My DIY Vintage Skeleton Key Necklaces

Last week reader Sally B. sent me a great little bag of vintage keys, (WOOT!) which inspired me to start playing with some key jewelry designs. I think it will be be pretty self-explanatory how I did everything, so let's get right to the photos!

 

 Ta-da!

This key was still a nice shiny silver, so I used matching chains and a cheerful pinkish-red and purple for a bright, modern look. Most of what I used came from my jewelry stash, which is a mix of old jewelry I've taken apart plus bits and pieces that you guys have sent me over the years. The only parts I purchased are the tiny accent beads and crystals on my next two designs.

The one bit you can't see is how the flower is attached to the key, but that's pretty simple: I just bent the bead pin holding the two flower pieces together around the shaft of the key. Just make sure the pin is wrapped tight, to keep the flower from slipping down. (Although if you do have this problem, a dab of E-6000 or super glue on the back should hold it fine.)

Next up, you *know* I had to do one with teal and orange:

This is one of my favorite keys, and I've been saving it for ages now; I love the numbers stamped into the handle and on the end. I think it has just the right amount of grunge to give it a sense of age, too.

Since I didn't use a heavy chain on this one, I decided to jazz it up by adding those orangey-yellow accent beads into the chain. I'm still not great at bending the wire loops on each bead, but now that I have some round-nose pliers (like these ones) it's a little easier:

 

I also included a hanging bead at the clasp in back, just for fun. :)

(Btw, I wasted SO much time trying to get good pictures of these before giving up and buying a neck form. I'd love to have a more artistic setup, but at least this gets the job done!)

And finally, my last necklace is the only one that actually used one of Sally's keys, which has just the right amount of rust on it to work with this copper chain:

This one took the most amount of effort, because I only had copper chain and copper bead pins to work with - no O rings. So I used the bead pins to make all my O rings. The rings holding the key to the chain needed to be extra sturdy, so I twisted two pins together before bending them into rings, which both made them stronger and also look pretty nifty, don't you think? (You can see one of the twisty rings on the right side of the key.)

I also made the loops on those four orange Swarovski crystals to include in the chain:

It's really hard to choose, but I think this one is my favorite. The colors are just a bit more "me."

The flowers on the necklaces are all lightweight acrylic, and were in a stash of various beads and goodies from another reader. (You don't have to tell me; I already know I'm spoiled.) When I went to JoAnn's last night, though, I was thrilled to find more of the same style flowers - though not these colors - by the brand Laliberi. So definitely check those out if you want to make some key necklaces of your own! (And if you need keys, head to Ebay or your local junk/antique shop. Simple ones like these shouldn't cost more than a few dollars apiece.)

Oh, and if you're concerned about rust getting on your clothes, just spray your keys with a coat of flat clear spray lacquer. (Be sure to wash them first, to get the loose bits of rust off.) Make sure it's a flat clear coat, though; you don't want your rusty keys looking shiny!

Well, I hope this helps inspire more craftiness and key-hoarding out there! Frankly, I had so much fun making these that I can't wait to try more variations. (Wouldn't a rusty key look AMAZING with clock hands and/or gears dangling off it, instead of beads? Ooh, this could get dangerous...)

'Til then, I'll end with a few more close-ups for your pinning pleasure:

So which one's your favorite, guys? Tell me in the comments, so I know which ones to make more of!


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