Looking for a non-food DIY Valentine’s Gift that is super useful? Check out this Easy Valentine Heart Key Chain tutorial!
My car is a disaster. Like, it’s such a mess, never been this bad before, something has to be done MESS. The only places I have driven in the last however many weeks I’ve been sick are to the COVID testing site and to pick up groceries when I can’t get them delivered. And for some reason at both of these places the wait can be absolutely ridiculous. Stuck in my little car waiting to have a mascara brush shoved up my nose I bring lots of stuff to keep myself busy and that stuff and every cardigan or sweater I started the journey in before I got too hot is now in the floorboard.
On my way back home I’d check the mail since I was already out. I have one of those community mail boxes, the kind with a key that’s down at the end of the block. And I’ve always kept one of my keys in this little cubby hole in front of my shift stick thing. But the other day I could NOT find it. Somehow it got stuck in Coca Cola bottle lids, pens, crochet hooks, and various other things that don’t belong in there and apparently as I sat there looking for the darn key somebody pulled up behind me, also wanting to check their mail.
Now I have to say, I had no clue anybody was back there. I felt like hell, my mailbox key was in here but I couldn’t find the darn thing, and when chickadee back there decided to lay on the horn it scared the bejeezus out of me. I went home without my mail and easily found the key when I went digging in the safety of my own garage.
Looking through Old Posts for Inspiration I remembered these fun Leather Heart Key Chains.
And so I purchased some fake leather online and the minute it arrived I pulled all of the other supplies from my stash and got after it. Now I have a whole mess of these adorable heart key chains that don’t get lost in the shuffle. Brilliant!
While I stitched these up for myself, they’d also make such an adorable gift! They’re easy and inexpensive to make but they look pretty darn great, if I say so myself! And who doesn’t need a key chain? It’s one of those things you always need!
Want to make one for your friends, family, and loved ones? Let’s get to it!
Supplies Needed to Make a Valentine Heart Key Chain:
- Leather or Fake Leather
- White or Red Cord (I used this Satin Cord)
- Matching Embroidery Floss
- Split Key Ring
- Free Printable Heart Template
Tools Needed:
How to Make a Valentine Heart Key Chain:
Print out your free heart template or draw out your own template and neatly cut out a heart to act as your pattern.
*Quick Tip – If you have cardstock, I’d strongly recommend using this because it’s thicker which makes it much easier to trace here in just a minute…
Flip your leather or faux leather over and on the backside trace the heart using a pencil twice (front and back). Carefully cut out each heart.
*Quick Tip – If using dark colors, like black, you can use a paint marker to transfer the shape of your heart.
How to Make a Lark’s Head Knot
Cut a piece of cord to a length of 6-8″ to create a Lark’s Head Knot. Fold the cord so that the ends meet. Place the loop of cord through a split ring. Grab the ends and pull through the loop (over the ring). Pull the ends of the cord tight to tighten the knot onto the split ring.
Prepping Your Leather Heart
Apply a dab of hot glue onto the back side of one of your hearts. Make sure you glue the cord far enough inside of the heart that it holds well and gives you the amount of length you want your finished heart keychain to be.
*Quick Tip – When applying the glue, be sure to NOT put any of it where you will be stitching. Pushing a needle through leather, fake or real, with hot glue in the middle is so hard and frustrating!
While the glue is still hot, place the other half of your heart, back side down, to create one piece. Before the glue cools finagle the heart as needed so both match up well.
Sewing Your Leather Heart with the Blanket Stitch
If you’ve never used the blanket stitch before, I’ve got a totally comprehensive tutorial How to Sew the Blanket Stitch. Seriously. Not playing… more info than you probably want :)
Using all 6 strands in your embroidery floss cut a length of approximately 40″. Knot it and thread a #5 Embroidery Needle. Run the needle through the inside of the 2 hearts and out the dip in the center/top. Holding the split key ring and cord out of the way, start your blanket stitch. Continue your stitch all of the way around the edge.
Once you get back to the center top knot off your thread and run in back through the inside of the hearts and out one of the sides. Pull the cord taut and snip close to the leather edge. Once released the tail should be lost inside of the heart!
Feel Free to Play with Pattern, Color, and Texture for some Interesting Heart Key Chains!
In the package of sheets of embossed fake leather I purchased from Amazon I got some pretty loud patterns!
Honestly at first I hated the snakeskin print but after I turned it into a chain with red thread stitched around the edges, I kind of totally love it :)
Don’t Forget to Add Your Keys!
Since I’m my own Valentine this year (thanking all that is holy!) I made myself a whole mess of these fun hearts. And first to be put into use is this faux brown crocodile leather heart that has my mailbox key in it. Or at least one of the four I can actually find :)
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