Santa Pins Made From Keys

Recycle old keys into charming Santa pins for Christmas.

Eliminate the expense of holiday gifts for school friends, teachers and coworkers by recycling items you have in your junk drawer, along with a few ingredients from your craft supplies. Craft Santa pins made from old keys that no longer have a purpose. Several Santa key pins can be crafted in an afternoon. Give the pins as last-minute gifts all season long or have Santa stuff a few inside the mantle stockings on Christmas Eve.

Things You'll Need

• Old key
• Red acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Peach polymer clay
• Oven
• Cotton swab
• Pink acrylic paint
• Wood skewer
• Black acrylic paint
• White curly craft hair
• Hot glue gun
• Scrap of red felt
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Craft glue
• Hand-sewing needle and thread
• 1/2-inch white pompom
• Scrap of quilt batting
• 3/8-inch flat black button
• 1-inch pin back

Instructions

1. Paint all sides of a key using red acrylic paint. Allow the paint to dry.

2. Lay the key on your work surface. The side facing up will be the front of your Santa pin. Roll a pea-size ball of peach polymer clay. Place the ball over the top end of the key. This is the end that is held between your fingers while using the key. Flatten the clay ball on the key. This is Santa's face. Place the key in your oven and bake according to the manufacturer's instructions on your polymer clay package.

3. Dip one end of a cotton swab into pink acrylic paint. Dab two pink cheeks on the face. Dip the blunt end of a wood skewer into red acrylic paint. Dot a red nose in the center of the face. Dip the pointed end of the wood skewer into black acrylic paint and dot two black eyes above the nose. Allow the paint to dry.

4. Rub a 1-inch fluffy ball of white curly craft hair between the palms of your hands. Flatten the hair ball and work a hole through the center with your finger to create a donut-shaped ring of hair. Apply hot glue around the edges of Santa's face. Place the ring of hair over the glue, allowing the peach face to show through the center.

5. Cut a 2-inch wide by 3-inch long rectangle of red felt. Wrap the length of the rectangle around Santa's head, overlapping the hair at the top of the face. Overlap the two short ends of the rectangle on the back of the head and hot glue to secure. Insert the nozzle of your craft glue bottle under the edge of the hat and apply glue between the hat and Santa's head.

6. Hand-sew a running stitch around the top of the hat. Pull the thread to gather the hat closed. Knot and cut the thread. Apply hot glue to the gathered top of the hat. Place a 1/2-inch white pompom over the glue.

7. Cut a 1/2-inch wide by 3-inch long strip of quilt batting. Apply craft glue around the bottom edge of the hat. Wrap the strip around the hat and overlap the ends in the back. Hot glue the ends to secure. This is the hat's cuff.

8. Apply a dot of hot glue halfway down the length of the key's teeth on the front of the Santa. Place a 3/8-inch flat black button over the glue. This is Santa's belt buckle.

9. Lay the Santa key pin with the front facing down. Apply craft glue to the back of a 1-inch pin back. Center the pin back on the back of Santa's head, with the pin back laying horizontally. Allow the glue to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Craft glue can be substituted for the steps that use hot glue, but drying time would have to be increased before moving on to the next step.

• Blank keys can be purchased at your local automotive store.