Kid Craft Backpack Keychains

      Jimmy (almost 9) decided that he wanted 100 keychains jingling on his backpack this school year. He’s starting with 3. :) I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a large pack of key chain rings for about $4. Hobby Lobby’s 40% off coupon would be great to use on this purchase, because I don’t ever really see the kids crafting supplies on sale.
       Since we recently used this technique to make dog toys, we started with Scoubidou keychains, also called scoobies, boondoggle, gimps or lanyards. Pinky now has a square stitch keychain; Jimmy now has a circle stitch keychain. We added letter beads to put their nicknames onto the keychains.
       We are now hooked on using perler beads to make keychains. The kids build their design on boards then get to carefully iron their creation. Don’t forget to cover your creation with parchment paper before ironing it or else goodbye iron. Remove one bead from inside the design to have a hole ready for your keychain. Let the design cool completely before putting the keychain on to keep it as strong as possible. I also printed off a bunch of patterns. Pinky was meticulous in following the ones that she liked, while Jimmy preferred to get ideas from the patterns and change it. Here, here, and here are some more pattern links.