Initial Keychains with Air Dry Clay

I need some small personalized gifts for a few people, and decided that some simple keychains would be perfect. Rather than a split ring, I chose this style of finding because it is easy to attach to a purse strap or bag handle. Keychains aren't just for keys, they can also identify your bag!

Take a small piece of your air-dry clay, and roll it out flat. I used an apple corer to cut my circles. It was the perfect size, and I already had it. Lots of little nubs to sand off after drying though.

See the bits that had to be sanded?

Then a quick hole, made with a toothpick.

Next, I used scrapbooking stamps directly on the soft clay. Most I did with no ink, for one I tried ink.

Then I let them dry for a day or two. After they were dry, I got rid of those nubs with an emery board. Then I painted the fronts and backs—some with acrylics, others with simple kids' watercolors. After that dried, I used a glue pen in the stamped letters, and then added glitter.

When everything was dry and extra glitter brushed off with a big soft paintbrush, I added 3 coats of acrylic coating, 10 minutes apart.

9mm jump rings connect the keychain finding to the clay pieces.

What's for dinner?!

Yes, I get asked that question every single day. In the morning, at school pickups, and then again (especially if they are hoping the answer will change).

The January 2013 Whimseybox came with 3 6" by 5" balsa pieces, 2 rolls of washi tape, a clamshell plastic box, and some bright rubber bands.

For this project, I painted one side of the entire board with chalkboard paint I had leftover from another project. I used 3 coats, separated by about 10 minutes drying time in the sun, and then let it dry for over 24 hours.

I then simply added a washi border. I stuck it to the wall using that white plasticy tack-n-stick. There may be a better choice, but I had this so we'll see.

This board is small for a menu board, but then so is my wall. That light switch is centered on the wall. There is not much wall space in my kitchen, and this light switch gets more action than any other in the house—the perfect place for a message board!

The other 2 balsa boards from the box? I have a little project in progress, but can't find the beads I want. Looking for another solution there....

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Leather Sketchbook Cover, with Pocket

Front

 A recent whimseybox contained a piece of soft leather (approximately 8.5 x 11"), and some metal studs.

I have looked at the box contents pretty regularly, but was undecided on what to do. I knew I wanted to paint on it—but on what?

Back

 After rejecting a variety of ideas (maybe purse straps for a sewn purse? or a purse bottom? but this leather is so soft it's almost suede, and will get filthy fast; maybe I would use a clutch? nope...; a bracelet or 4? no, this soft leather doesn't have the body of a stamped leather bracelet) and some pinterest searches, I settled on a basic wallet and/or sketchbook cover. And, I would use every piece of the leather!

Cutting guide

First, I squared up my piece of leather. Then, I cut the piece in half, so I had two 8.5 x 5.5 pieces. One of these became the main body piece. The other I cut into three pieces, each 5.5" wide—one 2.5" long, one 3" long, and the rest became the pocket flap.

 I first sewed on the sketchbook-holding flap, using binder clips to hold it in place, and the teflon foot on my sewing machine (and a size 90 stretch needle, as specified by my machine). Then came the pocket body, and then the pocket flap. Then I hand sewed the snap in place (a vintage snap from my grandmother's sewing basket).

Inside, with notebook and pencil

Next up was the painting, which was much more difficult than I expected—it took so much paint for the paint to show. I don't know if it is the soft texture of the leather, the acrylic paints, the brush I chose, or operator incompetence. I did the outside, waited an hour or so, and then the inside. Then I let both sides dry completely overnight.

Pocket snap and inside painting

The next morning I chose a piece of ribbon for the tie (part of the whimseybox packaging!). I then cut two slits for the ribbon to go through, and where a pencil can go.  After threading the ribbon through, I "painted" the ends with fraycheck.

Supplies and finished project

I want to put a small sketchbook in this, but all I could find was the small composition notebook at CVS (and all they had was red or blue!). An eraser, colored pencils, or cash and ID can fit into the pocket.

Thanks to the following sites for inspiration:
Vintage Craft Studio on flickr
the Kenton Sorenson wallet
World of Pineapple leather tips and tricks
Martha Stewart's leather crafts

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