Personalised acrylic keychains make perfect little gifts and they look so cute. They are also really fun to make and best of all you don’t need many supplies to make them. In this blog I will show you step by step How To Make Personalised Acrylic KeyChains.
To get started and make acrylic keychains you will need the following supplies:
Weeding tool and burnishing tool
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Getting Started
Firstly, you will need to decide what you are going to be putting on your keychain. For mine I used my initial (L) and name (Lisa).
To design my name and initial I loaded Design Space. First thing I do when making one of these keychains is click on circle shape and make it the same size as the keychain. I use this to make sure the initial and name are all the correct size and fit.
I also change the colour of the circle to white so I can see my letter and name on the circle. Now that is done click on the text icon at the left-hand side of the canvas. This will open a text box. In the text box type in the name, you require.
Choosing the font
If you wish to change the font you are using you can do this now by clicking on the font box at the top left corner. This will give you a list of Cricut fonts to use or if you have your own font you wish to use like I did. Click on the systems tab at the top and then enter the name of the font you wish to use. This will then change your name and letter to the font you require. I used Thinkle Bloom for the name but you can chose any font you like.
Repeat the same steps for an Initial if you are also adding an initial to your keychain. I used Buttered popcorn for the initial
Sizing the design
Once the fonts have been selected its now time to check that the letter and name are the right size to fit on the keychain. Move the letter onto the circle template you have and alter the size of the letter accordingly by using the arrow handle in the bottom right of the letter. This will allow you to resize the letter to fit.
I then like to change the colour of my letter to match the colour of the vinyl I am using. You don't need to do this if you don't want to. Changing the colour of the letter will also mean when it's sent to cut they will be placed on separate mats.
Once you are happy with the size repeat the same process with the name.
Before we send the design to cut delete the circle as we don't need to cut that out. Finally select the name you have typed and click 'attach' in the bottom right corner. This will attach all the name together rather than sending it be cut as separate letters.
Prepare the vinyl
Now we are ready to cut the vinyl. I chose 2 different colours for my Keychain. Orange for my initial and white for my name. Whilst in design space I changed the colour of the text. When I sent it to my maker to cut it Cricut automatically pops them on separate cutting mats.
Once you are happy with your designs and fonts click on make it at the top right corner of the screen and this will take you to the mat screen.
As you will be able to see, the screen will show you your mat and it will also show you either the name or initial you have chosen. This is the one that is going to cut first so you will now need to prepare your mat with the right coloured vinyl.
Cutting the vinyl
As we are using permanent vinyl you wouldn’t normally mirror this as permanent vinyl normally sticks to the top of a product. So, in the case of the name, I stuck this to the top of my keychain so I cut that as it was on the mat. With the initial I stuck this to the bottom of the keychain so I had to mirror this so when I flipped it over it was the correct way round. If you are sticking part of your design to the underside of your keychain you will also have to mirror that particular part.
Click on the mirror button at the left side of the screen and this will mirror the design.
Once your mat is prepared and ready to go click on continue and this will take you to the next screen. At this point you will need to choose the vinyl that you are using. I use the premium vinyl setting as I find this works well for me.
For the pressure I select more as I always want to get the best cut possible.
Head over to your cricut machine and press the flashing arrow button. This will load your mat into the cricut. Once it is the loaded the cricut button will start to flash. Press this button and the design will start to cut. Once it is all cut press the flashing arrow button again to eject the mat. You will need to follow these steps for all different coloured pieces of vinyl you need to cut.
Adding the vinyl
Flip over the mat to remove the vinyl as this will stop the vinyl from curling up. Now you are ready to start weeding.
Once all your design is weeded apply some transfer tape to the top of the vinyl, burnish it and then you are ready to apply it to the acrylic circle.
Remember the acrylic circles have a protective film on both sides that you will need to remove before applying the vinyl. Just use your weeding tool to pull the protective film off.
Apply the vinyl one side at a time. I started with the underside first and then I applied the vinyl to the top after.
Attaching the keychain
Now you need to take your pilers and use them to hold the split ring.
Thread the split ring through the hole in the acrylic circle and also through the chain. Using the pliers close up the split ring so there is no gap.
If you are adding a tassel now is the time to add this. The one I used just attached to the ring part of the keychain.
Your key chain is now all complete. These are fab little keyrings and make perfect gifts.
These personalised acrylic keychains are lovely and really quite easy to make.
If you enjoyed my blog How To Make Personalised Acrylic KeyChains please take a look at the YouTube below where you can watch me making the keychains.
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