Keychain Customizing (A DIY Project Showcase)

There are certainly a wide variety of keychains on the market, to the point where collectors can find just about anything they desire in keychain form. However, mass produced items, no matter how well made they are, can still lack something. You can't buy a mass market keychain without being aware that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other people who have the exact same keychain. Collectors who want something a little more unique can either pay a professional crafter to make them a custom product, or they can make their own keychains from scratch. I've dabbled in jewelry making, but I'm not particularly good at it. However, there is a way around this. There are plenty of mass-produced keychains that can be customized to give them a personal touch. Below are some examples that I've done. I hope that they'll give you some ideas of your own for dressing up your keychains.

This first custom project looks a lot more complicated than it actually was. It started out as a plain clipboard keychain made from unfinished wood that I purchased a number of years ago at a local craft store. Sadly, the craft store in question went out of business. But I wouldn't be surprised if you can still find these keychains online.

Step one involved painting the exposed wood with light blue acrylic paint. The sand dollar and the darker blue flourish designs are actually rub-on transfers. The sand dollar was applied first, but because the rub-on transfer sheet had been sitting around for a while and hadn't aged well I couldn't get the entire design to transfer. Adding the flourish designs helped to better define the shape of the sand dollar. People I showed this keychain to didn't really seem to notice the missing patches of the design.

I decided to coat the finished project with a thin layer of spray sealant, which is basically clear spray paint, to help protect the design and the paint from scratching and chipping. (I later added a thin coat of matte varnish.) All in all, I'm really pleased with how this keychain turned out. I'm also really proud that I was able to salvage it when the sand dollar design didn't transfer all the way.

I bought this Alexon plush alligator keychain from a flea market specifically so that I could customize the little, white tee shirt. The butterfly design was actually supposed to be a dragonfly. I made the design by applying some green paint to a dragonfly shaped acrylic stamp, then stamping on the fabric. (I placed a layer of glossy cardstock inside the shirt when I did the stamping, so that the shirt would lie flatter and so that the paint wouldn't bleed through to the other side.)

Once the paint was dry, I felt that the design needed more detail. So I went out and bought a blue paint pen. Unfortunately I picked up the wrong point size, buying the fine point instead of the ultra fine point. I didn't realize my mistake until after I'd removed the plastic wrapping and took the cap off the pen, so I couldn't return or exchange it. I tried to 'make it work' as they say, but instead of the fine detail I wanted the blue paint ended up sort of blobby. It still looks ok, just not what I was originally aiming for.

The airplane and cloud designs on this duffle bag keychain were made with acrylic paint and a set of children's stencils. The stencils were a little difficult to work with. For starters, I was having some trouble getting the bag to lie flat enough to apply the designs. Also, because the stencils were intended for children, they were made from a much thicker plastic than stencils made for adult crafters. So getting into the corners of the designs was trickier. I'm also not convinced that the airplane's color scheme coordinates well with the duffle. When I first picked the colors, I was working under the assumption that khaki is a neutral color and therefore goes with everything. (I also forgot to take the black straps into consideration, which is why the details on the airplane are dark blue instead of black.)

This clear, key-shaped keychain is made of smooth plastic. To make the floral design at the top, I first used some acrylic stamps and two colors of solvent ink. When the stamping didn't turn out quite as cleanly as I would've liked, I filled in parts of the design with Sharpie markers. I later sealed everything with a thin coat of spray sealant.

Originally, the red plastic record on this keychain was one of those clip-on charms that were so popular in the 1980s. However, when I attempted to convert the clip-on into a keychain it became much harder to tell what the charm was actually meant to be. It looked more like a tire, or just a plain, plastic disc shape, than a record. So I added the silver music note charm to make it more obvious.

Even though I thought the real printed pages inside this dictionary keychain were awesome, I really didn't like the cover design. So I covered over both the front and the back covers with pieces of dark blue sticker paper embellished with alphabet stickers.

Over this I placed some clear packing tape to form a protective layer. I left the spine uncovered, since it had the word 'Dictionary' on it already.

In the case of this last keychain, someone else did the customizing for me. But I thought it was a nice idea for a quick project, so I decided to share it on the blog anyway. The keychain itself is made of wood, with a sticker letter monogram on each side. I found it for sale at a thrift store, and since the letter used is my first initial I bought it for my keychain collection.

As you can see, there are a number of ways to customize mass-produced keychains. A little paint or ink, some stickers or rub-on transfers, even adding extra charms can turn a basic keychain into something unique. So why not give it a try for yourself.

Signed, Treesa