DIY Key Chains for Dad

It’s the end of May already! Thinking ahead to Father’s Day, we are going to do a couple of posts all for dad, and this week we are going to show you how to make some key chains. We made these with dad in mind but you can make them for anyone at any time!

The first type was painted. We found some wooden cubes.  The ones we chose had holes already in them which was perfect for the last step of our project. You can pick other shapes as well and then drill holes in them before you paint them.

We painted the cubes. Now we decided to do three for each chain but you can do more. The more you do, the bigger the chain so I’d probably stick to 3-5. We chose some nice colour combos for the three chains that we made. Then we painted.

You probably want to do a couple of coats and then let them completely dry overnight.

Next we wrote on the cubes. I always like to lightly sketch the letter/design with a pencil first before I commit to a final design.

We used a Sharpie, but you can use paint with a really fine tip paint brush, and we traced over our pencil.

Write on all the sides or on just one, two, or three. Do whatever you like. We did a mix.

Since it’s for Father’s Day, we did a couple that say dad and one that says “I ♥ U”.

Lastly we attached some twine to the actual key ring, then the cubes together with the twine.

We connected a couple by knotting the twine between the cubes and then the other one we just put them all on a strand and knotted the ends so they didn’t fall off.

For the second key ring that we did we used hot glue!

First of all you’ll need to pick the paper that you want for the two sides. We decided on a pattern piece along with a solid piece that matched the pattern. Pick whatever you like. You’ll also want to decide on a shape and cut that out with scissors, a punch, or a cutting machine. Make sure the shape is slightly larger than the key ring you are going to use. You’ll need two no matter what size and what type of paper you use.

Lay out some parchment paper to glue on so that the glued piece is easy to remove.

Hot glue over the entire shape being careful not to go off the edges, and do that for both of the matching shapes.

Let it dry completely. Ours warped a bit so we flattened them under heavy books.

We then took some floral wire that we had left over from another project and twisted it into a loop with a “tail.” You can use a different easily bendable wire that you have or you can buy pre-made eye hooks.

Once the two sides are flat and you have your wire/hook ready, then put hot glue on the straight part of the wire/”tail” and stick it down on the inside of one of the sides.

Take the second side and put a thin layer of hot glue and stick them together.

Attach the key ring to the hook.

The finished products...

Popsicle Stick Crafts

It’s almost Oscar Dress card time. We have one more week left to go. This week we thought we’d find use for some of those popsicle sticks that we had left over from other crafts that we had made.

Nicole found some pretty neat crafts that we can make and they are super easy and don’t use that many supplies.

The first craft that we’re making is a shelf from popsicle sticks. We’re using slightly bigger ones and we’re leaving them unstained and unpainted but you can paint them if you like.

Basically you pick a shape, we’ve chosen a hexagon and then you build up from there. Lay out your shape first so you get all the right angles. If you choose a more complex shape then you might want to print out a template and then lay it all out.

You can make it as big as you want, it just depends on how many popsicle sticks that you have. It would probably work best with an even amount of sides though.

Make sure all your gluing is even so that you have a consistent gap between all layers.

You can hang it for decoration or as a shelf. Make it whatever you want!

The second craft that we’re making are coasters made from popsicle sticks.

For each coaster you’ll want to cut off the rounded tips of the sticks, 15 per coaster.

Then sand the ends so they aren’t jagged.

Now time to paint/stain them. You can pre-paint each stick or you can paint the entire thing after it’s put together. Up to you. For the painted one, we opted to paint the sticks first and then assemble the pieces together. You can really paint them whatever colour you want, we’re going for more of a rustic look so we are trying out brown paint on one and then a coffee stain on the other.

If you’re going to try and stain the sticks, make some stronger coffee. Set aside to cool and then soak the pre-glued coaster in the coffee stain for as long as you want. Check periodically to see if it’s the colour you’re wanting. We left ours in a lidded plastic container with a rock on top to hold it down otherwise it would float and you’d have to keep on flipping it. Ok...so we tried the gluing first and then soaking. FYI it melts the glue and it falls apart. If you are going to go with a stain, then stain all the sticks beforehand and allow them to dry and then glue your coaster together. 

Your coaster is going to be a bunch of evenly spaced horizontal slats connected by three support sticks if that makes sense. To assemble the coaster...lay out the top and bottom slat and then glue the vertical end supports on first. We found it better to put the glue on the ends of the slats. Then glue the center support on.

Once you have your frame/box glued, then start gluing on the slats. Flip over and repeat.

Now you have a palate looking coaster.

Lastly, you can stencil on sayings or words to the coasters if you want to. This might be easier if you glue the sticks closer together. You can also use a black Sharpie if you want to make it look like there are little nail holes or you can use a felt pen to write words on it. If you want to ensure that your coaster stays in good shape and is durable, you can spray it with a water protectant spray.