How to Make Keychains?
Everyone knows the excruciating pains that come with losing your key. This sort of moment can be avoided by attaching your keys to an acrylic or lanyard keychain. However, attaching your key to an ordinary keychain can also lead to a mixup. Imagine you have the same key chain as your friend. To end all these problems, you should get your customized keychain. Custom keychain will add a pop of personality to your key and save you from searching for your keys among others in the same place. Your experience level doesn’t matter; you can make a keychain to showcase your desired style. This article will serve as a guide that puts you through the process of creating a customized keychain.
Benefits of DIY keychains
One thing we can not take away from a customized keychain is the delightful feeling and sense of accomplishment that comes with it. Making a keychain is seamless and accessible for all levels of experience. It entails adding a touch of creativity to your key ring and claps. You can pick from various acrylic and lanyard materials to showcase your creative ingeniousness. Do-it-yourself (DIY) keychains are worthwhile for various reasons. They are not only about keeping your keys in order but also include the emotional value that comes with making a keychain yourself. The following are the benefits of DIY keychains.
1. Custom Keychains are Affordable.
Custom keychains are very affordable compared to purchasing ready-made ones. The exciting thing about making custom keychains is that you can get the materials in-house or create your designs and let FastPrintStar create one.
2. Serves as a Business Promotional Token
Custom keychains can be personalized gifts for customers, business associates, and others. They are versatile and practical promotional products that can be utilized to promote your business. You can do this by sending your business logo to FastPrintStar and getting customized keychains in bulk to share among your customers.
3. Uniqueness.
Custom-made keychains will save you from the mess of generalist keychain design. This is important to make your keys stand out, especially when you and others drop your keys together in a box. Another point is the security a customized keychain provides for your valuables. It’s quite appalling to find your keys in the wrong hands. This is a catastrophic situation that can expose your business to precarious situations due to theft that might ensue from that. However, a customized keychain will help you quickly identify your keys and take them off any unwarranted person.
How to Make Acrylic Keychains
Custom acrylic keychains are made from recyclable acrylic materials, also called Plexiglass. They are built to be durable and can come in any style that conforms to your needs and designs. Acrylic keychains are popular among people who fancy them due to their lightweight nature and vibrancy for images or any of your designs. Making a customized acrylic keychain is highly simplified and only requires 20 minutes to complete. Also, you just need a few materials and very low-level experience. Let’s get to it.
1. Materials Needed
The following are the materials needed to get started with making acrylic keychains.
Blank Acrylic Sheets: This versatile, transparent plastic material will be your keychain’s primary component. The acrylic sheet comes in various sizes and cuts, such as circles, rectangles, hearts, squares, and many other shapes you want your keychain to bear. Choose from any of these shape options that suit your imagination.
Keychain hardware: You need to get the following keychain hardware: Keyrings, Chains, Jump rings, key ring straps, and many others, depending on your choice. Keychain hardware comes in various colors and finishes. Ensure you let your stylistic imagination come out from the color and types of keychain hardware you will select from.
Design tools (e.g., markers, paints, stickers): These components are required for your keychain customizations. They include vinyl, chalk paints, latex paint, glaze, gloss, craft sticks, paint brushes, stickers, glitters, and others.
1. Step-by-Step Process
Now let’s dive into the customized acrylic keychain-making process in detail:
● Designing the keychain
There are many ways to sketch your favorite design for the custom acrylic keychain. The most common one is to go digital with Canvas Design, Adobe Illustrator, or any drawing program. Create the image, logo, text, or any design you like. Then, size and format the design to fit perfectly on the blank acrylic sheet.
● Cutting acrylic sheets
As you prepare your design, proceed to cut the acrylic sheet. This process requires specialized equipment like a laser cutter, rotary tool, or jigsaw. Clamp the blank acrylic sheet to the surface to prevent movement while cutting. Carefully mark the design outline on the acrylic sheet and cut it to your desired keychain shape.
● Adding designs and personalization
This is quite an optional step, but you can add more designs to your liking for aesthetics and personalization. If you have a Cricut machine, you can use permanent vinyl. Add the vinyl to your desired shape to the blank acrylic sheet with transfer tape. You can also paint directly on the acrylic surface with an acrylic paint marker for firmness. Lastly, small objects like flowers, confetti, and glitter should be placed on the acrylic with a strong adhesive.
● Attaching keychain hardware
Select your predated keychains. They can be jump rings, key rings, or any other keychain hardware you like. Use a jewelry plier to open the Jump ring into the pre-drilled hole in the acrylic sheet. Close the jump ring opening with the plier to ensure the keychain is firmly attached.
How to Make a Lanyard Keychain
A lanyard keychain is an embodiment of functionality and aesthetics. It is an essential component that you can use to organize your keys and other accessories with peace of mind. Custom lanyard keychains offer a more flexible style for organizing your keys than bulky key rings. Also, lanyard keychains provide a more customizable prospect, allowing you to create your unique keychain.
1. Materials needed
To get started making a customized lanyard keychain, you need the following materials:
Lanyard material: Lanyard materials can range from paracord yarn to embroidery, or purchase a pre-made lanyard at a store.
Keychain hardware: You’ll need a key ring or clasp to attach your keys to the finished lanyard.
Beads, charms, or other decorative elements: These can be optional additions to your materials. You can use beads, pendants, and any other decorative element or embellishment to beautify your keychain and exude your unique style.
2. Step-by-step process
Now that you’ve gathered your materials, it’s time to start crafting your keychain.
● Choosing lanyard material
It’s essential to be decisive when choosing your lanyard materials. Measurement is vital at this stage. You must consider the lanyard materials’ strength, length, and desired outlook. Two of the most common lanyard materials are embroidery floss and paracord. The embroidery floss is lightweight and beautiful, while the paracord lanyard materials are thick and durable.
● Measuring and cutting the lanyard
Measure the desired length of your lanyard. A good rule of thumb is to double the size you want the finished lanyard to be when worn around your neck and then cut it into two pieces.
● Join the fabric
Place the two fabric strips together, with the right sides facing each other. You can sew or use fabric glue to secure them along one long edge if desired.
● Attaching keychain hardware
There are several ways to attach keychain hardware. You can loop the lanyard material through the keyring, create a loop at the end, attach the clasp, or use a keyfob plier to secure it.
Creative Ideas for Lanyard Keychain Designs
The intriguing aspect of creating a lanyard keychain is the endless possibilities and flexibility that can bring out your unique style.
- You can create your keychain lanyard with a themed design that showcases your hobbies and interests. Are you a lover of music, an animal lover, a seasonal flair, or a sports enthusiast? You can incorporate any of their designs or emblems into your custom-shaped keychainwithout any problem.
- Another way to embrace your stylistic idea is to combine two or more materials for a unique look. For instance, try braiding embroidery floss with metallic thread or weaving in leather cord for a touch of texture. You can also create patterns by experimenting with stripes, chevrons, or bracelet-style knots.
- You can personalize your keychain using large, colorful beads to spell out your initials or favorite word. Another way to do this is to attach a framed picture or charm with a meaningful image.
How To Put on A Keychain
The following is the step-by-step process for putting on a keychain.
Steps:
- Find the opening of the split ring:A divided ring has a small gap on one side. This is where you’ll attach your key.
- Position your key:Hold the key with the top part (where the hole is) facing you.
- Open the split ring (optional):For some rings, especially new or larger ones, it might be easier to open the gap slightly. You can use your fingernail or a handy tool like a coin or staple remover. Wedge it in the gap to create a wider opening, but be careful not to bend the ring out of shape.
- Slide the key in. Insert the tip of your key (the part with the hole) into the opening of the split ring.
- Push the key around the ring:Once the tip is in, gently push the key down and around the entire loop of the split ring. It should slide through the opening on the other side and secure itself.
- Close the gap (if needed):If you open the gap in step 3, simply squeeze it shut with your fingers to secure the key.
Where You Can Buy Keychains
FastPrintStar has become your reliable partner for exquisite keychain designs. As a leading brand for all custom products, we provide customers with never-seen-before flexibility and free reign to bring out their design ideas. FastPrintStar simplifies your keychain-making processes with state-of-the-art technology that ensures your designs look sharp and professional on either acrylic or lanyard materials. Also, our fast turnaround time and convenience are an added advantage because we offer same-day printing for most orders in addition to our intuitive, user-friendly online platform. Lastly, we provide a tiered-based MOQ system where you can customize your keychains for as low as $0.89.
Conclusion
Custom-made keychains are exciting and straightforward ways to showcase your style and creativity. Going beyond aesthetics, creating a keychain is a functional piece that can safeguard your keys from any mixup. With essential creativity and basic materials, you can make your keychain using hard materials or acrylic sheets.
