How to Turn a Cheap Souvenir Keychain From Your Travels Into a Cool Gift

Everyone likes sharing a little bit of their travels with friends and relatives, but there are several problems with buying souvenirs: They can be expensive, they take up needed space in your luggage and weigh it down, and they can be time-consuming to shop for. Here's a way to keep your costs and time spent shopping to a minimum, while still giving a unique gift that people will enjoy receiving -- and use year after year.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper and pen
• Nice-looking souvenir keychain
• Ribbon

1. Before you leave for your trip, write a list of the people to whom you'd like to give a little souvenir gift. Keep the list in your wallet, or at least keep a mental note of the number of people to buy for.

2. While on your trip, set aside some time to go shopping. Keychains are sold in a variety of locations in most developing/developed parts of the world, such as tourist souvenir shops, hotels, and airports. Some are sold by street vendors or people selling crafted goods on the beach. Keep your eyes peeled.

3. In some countries you may be able to haggle for a better price if you're buying multiple keychains from the same vendor. This may not be possible if you buy from tourist souvenir shops. Ideally you should only pay $2.00-$3.00 per keychain, less if possible.

4. Look for interesting but nice-looking keychains that reflect the place you are visiting. For example, in Hawaii, you might find a keychain that looks like a mini surfboard. If you're in South Africa, perhaps you come across a keychain of a carved wooden elephant or African mask.

5. Make sure that the keychains are in good condition. Remember, inexpensive doesn't necessarily mean shoddy craftsmanship -- but it happens.

6. Once you find a keychain style you like, make sure that the metal keychain ring can be removed from it. Remember, you want the end result to look like an ornament, not a keychain! Ideally the keychain should have an independent hole through which you could thread a ribbon.

7. After you get home, remove all the metal keychain rings from the keychains you've purchased.

8. Bring the keychains with you to a craft store and look for ribbon to use to create the ornament hangers. You want to look for two things: 1) That the ribbon can fit through the hole in the keychain; and 2) that the ribbon's color/style goes well with the keychain. Buy enough ribbon so that you have 8"-12" for each keychain you bought.

9. Thread the 8"-12" length of ribbon through the keychain hole, so that the the length on either side is equal when you match up the ends. Leave a 3" loop and tie the ends together into a knot. Then tie the ribbon ends into a bow. Trim the ends of the ribbon as needed if they are too long.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't forget -- you can make these ornaments for yourself, too! So be on the look-out for keychains that YOU like while you're shopping for everyone else.
• Although these ornaments could be used as Christmas ornaments, they don't necessarily have to be. People like trinkets like this for a variety of reasons, regardless of their religious beliefs and practices. However, as with any gift, you should consider the recipient's personality and interests before you decide to give this ornament to them.
• Sometimes local craftsmen may make their goods from endangered plants or animals. An example would be a keychain made out of a small turtle shell. Not only is this ethically wrong from an ecological standpoint, but you may actually have difficulty importing such goods when you return home, resulting in either removal of the keychains or even customs fines.
• This may sound contradictory to the tip immediately above, but try to buy your souvenirs from local craftsmen whenever possible. Not only will they give you the best price, but it will also help them to support their families and local communities.
• Giving this ornament to small children is not recommended. Instead, give the ornament to the child's parents for them all to enjoy as a family.

[nessalh19]

on 2/2/2009 What a great idea!

[healthymomof5]

on 2/1/2009 Awesome idea!5*

[goodselfme]

on 2/1/2009 Unique idea for a 5*.