DIY Keychain

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #40Pounds #CollectiveBias

My high school freshman is walking to school for the first time this fall. Here is a DIY Keychain I made to help him keep track of his house key.

This school year has been a big transition year. The twins started high school and we just transferred Littlest to a fine arts elementary school.

For Youngest Twin’s entire school life I have either driven him to school or he rode the bus. While the twins were in elementary school I took them to school each day. The past few years when we lived in downtown Fort Worth Youngest Twin rode the bus to middle school. Now that we have moved back to a house we live close enough to the high school that, for the first time, Youngest Twin is walking to and from school each day.

Along with walking home from school we decided it was also time for Youngest Twin to have his own house key. But I was a little worried about his losing a single solitary key. I don’t know how often I’ve misplaced my keys and there are a bunch of them. So I wanted to make him a unique keychain to help keeps things in place. I ended up making two different kinds of DIY Keychains.

The first is called a Monkey’s Fist Keychain. It’s made using a knot called a monkey fist. The supplies I needed for this keychain were

• A marble
• Cotton craft robe
• Mod Podge
• Slit keychain ring
• Jump rings, in 2 sizes

Here’s a video for how I made the knot:

Once the monkey fist knot was finished I tied the loose ends in an overhand knot and trimmed off any extra. Then I dipped that knot into some Mod Podge to keep it from coming undone or fraying and let it dry. When it was dry I inserted the larger of the jump rings. I then attached it to the keychain ring with a smaller jump ring.

Something to remember when you’re using jump rings, always twist them open. Never pull jump rings open. I used 2 pairs of pliers, one in each hand, to twist open the jump rings.

Here is our finished monkey fist DIY Keychain.

In college I was able to take a few education and women’s studies classes, as well as some world lit classes. In all of them I remember being saddened by the stark contrast in education opportunities that we are afforded compared to some of the other places in the world. While I am worrying about my son walking a very reasonable distance to school, and whether or not he can keep up with his house key, there are girls in Ethiopia who can not attend school due to the time consuming task of fetching fresh water for their families.

That’s why I was so excited to be sharing this post today and talking about the #40Pounds Challenge. This is a simple challenge and one that everyone can participate in. For every #40Pounds Challenge picture uploaded, Emergen-C® will donate $5 to charity water.

That’s really all you have to do.

I picked up a box of Raspberry flavored Emergen-C® the last time I was at Walmart (also known as yesterday). It’s something I like to have on hand especially at the beginning of the school year. Emergen-C® is packed with B vitamins, antioxidants† , electrolytes plus more vitamin C than 10 oranges^. With over 20 flavors, you have plenty of delicious varieties to choose from.

 

The second DIY Keychain we made was a polymer clay keychain. I picked out this silver clay and bought a package of beginner tools that included a roller, a plastic clay knife, and this pointed tool that helped me make the holes I needed.

The first step with polymer clay is to really work it with your hands to make it pliable. This stuff is a lot stiffer than kids play dough. I cut a small piece off the block of clay and rolled it out into three circles. We had fun making impressions with different objects to create patterns for our keychains. Just make sure to place that hole near the top of the circle so you’ll be able to insert the jump ring.

Bake the clay according to the directions on the package, for me that was 275 degrees for about 30 minutes. Then allow the clay to cool completely. Insert the jump rings, twisting them open like before, and attach to the split ring keychain.

With Emergen-C® and our new DIY Keychains we are ready for a great new school year. Make sure it’s a great school year for more kids by entering the #40Pounds Challenge!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
† Zinc and Manganese ^Based on the USDA.gov nutrient database value for a large, raw orange.