My mom always called me a pack-rat. I prefer sentimentalist, as I really only save things that have meaning to me. Sometimes those items are easily memorialized, either in scrapbooks or in my planner archives. A few, however, were more difficult to find a reason to keep.
Like house keys.
Yep, for some reason, I’ve kept the house/apartment keys from both places Brian and I have lived together. Maybe I am a pack-rat. But I always thought that I could come up with something to do with them. So when I saw this post from John and Sherry Petersik at Young House Love, I knew I had my solution.
After raiding my supplies and a quick trip to the craft store, I had all of the ingredients for turning my spare keys into a keepsake:
Although this is more of a “craft” than my usual $5 Fixes, I figured it qualified because other than purchasing a photo frame and a scrap piece of muslin ($2.99 and $.79, respectively), I already had everything I needed on hand. In addition to my two purchases, I grabbed a scrap of card stock, reel of glue tape, a tube of super glue and of course my two keys from my stash.
I started by pulling apart the frame and trimming the fabric to wrap around the cardboard frame back. I used the glue tape to hold it down to the cardboard backing, which so far seems to be holding well.
I then trimmed the excess fabric and replaced the backing in the frame. I took the glass out of the front of the frame, though depending on depth, you may be able to leave it in. I then placed the keys on the fabric and glued them down with super glue. Again, it seems to be holding well, though I’ll provide an update if anything goes and falls off on me!
I used little squares of card stock and an archival quality pen to note “our first (or second) place,” the address and the dates we lived there. I stuck those on under each key using glue tape.
From start to finish, this whole project took me about 15 minutes and is way better than having random keys hanging out in a drawer. And since the project was so affordable, I’m not worried about grabbing a bigger frame and another scrap of fabric once we move on from this house.
Plus, it adds a bit of charm to the random little built in nook in our hallway!
Have any of you been crafting lately? This chilly weather has definitely brought on my desire to craft constantly!
That is cute!!! Such a lovely idea :o)
Isn't it sweet? Makes me smile every time I walk past. Though we may have a pretty large frame someday – we seem to move around a lot!