Sunday, October 20

Day 20 - "Best Day Ever" Key Chain

Welcome back, friends! This month we're working on 31 handmade gifts for everyone on your list. You can find links to the full series here.


Today we're kicking off week three! This week's theme is the most challenging for me because guys are so hard to find gifts for! So hopefully by the end you'll have a few new ideas for the gentlemen on your list. We'll start with this easy but meaningful keychain!


This is a great way to commemorate a special day in his life! An anniversary, the birth of child, or even his own birthday or graduation date for the single guys.


And a nice little keychain is perfect because he'll always have it with him. For a great gift from the kids you could put their names on it instead, or their initials and birthdays. They would love knowing daddy always has their gift in his pocket!


Here's what you need to make one:

  • metal pendant (I found them at hobby lobby in lots of shapes and sizes)
  • jump ring (I used 6 mm)
  • keyring (I used 24 mm)
  • metal letter stamps
  • hammer
  • fine point sharpie

I talked a little more about these letter stamps on my washer necklace post. For this project I used the red set I bought on Amazon since it had a more manly vibe. :)


To make the keychain I started by running a strip of painter's tape across it to use a a reference point for my stamps. I put the first line of words right across the top of the tape to make sure they were in a straight line, then moved the tape down for the next row. To use the stamps you just place them letter-side down on the pendant and hammer firmly to make an impression. It takes a little practice to figure out the spacing and make the letters even.


After all the letters were stamped it looked like this:


You can leave it like that, but I wanted the words to stand out a bit more so I used a fine point sharpie to trace in the impressions. (with the washer necklaces we colored with sharpie and wiped it off, but it turns out sharpie did NOT wipe off of this metal finish very well. Using a fine point to trace the letters worked much better)


Then it should look like this (make sure your letters are facing the right way when you stamp... my "d" miiiight be a little bit sideways.)


Now we just have to put it on a key ring!


Start by opening up a jump ring.


Then just slide on the pendant and the keyring, then close the jump ring back up. All done!


Pretty fast and easy, no?


And if your guys isn't into keyrings, he could always hang it from a backpack zipper!


Here's what it cost to make one:
$1.00 - pendant on sale 50% off (pack of 3)
$1.00 - jump rings on sale 50% off
$0.75 - key ring on sale 50% off
$15.00 - letter stamps

Total: $17.75

BUT the stamps are an investment, I already had them from the washer necklace project, and You can make 3 keychains with all these supplies (and lots more if you get extra pendants) so for me it was actually less than $1 per kechain!


What would you make a keychain for and what "best day" would you put on it?

5 comments:

  1. Ooooooh! Will you make one of those for me? 9-28-13, please. And then you can deliver it in person and eat icecream cake and play Just Dance 2014 with me.

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    Replies
    1. Um... how do you feel about a sideways D? Does this mean I'm done Christmas shopping for you now? Okay. I will come to there.

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  2. The funny thing is I didn't even realize the sideways D one was mine because I was laughing so much at the sideways D! Hee hee :) And no. You don't get done that easily. You can be done shopping for Husband if you want, but not for me.

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  3. Love this tutorial, you seriously make it look super easy that even I might just have to have a go!
    They would make a great anniversary gift for hubby, thanks for sharing. I will be back for more!

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