Monday, November 16, 2015

Oil Cloth Tassel Key Chains!

I'm sure many of you have seen tassels popping up on everything from purses to necklaces to home decor, so I thought I'd share with you how I made some using scraps of oil cloth.  They look really cute hanging from a lanyard, backpack or purse!

The last photo below shows how I customized the keychains for my oldest daughter's dance team motivation gifts for their first competition last weekend.  I made each one in the team's colors, then after covering the rubber band with gold ribbon, I added some Dollar Store rhinestone trim.  The tags I made on my Cricut Explore out of plain white heavy card stock (110 lb.).  I'm kind of wishing I had laminated them because the girls loved them so much.   If you look closely, I used Cricut's Design Space software to create a lock that has the opening and the end of a key in the shape of a Liberty Bell.  Her dance team's name is the Liberty Belles... so, you can imagine I felt pretty clever right about then!  I had the Cricut write the words on the shapes as well, the key says "YOU ARE THE KEY" and the lock says "SUCCESS."  

What you'll need:

  • Rotary Cutter
  • Cutting Mat
  • Oil Cloth
  • Key Rings
  • Ribbon Scraps
  • Rubber Bands
  • Hot Glue & Glue Gun
  • Clothes Pin (Optional)

Here's how to do it!

  1. Using rotary cutter; cut strips of oil cloth 10" or 11" long by 3" wide.
  2. Fold strips in half, and cut starting 1" to 1-1/2" from the fold to the raw ends every 1/4" to create fringe.  **Be sure to put lots of pressure on your ruler to prevent slipping!
  3. Open strip out flat (center will be uncut, with fringe on either side).
  4.  Roll from one side, stoping short to fold under the end, and complete the roll.
  5. Clamping with a clothes pin coming in handy at this point...then feed one end of the fringe through the key ring.
  6. Fold the strip in half over the side of the ring, be sure to match the ends of the fringe.
  7. Using a small, narrow rubber band secure the folded strip just below the key ring.
  8. Hot glue ribbon over the rubber band to conceal it.

Step-by-Step Photos:










The Bazaar Finish Line




"We plan, and God laughs."  Too true when looking back on this past weekend's Christmas Bazaar.  I've been working for months to build up my inventory and variety of craft items (which was packed onto my small half table space), and ended up having very low sales.  I will concede that the sale was over a long holiday weekend (so many families may have been out of town) and my table was towards the back of the large community center, but disappointing to say the least. Live and learn.  I'm still glad I did it, because now I have lots of cute projects to share with you all! I'll be detailing the oil cloth tassel key chains, and how I customized them for my daughter's dance team this past weekend in my next post.  In the meantime, here's some close-ups of the items from the bazaar.  Hopefully, you find some inspiration for your own holiday crafting!