Craft: Geocaching Inspired Keychains
Looking for a fun geocaching related craft that’s fun for children and adults? Look no further! I’ll show you how to make these super easy and cute geocaching inspired keychains. They make great gifts or swag for geocaching.
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Start out with transparent plastic pony beads like these. I used transparent green, orange, turquoise, and yellow.
Arrange them in the bottom of a nonstick muffin pan. Nonstick is key – I learned my lesson here and tried to use an old tin mini muffin pan and ruined it! The melted plastic will pop right out of a nonstick pan. I used one like these. Make sure that you arrange the beads so that the lines between the colors are straight and so that they go all the way to the edge of the pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Let cool completely and then turn pan over to remove.
Here is why it’s so important to keep your lines straight and the beads pushed out to the edges. The photo below shows what happens when not enough beads are used and they don’t go all the way to the edges. Oops!
Once the discs have cooled completely, you’re ready to make the hole for the keychain to go through. I used a standard drill with a 3/16″ drillbit. Any kind of craft drill will work, but I love my Black+Decker 20V MAX Cordless Drill. There’s no need for a fancy vice grip or anything like that. The plastic is soft enough that you can hold the disc in your hand and carefully push the drill through the top. Just be sure to keep your fingers out of the way! I spaced the hole about 1/8″ down from the edge. You need to be far enough away that it won’t break easily but close enough to be able to thread the jump ring through the hole.
Once the hole is made, it’s time to attach the keychain. I used these, which come in two pieces – the jump ring and the key chain.
Thread the jump ring through the hole and then place the end of the keychain over one of the ends to create a link. Use a needle nose pliers and carefully squeeze the two sides of the jump ring until the tips meet. You may need to play with this a bit. You want to make sure the ring is completely closed but don’t make the tips overlap. You want a nice round circle.
And there’s your keychain! This technique is so easy and is great for kids! (Just be sure to help them with the oven.) Experiment with different designs and colors and sizes. If you make these, please share your photos with me! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
