If you do any type of metal work, you always have that little bowl of scraps: leftover wire from making jump rings, and old bezels that didn’t quite fit, those experiments gone wrong. You know what I’m talking about. But, every good jewelry maker is also frugal. So, you keep those scraps. You could melt them down or turn them in for credit from some suppliers. However, you can also use those scraps to create a key fob. These two key fobs were created using left over parts and pieces from our scrap bowl and then attaching the small chain to a fused glass pendant. My husband made the chain and I made the pendant, so it was joint effort that helped us create two unique hand-crafted gifts for his parents.
To make the chain, you’ll need a solder set-up, your scraps, and a little imagination. If you need some chain ideas, you can go to the Metalsmithing Related Articles section and take a look at a few of the chain instructions listed there.
The key fobs pictured were made up of the following parts and pieces:
The fob with the longer chain (on the left) was made using some half round wire for the large ring and a combination of left-over jump rings and figure eight rings.
The fob with the shorter links (on the right) is made up of an old bezel for the larger ring at the top and a combination of square wire and round wire jump rings.
Both fused glass pendants were made using a bottom black layer of glass, a jump ring glued onto the top so the ring sticks out about half, and a top layer of Dicrohic glass on top.
So, dig around in the scrap bowl and see if you can find enough left-overs for a short sterling chain. Then hook it onto a charm, fused glass piece, or even lampwork bead.
