height of their popularity in the 1980s. Most sets are pre-printed with outline images of popular childrens' characters or other subjects, which are then coloured in before baking.

Shrinky dinks were invented in 1973 by Betty Morris of Brookfield, Wisconsin. The first kits were manufactured by the major toy companies of the time such as Milton Bradley, Colorforms, Western Publishing and Skyline Toys. The shrink plastic is still available from many retailers and can be used for anything from charms to pins.

Prior to heating, the thin, flexible polystyrene plastic sheets can be coloured with felt-tip pens, acrylic paint, colored pencils, etc. and cut into shapes. However, oily or waxy substances (such as cheap colored pencils, crayons, or oil paint) are not suitable because they melt or burn in high heat. When heated in the oven or with a heat gun, the plastic shrinks by about 5/8ths and becomes thicker and more rigid, while retaining the colored design.

Although Shrinky Dinks is considered to be an arts and crafts product for children, many adult crafters find the product to be suitable for jewelry making and other projects. For this purpose, blank sheets are available.

Recently, University of California, Merced Professor Michelle Khine has applied Shrinky Dinks to create tiny structures for the application of Microfluidics to topics such as stem cell research.

Facts from the 70's

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:40:00 -0700

FACTS about this decade.
Population: 204,879,000
Unemployed in 1970: 4,088,000
National Debt: $382 billion
Average salary: $7,564
Food prices: milk, 33 cents a qt.; bread, 24 cents a loaf; round steak, $1.30 a pound
Life Expectancy: Male, 67.1; Female, 74.8

RetroWrappers.com

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Facts from the 70's