metal rings

12.06.2016
0800

Materials:

Keychains
Extra thread or string

Tools:

Sewing Kit

So when I decluttered my sentimental possessions, I pulled out the few keychains I had leftover and decided to turn them into Christmas ornaments. I’ve done this before for other years as I was slowly decluttering my sentimental possessions, but these are the last keychains I own. So with the last set of keychains, I thought I’d show you how I upcycle these items.

I have a habit of writing the year I received each ornament on the ornament somewhere. I actually didn’t start doing this up until about a decade ago. For the ornaments that came before then, I literally reserved a random Saturday and recalled ALL of the years that each ornament came into our lives. The years help me remember a time in my life, or what was happening during that year, and even what was going on around the world. Keychains hold the same sentimental value for me that ornaments do. I used to collect keychains, but that goal was short lived being that I realized that I didn’t have enough zippers to attach them to. Also, with the certain keychains, they get in the way of the function of the bag I’m using or it just becomes an extra piece on my bag that will inevitably get caught in something as I’m walking or moving around and rip off. I also don’t use keychains for my keys.

I know that sounds strange, but as I got older, and I had to be responsible for more keys to more places and items. I prefered to not weigh down my keys with so much excess weight. (It’s also annoying when I’m driving and I have a large chunk of metal just hanging and swinging from the car ignition). I like my leg room. I also don’t want to hang to much weight from the ignition in case it ruins the tumblers in the ignition over time.

Some of my keychains are from my own purchases and the rest were given to me. For this post, my last keychains that I used (from left to right), a pewter cat keychain from my brother when were first took in an older feral cat who was a variation of greys. She was a sweet and fat cat. She left us after four years or so, never saw her again.

The next keychain I bought was when I went to Vietnam in the summer of 1998. This was my first trip to Vietnam and as a teen, it changed my view of the world and I knew how blessed and lucky I was to be born a United States citizen. My father and I had a stopover in South Korea after 12 hours in the air. I played soccer for a very long time throughout my childhood, and I continued to follow different clubs and leagues from around the world. Although this keychain said “2002 World Cup Korea”, it was the first World Cup to be held in Asia, the first to be held on a continent other than Europe or the Americas, the last World Cup during which the golden goal rule was in force and the only World Cup to be jointly hosted by more than one nation. It was a landmark world cup tournament and it was exciting to have Japan and Korea join together to co-host such a celebrated event. I actually bought this keychain at the airport where we stopped over, it wasn’t anything big, but it was the first marketing item I had seen for the 2002 World Cup. The United States hadn’t even released marketing for that World Cup yet.

The third keychain is a beetle, yup a beetle. My father had mailed me the keychain from Vietnam for my sixteenth birthday. It came with a card. Although it was pretty unconventional, the beetle was actually a beautiful specimen. I don’t have a fear of many things at all, and I actually understood why my dad had mailed it to me. He was purely focused on the the colors of the beetle and how nature could create such an interesting yet iridescent bug. I kept that keychain on my backpack throughout high school. It was either a great conversation starter, or I simply received strange looks from passer byers.

The last keychain is from my mother when she went to the Grand Canyon. I’ve actually never been there but she brought this back for me. It was a fun trip for her with her friends and I thought that I should finally add it to this project.

Using pliers, I unhinged the chains that attached the metal rings to the metal chains. I keep all metal rings from items that I manipulate, because rings are very versatile when creating my DIY projects.

I rummaged around my mother’s sewing kit (good thing she keeps her thread samples from old clothes) and found some thick thread to use for these ornaments. I chose thread that was dark, so that it would blend in with the fake Christmas tree branches.

Because keychains come with a built-in loop for the metal chains, I simply created large loops so they could be placed on the branches easier. I carve or write the year of each ornament on the it before I put it away.

I actually haven’t bought new ornaments in thirteen years. I’ve been creating ornaments from small memorabilia that I’ve owned for a long time. Each year, I go digging through the decluttering process (I told you it takes time to go through everything), and I’ll create one or two more ornaments each year.

With making my own ornaments, I actually donated quite a few sets of nice ornaments to different causes. By keeping my ornament count low, I’m not unnecessarily hoarding a bunch of extra ornaments. My Christmas tree is only five feet tall, and it’s actually the same Christmas tree my family has had for the past twenty-five years. I have just enough to cover it.

I hope this might give you some inspiration to make ornaments from your own keychain memories. Now, go grab pliers, thread and all the keychains you’ve got! Because who doesn’t want a iridescent beetle hanging next to Christmas Snoopy? And if you carve the date into your ornament and get cut, blame the Electoral College. It’s always their fault.

Here are some other ideas for homemade ornaments. They’re eco-friendly and easy to make. Check these out from some other sustainable bloggers…

02.10.2016

0830

When I create a solution for any situation in my life, I always, always consider gravity first. Being that I also live in the Bay Area, items tend to fall when earthquakes occur. My solution to this issue is hanging everything. I keep extra shoelaces, metal rings, and carabiners around for this very reason.

I also like to keep my floor clear because when I run around with my microfiber dust mop, I don’t like to move things. In other words, items wont be on the floor to get in my way. This rule applies for any surface area in my home as well. I’m simply not a big fan of dusting. I will dust, but it has to be a once over type of effort, for me to move items, then dust, and then place items back feels like a waste of time and effort. Multiply that task for each week of the year, and the wasted time will add up.

I hang many items around, but these are a few of the examples. I hang my mirror on my door along with a pencil bag that holds my dry erase pens to write on the mirror with. I actually draw a calendar on my mirror for the fact that I know I wont miss it when I check myself in the mirror. (It also helps because I don’t like to buy paper calendars.) I use a laptop and I hate the sound of my transformer box dragging across my hard wood floor, so I made a denim pocket out of an old pair of jeans to hang it up. I also cut a hole on the other side of the pocket for the other cord to poke out of. My drafting table ruler is also hanging next to it since I now use my drafting table as my desk and it was getting in the way. I have a 3-tier basket which I place items that would normally find their way onto the surface of the kitchenette counter, and I even have other items hanging from that was well.

Using shoelaces, I hang my memory board up to cover the window on my door. There was a small gap when I hung it up, so I used a fabric napkin to simply cover the opening. I’ve always hung up my kitchen timer as well. I used a magnet clip and simply took a hook screw and attached it to the top, and not screwing it too far in as to hit the bell on the inside. My bookshelf is also right next to my desk (this desk has no drawers) so I hang up my pencil holder as well.

These are just a few items that I hang up. Hanging up items is an easier way to maintain my space and I know that if an earthquake was to ever occur, these items wont fall. On top of that- dusting is a breeze.