6 Forgotten ’80s Crafts Many People Remember: how they worked and why they mattered

# Overview The 1980s produced a short list of small, hands-on crafts that spread by word of mouth, at summer camps, and on elementary-school playgrounds. They required little money or supervision, produced wearable or collectible finished pieces, and fit into spare minutes between activities. The six crafts to remember are friendship bracelets, plastic lace lanyards, beaded safety pins, paper fortune tellers, Shrinky Dinks, and school book crappers.

# Friendship bracelets Friendship bracelets used inexpensive embroidery floss. Crafters anchored multiple strands with a safety pin or tape and used simple knotting patterns to build stripes, twisted staircases, or more intricate zig-zag designs. Beads could be added into patterns. Bracelets usually tied onto the wrist with a few knots, meaning removal often required cutting or waiting for the thread to break.

# Plastic lace lanyards (boondoggles) Plastic lace lanyards were a staple of camp crafting. The plastic lace—sold in bright colors—was woven using a handful of repeated stitch patterns. Getting the first few stitches started could be fiddly, but once underway the weaving produced a long, sturdy cord suitable for keychains, bag decorations, or backpack attachments.

# Beaded safety pins Beaded safety pins were a minimal-material craft: safety pins and beads. Makers threaded beads onto an open pin and closed it to create single decorative pins or linked multiple pins into larger motifs. Larger pins or grouped designs could be pinned to jean jackets, while basic single pins were common as personalized shoelace or garment accents.

# Paper fortune tellers

# Shrinky Dinks Shrinky Dinks were sheets of shrinkable plastic. Kids drew or traced designs on the plastic, cut them out, then heated the pieces in an oven. The plastic shrank and thickened into small, durable charms that could be used for keychains, jewelry, or decorations. The process combined drawing, cutting, and watching a dramatic physical change during heating.

# School book crappers

# Why these crafts lasted (and what changed) These crafts lasted because they were cheap, portable, and social. They required low supervision, could be taught in minutes, and produced tangible items that could be worn, swapped, or gifted. Over time, styles evolved and new hobbies emerged, but the underlying appeal—hands-on making with immediate results—remains visible in contemporary DIY and craft communities.

# Quick takeaway If you want a short nostalgia project, choose something that matches your patience level: beaded safety pins for instant payoff, friendship bracelets or plastic lace for pattern work, or Shrinky Dinks for a small project with a surprising finish.