Project: Beaded Key Chain

My mom and I have always shared a love of arts and crafts. Several years ago we discovered beading and jewelry making and have been hooked ever since. For the past few months we have had some great crafting sessions where we turned out some fantastic beaded projects: jewelry, bookmarks, and now today’s creation… key chains.

My mom purchased a beaded key chain a while ago and thought, “Hey, we can make these!” And, as it turns out, we can! Ours actually came out about a million times nicer than the one she purchased, but that’s just my (honest) opinion. I wasn’t able to get any photos of my mom’s lovely creation, as the good light had already left my impromptu photo shoot location by the time she was done. And it’s not worth posting a photo of a craft if it doesn’t do the project justice. However, I will try to snap one or two the next time I’m at their house. The following photos are of my key chain creation. Now my stylish MINI has a stylish set of keys to match!

Pink & Black Beaded Deco Keychain

I am nothing short of amazed at how quick and easy this project turned out to be. With the right tools and a little planning, you can produce these beauties in no time. The ability to make these into unique works of portable art is as broad as your own imagination. There are endless combinations of chains, beads, medallions and crystals.

My mom found the deco chandelier medallion at a local craft store along with the chain and a majority of the other beads. We have amassed such a large collection of beads over time that I’m not even able to begin to guess with any accuracy as to where half of them are from.

However, a good place to start is your local craft store and Fire Mountain Gems. When first starting out it is best to see beads in person to get an idea of standards in shapes and sizes. Beads are measured in millimeters and the slight variances can be tricky to visualize without a physical point of reference… and checking out the millimeter markings on your ruler is not very accurate.

It is helpful to buy a few basic beads in common sizes and shapes. Separate them into marked bags by size and pull them out for reference before placing any orders online. For example, if you were trying to decide between 8mm and 10mm bicones you would pull out those two sized bags and compare the two bicone beads. This is also helpful when trying to match varying sizes and shapes of beads for a project, since you can get an idea of how the differences will look together.

For the key chain, everything was strung together with sections of silver, composite chain. This is strong, yet lightweight since it is not solid metal. I have never used it before so I will have to report back on how it holds up to daily wear and tear. I recommend using a chain with links that are not soldered. This way, they are easy to assemble and disassemble… just make sure to securely close them so you don’t lose any of your beads!

It was great to finally get a project accomplished after the past few weeks of an artistic void. My mom and I have been planning to make these for months, but kept getting delayed. This is definitely going to be one of my favorite accessories, even though it is more functional than decorative. However, you could make these to attach to your purse or use the technique for a charm bracelet. With beading, I always feel like there are always endless possibilities for any project.