Disney It's A Small World Keychains from Etsy: MouseMadeMagic

 

The two handmade, Disney parks inspired keychains shown above came from the Etsy shop MouseMadeMagic, and were purchased in August of 2019. I checked the shop’s current inventory, and not only have they changed their shop name to AbbyandArthur, but they also no longer seem to carry keychains of any sort. However, the shop does feature handmade bags, made from Disney print fabric.

It can’t be easy to print small details onto the textured ribbing of grosgrain ribbon, even with proper equipment. It was also difficult for me to photograph these small details.

The purple and teal ribbon features simple geometric shapes that copy the exterior design of Disney’s It’s A Small World attraction, including the clock face from the clock tower.

The white and gold ribbon takes inspiration from the attraction’s interior design, featuring the ride’s signature dancing dolls, along with whimsical, stylized representations of global landmarks.

The teal webbing the ribbon is mounted to is a perfect color choice in my opinion, since it seems to exactly match the purple and teal ribbon while also complimenting the white and gold ribbon.

Aesthetically speaking, I’m quite happy with these keychains. Admittedly, I’ve never used them as actual keychains, since I’m unsure how the materials would hold up to heavy use. However, since I bought these to be part of my collection, I see long term wear-and-tear as a non-issue.

Signed, Treesa

A Day At Churchville Nature Center: Fall 2025 (Keychain Souvenirs Haul)

Churchville Nature Center is located on a nature preserve in Northampton Township, Bucks County in Pennsylvania. The property features nature trails, native wildlife gardens, a seasonal Butterfly House, and a ‘Take A Book, Leave A Book’ Little Free Library. The Visitor Center has educational exhibits and live animal displays, wildlife viewing areas, and the obligatory gift shop.

I personally enjoy a curated nature walk experience, with trails that are maintained, clearly marked, and not too long for my stamina to handle. The fact that Churchville Nature Center has a Little Free Library is a nice bonus feature. However, I just can’t seem to visit any historic site, museum, state park, etc. without making a stop at the gift shop.

This geode keychain came from Churchville Nature Center’s Dragonfly Niche Gift Shop. A geode is defined as a rock containing a cavity lined with crystals or other mineral material. I chose this particular geode keychain because the exterior rock it had a less uniform and more textured appearance compared to the others for sale, which made it stand out to me. I actually have a decent-sized sub-collection of rock and mineral keychains. I've already shared some of them previously in my "Hobbies And Fandoms" post, if anyone's interested in taking a look.

Signed, Treesa

Oktoberfest Church Fundraiser: October 2024 (Keychain Haul)

 

This keychain was purchased from a craft vendor at the annual Oktoberfest fundraiser held by my local church, in October of 2024. I seem to have a bad habit of putting keychains aside to photograph, with the intention of writing blog posts about them, only to misplace them. Regardless, the vendor I bought this from had a number of handmade, custom keychains using this classic ‘motel key tag’ shape, with different phrases and designs.

I was drawn to this particular keychain because I liked the sentiment of having a 'happy place', and because it made me think of the Disneyland slogan “The Happiest Place On Earth”. Fun Fact: “The Happiest Place On Earth” slogan is exclusively for Disneyland, while the similar slogan “The Most Magical Place On Earth” refers to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida.

I also liked the pale purple color of the lettering on this keychain. Not only is purple my favorite color, but I thought the letters looked striking against the black background. While it was tricky to photograph, the letters actually have a slight glitter effect as well.

I know this post is very late, and there’s not much to it. But I thought the keychain was still worth sharing.

Signed, Treesa

Spring Craft Fair Church Fundraiser: April 2025 (Keychain Haul)

My local church has been holding a lot more fundraisers in recent years. It used to be just the summer carnival and the Christmas bazaar. The Oktoberfest was added later on, but is now well established as well. However, lately it seems as though my local church will use any excuse to hold a raffle or a festival. With church attendance being down in general, statistically, the additional funds are unfortunately needed to keep the lights on, the air conditioning running in the summer and the heat on in the winter, the grass cut and winter snow in the parking lot plowed.

The majority of the church’s fundraisers also feature craft vendors now, regardless of the event’s theme or the season. I will frequently make a brief stop at pretty much any fundraiser my local church holds in search of handmade keychains for my collection. Due to past experience at such events, I was confident I would find a keychain or two at the 2025 Spring Craft Fair. However, I was somewhat surprised by the rather…eclectic assortment of vendors this year. After I got home, I jotted down some notes on the ones that had stood out the most to me, in preparation for a blog post I planned to write to show off my new keychain acquisition. In typical fashion, for me, I ended up misplacing those notes. So this post is now very late, something I apologize for profusely and take full responsibility for. But since I did find my notes, and since the keychain is still worth sharing, here we are.

Notable vendors at the church’s spring craft fair in 2025 included:

1.     Representatives from a specialty pickle shop

2.    A local, self-published fantasy author trying to sell copies of her books (I read the back cover of the first volume in her book series while at the craft fair. And if the rambling, densely packed writing style used for the cover blurb matches the rest of the book, I don’t think I’d manage to get through the whole story.)

3.    A pair of girl scouts promoting a presentation they had organized on positive body image as a project towards earning their silver scouting award

4.    And lastly, a woman selling a hodgepodge of home décor items and designer bags for cheap. There was a Lauren Conrad purse shaped like a seashell that I was looking at, until I discovered it still had a store security tag on it, which to me seemed suspicious.

As I mentioned already, I did find one keychain I liked at the craft fair. I thought it was a crab when I bought it, due to the coloration and the eye placement. However, the leg count is off for a crab. Crabs are decapods, meaning they typically have ten legs. The keychain has only eight legs, so it might actually be an octopus. On the other hand, the black stitching on the two front appendages does seem to suggest crab claws. Regardless of which one it is, I still think this handmade keychain looks adorable, with its cartoony features. However, I don’t know enough about fiber arts to say whether it is knitted or crocheted. I did ask the vendor, but I forget what she said. Why didn’t I write that down I wonder?

Signed, Treesa

The Summer Of Barbie: 2023 (A Pop Culture Touchstones Post)

In July of 2023, the Barbie live-action movie was released in the United States. It became the highest-grossing film of 2023 and was nominated for eight Academy Awards. That summer was dubbed “The Summer Of Barbie”, and terms like “Barbiecore” and “Kenough” became buzzwords.

In the interest of full transparency, I’ll go on record to say that I rode the pipeline from playing with Barbies in my childhood, to ‘collecting’ Barbies in my teen and adult years. I loved Barbie when Barbie wasn’t cool, and I still have a soft spot in my heart for fashion dolls, even though my doll collecting hobby is currently on the back burner. Although fashion dolls aren’t as much of a priority in my life as they once were, knowing me I’ll probably go back to them eventually. I always do.

However, despite my enduring fondness for Barbie, I still haven’t brought myself to watch the live-action movie. I know how sensitive I can be, and I’m worried how I’ll react to a cherished icon from my formative years potentially being skewered or poked fun at for the sake of satire and social commentary, even if it is justified. My own childhood ideals of what Barbie is or isn’t are still so ingrained in me, that I worry it would wound me too deeply if they were challenged by an official source authorized by ‘the voice of corporate’.

But to get back on track with this post, the movie’s promotional campaign and its popularity resulted in the Barbiecore trend taking hold in both fashion and décor. Hot pink was the in color for that season, both to wear and for decorating. And it seemed like every retail store from Forever 21 to Five Below had displays of Barbie themed accessories for sale.

So, as a throwback to that now passed, pink-tinted summer, here’s a Barbiecore keychain.

I bought it on clearance at a liquidation store after all the hoopla was over. The keychain itself is made from metal and shaped like Barbie’s signature, with pink, script lettering. Fun fact, the color “Barbie pink”, a specific combination of pink and magenta, is actually trademarked by Mattel. This particular keychain was produced by Innovative Designs, LLC under license from Mattel.

I’m hoping to do more ‘Pop Culture Touchstones’ posts in the future, using my keychain collection to revisit past trends. So far, trying to research exactly when certain things were trendy has been a bit tricky for me, even with the internet. Does anyone remember what year those gecko keychains made from plastic ‘pony beads’ took the children’s crafting world by storm?

Signed, Treesa

'Throwback' Package From Heathersmoo: August 2021

I thought that I already blogged about this particular gift package when it arrived. But apparently, I hadn’t. At least, I can’t find a post about it here. This package was originally sent in August of 2021 by my keychain collecting email pen pal, Heathersmoo of Livejournal. Inside was a sweet note from Heather, along with two keychains, one for me and one for my “IRL thrift store Bff” (as Heather referred to my best friend/willing thrift store shopping buddy in the note). I'd already delivered my best friend’s keychain gift quite a while ago, which might explain why I thought I previously posted about Heather's package here on the blog.

According to Heather’s note, my keychain was “the fancy one with the plane”. The one for my best friend didn’t have an added jewelry charm. Both keychains were handmade by Heather herself, and her wire-wrapping skills definitely surpass mine. To be fair, I don’t really practice enough to develop a talent for wirework jewelry.

The red wire coils and blue beads give this keychain sort of a patriotic vibe, while the pink and red color combination of wires gives more of a Valentine’s Day feel. In my opinion, the fact that the keychain isn’t clearly one or the other gives the piece more versatility. While I do enjoy holiday themed items, in season, I’ve noticed that, with clothing for example, there are certain pieces that I don’t wear very much because they’re specifically holiday themed and feel inappropriate at other times of year. I can get away with wearing a snowflake patterned fleece jacket all winter, at least here in the northeastern United States. But characters in Santa hats or even holly and poinsettias are specifically associated with Christmas here in the U.S., and I'd feel too uncomfortable to wear them in January.

I'm sorry for going off topic there. The point is, this keychain was a very thoughtful and much appreciated gift, even though it took me a few years to post about it. So, thank you Heather. I hope that you and all of my readers are doing well. January can be a rather humdrum time of year, but spring comes eventually.

Signed, Treesa

Hit Clips Giveaway Results

It’s December 1^st, and time to announce the results of the Hit Clips song cartridge giveaway. Unfortunately, I didn’t receive any entries for this particular giveaway. So there’s not really anything to announce, except that the giveaway has officially ended. Hopefully, I can find some time in the midst of all my holiday preparations to post something more interesting in the near future.

Signed, Treesa

Hit Clips by Tiger Electronics (A Review and a Giveaway)

The Hit Clips brand was launched by Tiger Electronics at the start of the New Millennium. This line of digital music players and song cartridges was meant to be an alternative to the bulky MP3 players of the day. Hit Clips were specifically geared towards kids and teens, and they became extremely popular for a time. However, the line was also short lived due to rapidly improving technology in the field of digital music players. The release of Apple’s iPod, with its sleek design and superior hard drive in comparison to its competitors, is credited as being the death blow to the Hit Clips craze.

I was aware of Hit Clips when they were at their peak of popularity. The line sort of reminded me of the Pocket Rockers mini cassette players that Fisher-Price put out in the late 1980s. However, I bought my Hit Clips player secondhand, after the initial fad had passed but before the nostalgia factor could kick in. My particular music player has the Boombox shape, but Hit Clips also produced an MP3 player shape. Some of the song cartridges that I own came bagged with the Boombox player when I bought it, while others came from a second bag lot that I picked up from a flea market.

At least one of the past owners of these cartridges must’ve been a big fan of boy bands, because one of the lots contained a Backstreet Boys song cartridge, a song cartridge by O-Town, and four NSYNC cartridges. I also ended up with two Britney Spears song cartridges, because odds are that any early 2000s music collection will include some songs by Britney Spears. In addition, I later bought a sealed “Madonna Hit Pack” from the thrift store that contained a set of three cartridges. What can I say, I’m a bit of an 80s girl.

What I find really fun about these song cartridges is that each one features miniature album cover art on the front. Plus, each cartridge comes with a metal clip very similar to the ones that Basic Fun Inc. used for their later keychains. So technically, each song cartridge could sort of qualify as a keychain.

Since I own an actual Hit Clips music player along with the song cartridges, I thought it would be fun to take a little trip down music memory lane by testing out the cartridges and player. I’ll start by sharing some general observations I made about the Hit Clips technology and how it worked. Then I’ll move on to some short, personal notes that I made about each of the songs.

Hit Clips Music Player and Cartridges:

My particular Hit Clips player required 3 triple A batteries to run, and the back panel had to be unscrewed to put the batteries in. I did have a little trouble getting some of the song cartridges to play. Odds are that either the batteries I put in weren’t as fresh as I thought, or that the contacts inside the player or on some of the cartridges need cleaning. The volume on the player wasn’t adjustable, but it was factory set to a decent level. However, the tracks did have a fuzzy sound quality, some more so than others. Maybe the cartridges haven’t aged well, materials-wise. Or maybe, as I suggested before, the contact points need to be cleaned.

The Songs:

This I Promise You by NSYNC:

The song sampling used for this track came across as a decent length, but very repetitive. As an aside, any differences that I noted in the lengths of the tracks turned out to be solely a matter of perception, since all of the Hit Clips song cartridges were produced to be one minute long.

Its Gonna Be Me by NSYNC:

I personally felt that this track had a more fun tempo going for it than the previous one.

Girlfriend by NSYNC:

The song clip selection used for this one gives listeners more of a full play experience, in my opinion.

Bringin’ Da Noise by NSYNC:

In Hit Clips format, the background instrumentation on this track seemed to blend together into an indistinct, hissy drone.

Larger Than Life by Backstreet Boys:

This song still has an infectious beat after all these years. I couldn’t help bobbing my head along to the music.

All Or Nothing by O-Town:

This particular track seemed to have a clearer sound quality than the previous ones. Maybe the actual cartridge just aged better.

I’m a Believer by Smash Mouth:

In my opinion, the fuzziness of the sound quality was compensated for by the strength of Smash Mouth’s rendition on the song. There’s a reason why this cover was such a big hit back in the day. However, the Hit Clips version did feature some odd editing towards the end of the track.

Mirror/Mirror by M2M:

I’ll admit, I wasn’t at all familiar with M2M before preparing for this post idea. Apparently, they were or are a Norwegian, two person pop group. However, when I listened to the song cartridge for Mirror/Mirror I thought it sounded ‘very Radio Disney’, with a stereotypical pre-teen pop sound. As it turned out, M2M did perform the song for a concert at Epcot in Walt Disney World, so I guess I wasn’t too far off. The group also performed the song on television episodes for the Nickelodeon channel.

Overprotected, Darkchild Remix by Britney Spears:

Coming to this song from an outside perspective, as someone who didn't remember it from back in the day, I found the subheading of “Darkchild” appropriate. The track comes across as very angry sounding, especially the opening. However, the overall presentation still has a touch of what I’d call ‘a Disney Channel hangover’, which does make some sense when considering that Britney Spears was a cast member on the early 1990s reboot of The Mickey Mouse Club.

Stronger by Britney Spears:

Aside from the music having a slightly brighter mood, this track was a little hard for me to distinguish from the previous Britney Spears song. The Hit Clips rendition of Stronger also suffered from repetitive editing.

Material Girl by Madonna

This song is a straight-up classic by this point, and the Hit Clips format mostly did it justice. However, the fuzziness of the sound quality seemed harder to ignore on this track, possibly because the song itself is so iconic.

Cherish by Madonna

I was already familiar with this song, although it had been a while since I’d heard it. But I don’t remember the opening sounding like some sitcom theme song the way it does here.

Lucky Star by Madonna

The opening notes sort of sound like classic Whitney Houston or Gloria Estefan to my ears. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing is a matter of personal preference.

I will conclude my Hit Clips review as follows.

Good Points:

Hit Clips are a true product of their time. And despite the technology being outdated, the music selection, product designs, and even just the concept in general dial the nostalgia factor up to 11. Also, the song cartridges, with their clear CD jewel case look and small-scaled album covers, will have a lot of appeal for fans of doll-sized miniatures.

Bad Points:

The sound quality is not the greatest, though whether this is due to an inherent flaw in the technology or aging of the components I’m not sure. I also find it a bit inconvenient that the player requires 3 batteries, when most handheld electronics I’ve encountered use only 2 batteries at the most.

Final Verdict:

Since the player and the song cartridges are going into my keychain collection, I probably won’t be using them to play music that frequently. So, the fact that the technology is a bit sub-par by today’s standards shouldn’t be as much of an issue. And I just love the look of these products, from both a nostalgia standpoint and as someone who appreciates detailed miniatures.

The Giveaway:

Now comes the fun part. I happen to have an extra Hit Clips song cartridge of NSYNC’s Bringin’ Da Noise. Heathersmoo on Livejournal suggested having a giveaway here on the blog. And since November 3^rd marks the 6th blogiversary for Grab The Brass Keyring, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. If you don’t happen to have a Hit Clips digital music player of your own, the cartridge can also be used as a keychain or purse charm, or hung on your Christmas tree. Or the clip and the strap can be removed and the cartridge can be used as a fashion doll-sized CD case. You could even put the cartridge on a necklace as a nostalgic, or ironic, fashion accessory. The possibilities are out there.

Here are the rules for the giveaway. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this blog post with whatever name you would like to be publicly known as if you win, as well as an email address where I can contact you if you are chosen as the winner. All of the comments on this blog are sent to me for approval, rather than being automatically posted, so no one but me will see your contact information. The entry period extends through the month of November, beginning now and ending on November 30^th, a Thursday. One the following Friday, December 1^st, I will randomly choose a winner. The winner’s entry name will be posted on the blog, and I will also personally contact them using the email address that they provided with their giveaway entry. The winner will then have 2 weeks to email me with arrangements to send me a mailing address, so that I can mail them their prize. If I receive no contact from the winner after 2 weeks, another winner will be chosen.

Feel free to spread the word about this giveaway to anyone that you think might be interested. I look forward to receiving your entries.

Signed, Treesa

It's Witchcraft (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them Keychains)

Since I uploaded a post on Harry Potter keychains around this time last year, I decided now would be a good opportunity to share a couple Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them keychains. ‘Fantastic Beasts’ was a companion, prequel series to the Harry Potter franchise.

First, we have this Niffler Pocket Pop Keychain by Funko. Nifflers are furry, magical ‘beasts’ that are attracted to shiny objects. A Niffler named Teddy appeared prominently in the Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them films.

I also have a keychain featuring the “Stupefy” spell, with Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them branding on the tag. Stupefy, the Stunning Spell, causes a person hit with it to become unconscious, according to the online resources I found. The keychain itself was made by Bioworld.

That’s all for now. Apparently, I have a lot more regular Harry Potter keychains than I have keychains for ‘Fantastic Beasts’, although there could be a few more lying around the house here and there. I’m not always the most organized person.

Even though this was a very short post, I'm hoping you enjoyed it regardless.

Signed, Treesa

Barbie Shoes Keychains (A DIY Project Post)

 

The release of the Barbie live-action movie has made “Barbiecore” the ‘latest fashion craze’, to borrow lyrics from the song “The Barbie Touch”, which was featured in “The Magical World Of Barbie” live stage show performed at Epcot in Walt Disney World during 1994. Considering the current popularity of Barbie inspired fashion, I’ve decided to share a little keychain DIY project that I crafted a few years back. Are there Barbie shoes lying around your house that no longer have matches? If you are a parent with young children, then there’s a good chance that the answer is yes. So, why not put those shoes to good use by making yourself a keychain or bag clip? I’m a fashion doll collector as well as a keychain collector, so I’ve found my share of single Barbie shoes in bag lots of doll clothing I’ve purchased secondhand. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I originally came up with this keychain idea because I had a bag of mismatched Barbie shoes that I didn’t know what to do with.

To make a keychain similar to the one shown in the photo, you will need a short piece of chain with a split ring or some other type of keychain or clip finding at the top, to use as a base. You will also need some Barbie shoes, some jump rings to attach the shoes to the chain, and some jewelry pliers or other small pliers to open the jump rings.

The easiest way to get the shoes onto the chain is by using shoes that have straps, like the light pink, solid colored high heel used in the sample keychain. Just hang the shoe by the strap using a jump ring, and then attach the jump ring to one of the links of the chain. You can fasten all of the shoes to a single, larger jump ring at the bottom of the chain like I did. Or you can hang each shoe from a separate chain link, positioning the first shoe higher up on the chain and then alternating the placement of the other shoes on either side as you work your way down the chain.

If you would like to use a shoe that doesn’t have a strap, the transparent pink glittery high heel seen in the photo is a typical example, then you will need to find something to poke a hole through the shoe, near the top, for the jump ring. Something sharp but on the thinner side, like a thumbtack or a sturdy sewing needle, could work well for this, depending on the thickness of the plastic as well as the flexibility. Some of the plastics used to make Barbie shoes are somewhat rubbery, while others are firmer. In you are very careful, you could heat the end of a long, metal sewing needle with a candle flame before poking the hole, to make puncturing the plastic easier. I would not recommend letting children do any of the shoe piercing, even without the added element of heat.

Also, be careful with the placement of your hole. If you poke the hole too close to the top edge of the shoe, you might end up tearing the plastic, instead of making a hole. If you poke your hole too far down, you might have trouble finding a jump ring with a large enough diameter to attach the shoe to the chain. If the plastic shoe seems just too hard to pierce, I would recommend finding a different Barbie shoe for your project, unless you have sufficient experience with a craft drill. In any case, once you have a hole in the shoe that goes all the way through, you'll need to thread an open jump ring through the hole, so that the shoe can be suspended from the chain.

Here’s another example of a keychain made from a doll shoe.

This shoe is from the Monster High doll line. To make the keychain, I threaded some jewelry wire through a gap behind the heel of the shoe. I then used pliers to shape the wire into a wrapped loop before attaching the snake chain with snap end.

I hope that you enjoyed this post, and that my timing in posting it didn’t come across as too ‘click-baity’.

Signed, Treesa

Spirit Halloween Post-Season Clearance: 2022

Yes, you read that date in the title right. Last year, after the Halloween season was over, I went to Spirit Halloween and picked up a few keychains during their post-season clearance sale. But I kept misplacing the shopping bag with the keychains in it before I could get them photographed. I finally did get the pictures taken, and now I can share my finds with all of you, almost a year late. But hey, better late than never.

This keychain is shaped like one of those old hotel or motel key tags. Except the ‘hotel’ in this case is The Haunted Mansion attraction at the Disney parks. Longtime readers of this blog will already know about my fondness for Disney in general, and for the Disney theme parks in particular. I’m especially drawn to keychains promoting ‘classic’ Disney parks attractions, and The Haunted Mansion certainly qualifies there. According to the tag, this keychain was produced by Open Roads Brands LLC., for Spirit Halloween stores.

Speaking of The Haunted Mansion, pictured above are two Disney Haunted Mansion Figural Bag Clips. These bag clips were produced by Monogram International Inc and were sold in blind bags. I have here Hitchhiker #3, one of The Haunted Mansion’s famous “hitchhiking ghosts”. The character is also known as Phineas or The Traveler. The second blind bag contained the Foolish Mortal Badge bag clip, which is shaped like a Haunted Mansion candle sconce.

And that’s it for this post. I know that this wasn’t a large keychain haul by any means. But there really weren’t that many keychains left by the time the post-season discounts at Spirit Halloween kicked in. You have to be fast to nab the good deals at Spirit Halloween after the holiday is over, but before the stores shut down for the year. So, that’s your keychain shopping tip for the day.

Signed, Treesa

Disney Figural Keyrings by Monogram International Inc.

Today, I will be discussing the Disney Figural Keyrings line by Monogram International Inc. I didn’t originally plan to collect these “Keyrings” specifically. In fact, thanks to the flood of blind bag toys and collectables that came surging onto the retail market in the 2010s, I don’t think I was really aware of this line until I came across several “Figural Keyrings” secondhand at a thrift store. I can’t remember now exactly how many the store had or which characters they were, since I wasn’t that impressed with the figures at that time. They seemed a little too stylized for my taste.

So I can’t really explain why I decided to purchase the Kristoff keychain pictured above. I think I must’ve felt a little sorry for him. He did seem a bit forlorn when I found him in his used state. I’ve always been the sensitive type, as far as my personality goes, and I don’t think I ever really lost that childhood tendency to read emotions into inanimate objects with faces. Seeing the first two Toy Story films probably didn’t help with that. The fifty cent price tag on this keychain made it appealing as well. And as a general Disney fan, I was at least aware of who Kristoff was, even though I hadn’t seen the movie Frozen. As it turned out, I may have had a good eye for keychain selection. According to online research I did for this post, this specific “Kristoff Figural Keyring” is listed as an Exclusive on the Series 5 packaging. However, I don’t know if this actually means anything in terms of its rarity.

I found the Anna keychain, without her packaging, some time later in a clearance bin at a Michaels craft store. I bought her because I thought Kristoff could use some company. Toy Story syndrome strikes again. Still, I didn’t see myself as a collector of Disney Figural Keyrings. You have to have more than two of something to call it a collection, or a sub-collection in this case.

Then one day, I found a Disney Figural Keyring: Series 2 blind box on a clearance table at a Barnes and Noble bookstore. Someone had tried to open the box, and the top was pulled up just enough for me to see Maleficent inside. Seeing the Sleeping Beauty villain rendered in such a cutesy style with a tiny smile amused me so much that I bought her. Ever since then I’ve been looking at this line differently. I guess the art style used for the figures must’ve grown on me.

Next thing you know, I’ll have crossed over to collecting Funko’s Pocket Pop Keychains. I’ve always thought Funko Pops looked sort of weird and creepy, with their strange proportions and their solid black eyes. But the company tends to release characters from a lot of underrepresented franchises that otherwise don’t get a lot of merchandise. I do own one Funko Pop keychain already. But I only bought it because it’s the Fourth Doctor from the original Doctor Who television series. My whole family loved watching the original Doctor Who on PBS when I was growing up. We were Whovians before most people in the United States knew what Doctor Who was. But that’s a story for another day.

Signed, Treesa

Update: I later ended up with this “Maleficent As Dragon” Disney Figural Keyring, after purchasing a blind bag on clearance from FYE. So I now own Maleficent in both her human form, or rather her fairy form, as well as in her dragon form.

Finding Dory (A Story Post)

I guess the primary theme of this post is to demonstrate how my keychain collecting obsession can sometimes override my common sense. This story begins at the Columbus Flea Market in New Jersey. My father and I had driven there early one morning, intending to spend a good chunk of the day browsing the stalls and tables. I think it was around mid-afternoon when I started running low on cash. But as luck would have it, the woman at the next table was selling a variety of Disney themed items, including some Disney collectable pins.

For anyone who doesn’t know, pin trading is a popular pastime at the Disney theme parks. The pins are sold exclusively through Disney, or you can trade with park employees or other park guests for both new and previously released pins. The pins can also be purchased on the secondhand market, sometimes at a considerable markup depending on the rarity and desirability of the pin.

I do love all things Disney, and over time I’ve managed to build up a small collection of Disney pins from yard sales and thrift stores. The woman at the flea market had separated her pins by asking price, and I had just enough cash left on me to purchase one pin from the lowest price bracket. I quickly zeroed in on an Oswald The Lucky Rabbit pin.

Oswald was an animated character created by Walt Disney for Universal Studios in the 1920s. The Walt Disney Company arranged to buy back the rights to Oswald in 2006. I’d actually wanted an Oswald pin for my collection for a while, so buying this pin should’ve been the obvious decision for me. However, before I paid for my purchase, I made the mistake of checking the rest of the table, to see if the seller had anything I wanted more. That’s when I saw a previously ‘blind bagged’ Dory keychain from Pixar’s Finding Nemo film. Blind bag toys had become quite popular, and so were being sold in a wide variety of stores across the country. Of course, the problem with blind bags is that you’re not supposed to know which toy in a series you’re getting until you open it. Dory specifically was from “Series 5” of the “Disney Figural Keyring” line by Monogram International Inc.

So, on the one hand I had the Oswald pin, sold exclusively through Disney and their theme parks. While on the other hand I had the ‘blind bag’ Dory keychain, most likely sold at just about any retail store that featured toys. As you can see, Dory came home with me. I guess I decided that the convenience of knowing which blind bag item I was getting, without having to pay online shipping costs, was worth losing out on the pin. Sometimes I feel like kicking myself for not getting the pin instead. But then I look at Dory’s sweet face and decide that it was money well spent. Besides, Finding Nemo is my favorite Pixar film.

Signed, Treesa

Moriah Elizabeth style 'Squishy Makeover' (A DIY Project Showcase)

Moriah Elizabeth, for those of you who may not know, is an art Youtuber who is probably most well-known for popularizing the idea of “Squishy Makeovers”. Squishies, or squishy toys, are typically made from either foam or silicone. According to my online research, squishies originated in Japan, and first reached the US market in 2017. They were initially designed as stress relievers, sort of re-imagined versions of the stress balls that became ubiquitous for a time in the late 80s and early 90s. However, squishies can be found in a wider variety of shapes than the earlier made stress balls. Some of the most popular themes for squishy toys are food and animal designs.

Youtuber Moriah Elizabeth posted her first “Squishy Makeover” video in 2018. The whole squishy makeover concept involved taking worn and faded, or just cheaply made, squishy toys and repainting them using fabric paints, to give them a refresh. Fabric paints tend to be more flexible than acrylic paints, so they’re less likely to crack or flake off over time. Also, the flexibility of the fabric paint helps maintain the original squishy-ness of the toy.

Moriah Elizabeth started out her squishy makeover series by simply repainting squishies, but over time she honed her skills to incorporate more advanced techniques. These techniques include attaching smaller squishies to larger squishies as accessories, repairing damaged areas of a squishy with fabric glue, and even replacing missing parts of a squishy with memory foam before repainting. I’ve been watching Moriah Elizabeth’s Youtube channel for some years now and, since I’m easily inspired by craft projects that I see in books and on Youtube, I wanted to try a few squishy makeovers myself. However, I didn’t want to use any full-sized squishies for my projects. The last thing I need right now is another useless collection that I don’t have space for sitting around and collecting dust. I also reasoned that a smaller project would be simpler to accomplish and would take less time to complete. So, I purchased a sampling of squishy toy keychains on clearance at Michaels craft store, planning to add the finished projects to my existing keychain collection.

This Orb Odditeez macaron was my first attempt at a squishy makeover, and it’s pretty much as basic as they come. It’s not even a full repaint. I just repainted the cream filling and added a painted chocolate drizzle on top. I did have a bit of trouble creating a consistent drizzle with the fabric paint. But trying to fill in the gaps with a dotting tool just made the paint job look worse. I may attempt to do another touch up later on.

I also added my own ‘artist signature’ to the bottom of the squishy, just like Moriah Elizabeth does in her makeovers. I came up with the signature design back in my schooling days, after I was inspired by a book I’d read. Unfortunately, I no longer remember the book’s title, or the bulk of the plot for that matter. But all in all, I think this makeover turned out decently for a first attempt. And since I still have a number of other squishy keychains left, you may be seeing more of these projects in the future.

Signed, Treesa

Another Package From Heathersmoo: San Marino and Kumihimo

 I received the keychains shown below in a package from Livejournal poster Heathersmoo in August of 2022, after our in person meet-up that July. Life being what it’s been, it’s taken me this long to get around to posting about them. I’m so sorry Heather. I know it may not seem like it, but I really do appreciate all of the keychain goodies you’ve sent me.

Heather emailed me in the beginning of August because she’d found a duplicate, souvenir keychain from San Marino in her own collection, and she wanted to know if I’d be interested in having it. I actually had to Google where San Marino was/is. I've never been good at geography. As it turns out, San Marino is a European country located near north-central Italy. I emailed Heather back and told her that while I did have some keychains from Italy, I didn’t have any from San Marino. Heather had also written that she’d found a duplicate, souvenir keychain from St. Kitts in her collection. But either she misunderstood my reply, or the St. Kitts keychain ended up not being a duplicate after all, because it wasn’t in the package. (Mystery solved: according to Heather, the St. Kitts keychain ended up not being a duplicate.)

In addition, Heather also sent me a kumihimo keychain that she handmade with wire. Kumihimo, in case anyone has either forgotten or missed a previous post on this blog, is a Japanese braiding technique. Heather has made gifts for me before using this technique, but with embroidery floss rather than wire. So this particular keychain is definitely unique.

I want to send out another thank you to Heather for her thoughtful gifts, along with another apology for my tardiness. I will try to do better in the coming year with sharing things on this blog in a timely manner. But we’ll have to see how that goes.

Signed, Treesa

Disney Parks Lanyard Medals

Ok, so the items pictured above aren’t technically keychains. At least, they didn’t start out as keychains. I had to add a split ring to the original metal clip on each one of them before I could justify calling them keychains. Cheating? Maybe. However, when I first started buying these items second-hand, I had no idea what exactly they were. I just knew that the Disney fan in me thought they looked really cool. And that some of them were obviously souvenirs from the Disney parks, and as such must’ve been pricey at original retail. Never underestimate the lure of a perceived bargain. Anyway, it wasn’t until I found one of these at a thrift store, with the original backing card, that I learned what their intended purpose was.

Disney lanyard medals appear to have been marketed to visitors at Disney’s theme parks as accessories for pin traders. The basic construction on the medals is very similar to the Disney park pins, but on a larger scale. Also, the medals in my collection are marked on the back as “Official Pin Trading” products. As the name “lanyard medal” implies, these items were intended to be hung on pin trading lanyards. They could also be clipped to pin trading bags. In my opinion, a lanyard loaded down with metal pins tends to be heavy enough without the extra weight of a lanyard medal. Maybe that’s why lanyard medals don’t seem to be very common on Disney’s official online shopping site anymore. At least, they weren’t the last time I checked. The last lanyard medal I purchased, shown below, was found on clearance at a Disney outlet store quite some time ago. Brick and mortar Disney stores themselves have become a rarity in their own right.

That’s all the information I could find to share on the subject of Disney parks lanyard medals. However, I would like to pass on a warning to other collectors who may be considering seeking these items out. I bought the Stitch lanyard medal, based on the character from Disney’s Lilo And Stitch franchise, used at a flea market. After I bought it, I ended up having to glue some of the enamel bits back into place with strong craft adhesive because they’d come loose and fallen out. I don’t know if this is a common problem with lanyard medals as they age. But I wanted other collectors to be aware of it. So, my secondhand shopping tip for today is, always examine used lanyard medals carefully to check for missing or loose enamel. I currently have all of my lanyard medals stored in individual, sealed baggies, just to make sure that none of the enamel pieces get lost if they start loosening and falling out.

Signed, Treesa

Sesame Place Souvenir Keychains (A Story Post)

 Before my in person meet-up with keychain collecting, email pen pal Heathersmoo in July of 2022, which I previously wrote about on this blog, I’d only ever been to Sesame Place once in my life. Though, no doubt like countless other children of my generation, I was practically raised on PBS, Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in particular. I made my first ever visit to Sesame Place on a Girl Scout trip, and though my memories of the excursion are pretty hazy, there’s one detail that still stands out in my mind. I was standing on the edge of the ball pit, preparing to jump in, when the employee in charge ordered me to take off my shoes first. Being a sensitive child, I thought the employee was angry and was yelling at me, and I got scared. Crying, I ran back to my dad, who was acting as my chaperone on the trip. I didn’t tell him what was wrong however. I guess I was afraid that he would be mad at me too, if I told him that the person in charge of the ball pit was angry at me. I did refuse to go back to the ball pit though. Since that’s my clearest memory from the trip, I’m guessing the rest of the day wasn’t all that memorable in comparison.

I didn’t get any keychains on that particular outing. I was still rather young at the time, and I don’t think I was actively collecting yet.

You may therefore be wondering how I ended up with several Sesame Place keychains in my collection, especially since that time I went in my childhood was so traumatic for me. I think I bought the first one in an attempt to let go of the memory and put the experience behind me. I guess I wanted to prove to myself that I’d gotten over it. I bought the second keychain, I believe, because I’d forgotten that I’d already picked up a Sesame Place keychain for my collection.

As for the Sesame Place nail clippers keychain, I bought that at a flea market because I was amused by what I saw as an odd combination of elements. Sesame Place is a locale typically associated with young children, while nail clippers are more commonly perceived as something for adults. So to be honest, I’m not really sure why this keychain exists. I don’t know what the attached little keys were originally for either. They just came with the keychain.

Anyway, as far as Sesame Place goes, I guess this Story Post sort of serves to close a chapter for me. Given the cost of park tickets, and the fact that there are far fewer attractions at Sesame Place that can accommodate older guests (unlike at the Disney theme parks), I'm not planning on revisiting by myself anytime soon. Even though I love theme park gift shops with exclusive, licensed merchandise more than I probably should.

Signed, Treesa

Package From Heathersmoo: Mothman and Buc-ee

 I mentioned in “Part 2” of my “In Person Meet-Up With Heathersmoo” post that Heather promised to send me a souvenir keychain from the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant. I originally planned to upload a follow-up post, showing off the Mothman keychain I received, long before now. Unfortunately, time got away from me, and my Key Chains Advent Calendar opening ended up taking over my posting schedule. Sorry, Heather. I really am grateful to you for thinking of me. Anyway, here’s the Mothman keychain that Heather sent.

Not only did Heather make a point of asking me what type of Mothman keychain I would like, but she also sent me a link to the Mothman Museum website, so that I could browse their inventory. I told Heather that, if possible, I would prefer a keychain with the actual name of the museum on it. As you can see, Heather didn’t fail to deliver.

Heather also sent me a Buc-ee’s keychain in the same package. I’d never heard of the Buc-ee’s store chain before meeting Heather, which isn’t that surprising considering the chain was founded in Texas and doesn’t seem to have much of a foothold in the northern United States. However, when Heather attempted to describe the awesomeness of Buc-ee’s to me, the impression I got was of a convenience store and an old-fashioned soda counter and a tacky tourist shop all rolled into one.

The last thing in Heather’s package was this ‘lucky penny’. We made a stop at Sesame Place the day of our in person meet-up, and as we were walking around I happened to find a penny on the ground that someone must’ve dropped. Over time, I’ve developed a pretty good eye for spotting dropped change. Anyway, I gave the penny to Heather, telling her that maybe it would bring her good luck. Apparently she wanted to return the favor, and according to her note she had a friend help her scout around for a lost penny to send to me.

I want to apologize to Heather, again, for getting this post up so late. I also haven’t forgotten that I still owe you a few other posts, and I want you to know that I am working on them. Better late than never, right?

Signed, Treesa

Key Chains Advent Calendar, Day 24 (2022)

Christmastime is here, and we’re wrapping up my “Key Chains Advent Calendar” opening with Day 24’s contribution…

…another avocado. Although similar to the avocado keychain received on Day 4, there are enough differences to tell the two apart. For example, today’s avocado has arms as well as legs. It also lacks the pink under-eyes/cheeks that Day 4’s avocado had, not to mention there’s a color difference in the ‘flesh’ area around the pit.

Signed, Treesa

Key Chains Advent Calendar, Day 23 (2022)

With my “Key Chains Advent Calendar” opening soon coming to a close, Day 23 gifts us with…

…a sitting duck. Seriously, it’s just a plain, generic duck, but cute.

Signed, Treesa