Shrinky Dink Light Box

Intro: Shrinky Dink Light Box

Ever made a shrinky dink?
Found out it's not as easy as it seems?
Or do you just have a picture that you want to do something neat with?

I recently made a shrinky dink for the first time and realized when you shrink something to one third it's original size every mistake is three times amplified.
It was supposed to be a key chain, or something of the sort, of the twilight princess triforce.
But what I got was an uneven black square with bubbles and smudges all over it.
The only way you could see the picture was if you help it up to the light.
So I thought I need to make something that holds a light behind it.
That solved most of it but the sides were still horribly uneven.
So I needed to frame it.
What I ended up with was this.

STEP 1: Supplies

So first you'll need a few things.
~Your shrinky dink/picture/hard plastic of choice
~A box
~Rotary tool or something to cut the hole
~Sand paper
~Spray paint
~Glue
~Tape (just in case)
~Light (LED or small tap light for those of us who are not good at finding something everyone uses)

Yeah so I don't have a picture of everything you need.

STEP 2: Cut a Hole in the Box

First make sure you carefully measure your picture and the box.
Mark the box where it needs to be cut.
I marked mine just a little smaller than what I actually wanted.

Using your rotary tool, or weapon of choice, cut a hold in the box.
After cutting, the hole was slightly bigger than the markings I made on it. That's why I did it, of course.

Now sand it so it looks like you cared.

STEP 3: Paint the Box

I used spray paint, because... it's easy.
Just follow the instructions on the can.
Or look up "how to spray paint like a pro" like I should have done before painting rather than just now.


And remember not to use spray paint when it's below 40 degrees or really humid (I live on the east coast of Georgia so I can't avoid humidity). It takes longer to dry and it doesn't look so hot in the end.

STEP 4: Glue Picture in Place

Assuming your box is dry, go ahead and get your picture ready to glue down.
I just pretty much put glue around the edges and stuck it on.
Looked at the front. Moved it around. Checked the back. Moved it some more.

Let it dry.

Now I put some tape around the picture to make sure it stayed. I wasn't sure if the light was gonna put off heat and like... melt the glue or something. Look I'm no professional ok. I'm just an average person who likes to play on the safe side.
USE CLEAR TAPE. I woke up this morning and realized I'm an idiot and the whole picture isn't showing because I used black tape. ::Smacks forehead::

STEP 5: Insert Light

This was about the part where I checked the fit of my box. Made sure I liked everything so far.

Now you're gonna want to put the light in on the inside wall/panel/whatever directly behind the picture.
I used a tap light, because my dad told me to go to Lowe's and the worker I talked to knew nothing about these "LED's". The only thing he knew was they have plug in LED lights, LED tap lights, and LED yard fixtures. Fantastic.
I got a round one, because it's all they had/all he knew they had. A square one would have worked better for my picture.
The good thing was it's a stick on tap light, and I don't know too much bout hardware and putting stuff together and taping LED's to 3v coin batteries. Maybe if someone gave me a good step by step. And I mean ever step. You know when you're doing something and you're like "well this step is pretty much just pulling the tape out to the length you need then cutting it. I won't need to add that in." Oh yes, you do. Maybe mine isn't that detailed, maybe I halfass things. But if I want to do something new I need someone to give it to me in baby steps please.

Right so. Stick your light in the box.

STEP 6: Congrats, You're Done

So right about now you're looking at it like "What else am I supposed to be doing to you?"
Well... nothing.
Maybe you can add something else to make it special. I didn't.

Open the box. Turn it on. Close the box. Look at how awesome it is. Show your friends how awesome you are. Or share the awesome. Yes, share the awesome.

Comments

[OrsiK]

this looks really awesome! you're awesome. alhough i only have really small messed-up shrinkys, i might make one big deliberately. thanks for sharing, this is a great idea!

[raeraethejetplane]

Am I right to assume that the box you had opened up like that before you started your project? Or did you get a closed cube and cut it oh so neatly?

[sadistkitti]

You're right. It was like that when I bought it.

[Capt. Fat]

I found out eventually... but thanks for trying. Do you know that if you hit a chicken 8 times you can control it

[sadistkitti]

I did not know that. That's a lot better than dozens of them attacking you from every angle.

[Capt. Fat]

I know its annoying and it pisses ya off! Another point for Twilight Yeessss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Eirinn]

I never got through TP, i've played most if not all of the games in the zelda series available to europe and TP is by far..i'm sorry to say the most lacking of them all :( i guess it's a matter of taste though and if people think it's awesome then i wont stop them hehe. On a more "on thread note", pretty nice instructable! :D

[Capt. Fat]

Dude. Twilight is the best freakng game I played for the Wii yet!!! Its awesome story line, game layut, gameplay, and graphics aren't half bad. I say well worth the 60 bucks. And Capt. Fat was here.

[Eirinn]

TP was good, but compared to the other zelda games it was quite stale - i do agree with you that it's worth the money though! I own a wii and a Ps3 myself, i'm an avid nintendo fan...but they royally screwed up on the wii - i didn't know how bad it was until i got myself a ps3 >_>; Although let's not turn this into a console debate because they're usually endless and an opinion thing lol :)

[Capt. Fat]

I was too cheap to buy a ps3 or xbox 360. So, Liking Nintendo, Bought the wii. And im still in the process of beating the game. How far did ya get?

[Eirinn]

Wow this comment thingie is getting long cat. I got to the part where you have to fish that rare red fish or something >_> in the mean time i forgot how to fish and got severely annoyed. It was around that time i got a PS3 and after having it for awhile i'm selling my wii and expanding my PS3 collection. Don't get me wrong..the wii is awesome if you have a brother or family that wants to play - or constantly get people/friends over. But when that happens i just break out rock band or little big planet and take it from there. The wii will have maybe a 5 year timespan and the PS systems have 10+ so it's not that much more expensive in the long run. Haha in any case good to hear you like it - played any of the previous versions or just this one?...maybe we should take this to PMs lol.

[Capt. Fat]

Very cool. Does it have a switch?

[sadistkitti]

I used a tap light and the box doesn't permanently close so you can open it and switch it on and off.

[Capt. Fat]

smart. Where would you ba able to get the materiels. Also, do you know anything about Twilight Princess?

[sadistkitti]

I got the box from A.C. Moore. I don't know if that's something you have locally so any craft store or shop that would have a wood department. The taplight I got from Lowe's but I'm sure you could get one at Walmart. And the Shrinky Dink I ordered online. You could use any type of picture or hard plastic for this. The whole thing was an accident that derived from me not knowing how to use Shrinky Dinks properly. I know a little about Twilight Princess. I am very into The Legend of Zelda but I didn't have access to a Wii when it came out and now I simply don't have the time to play it. However, my boyfriend knows a lot about Twilight Princess. I made it for him. I am also in the middle of making an 8-bit Link quilt. This also is for him but it was totally my idea and I honestly don't know if I'll be able to part with it. I'm pretty old school when it comes to games, and The Legend of Zelda was my favorite.

[Capt. Fat]

Could you do me a favor. It be much appreciated. Im stuck in the goron mines and CANNOT find the switch for the third crane in the second room. please help.