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 What can I do with LOTS of old keys??

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Luzy Posted - May 05 2007 : 11:22:50 AM
I went to a great estate sale yesterday and got lots of goodies from a
sale of a 90 year old gentleman. One of the things I couldn't leave behind was a wooden box full of old keys. Most of them look like old house keys and old car keys. Now what can I make with them. Any ideas??? Thanks, Lu

--
May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.
22   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
suzyhomemaker Posted - May 08 2007 : 05:04:08 AM
Luzy, how wonderful that you got suc ha great find at the estate sale. I can't wait to see pictures of your art from the keys and kitchen items.

Ladies, I am enjoying reading all the ideas for keys. I love the large one hanging in the entrance to the "Secret Garden". What a great idea!! I don't have many, but I ahve saved keys from old cars and the old front door. This gives me great ways to use them. Once I made atamborine with my daughter from an old pie plate and keys and "stuff" from the junk drawer. that was a fun project.

Eren, thanks for the link to the Farm Chicks. I have read some of their party ideas in the COuntry Living. They ahd a great one recently wearing aprons and sitting on hay bales.I like the necklace and checked out some of their other ideas like pantry labels.

Country girl in NE PA
willowtreecreek Posted - May 07 2007 : 12:08:47 PM
I am an art teacher and we use keys all the time for different projects! You could send them to me! Just kidding (sortof!)

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KYgurlsrbest Posted - May 07 2007 : 11:58:15 AM
I also saw in Cottage Living a few months back garland made with the keys...tied about every two, maybe three inches or so on a long natural string. They draped them around a doorway. I've also seen them tied to ends of dresser scarves and lace table cloths. Kindof a neat little "weight".



"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood

Buttercup Posted - May 06 2007 : 11:24:18 PM
You can make a picture frame or decorate a picture fram by glueing them all around and then glueing more on top of the first layer to create depth and texture. It would work really well for a mans picture or a picture of a home, car, tractor, 4 wheeler, etc.. with people you love in it or of a boy playing with toy cars/trucks etc. To make the keys pop a bit you could do metal leafing on them to bring out their design a little more with gold, silver, or copper or a mixture or for a rustic look blacken the groves and edges. Just an idea, hope it helps!
Hugz!
Talitha


"If we could maintain the wonder of childhood and at the same time grasp the wisdom of age, what wonder,what wisdom,what life would be ours"
brightmeadow Posted - May 06 2007 : 6:51:33 PM
I would love any keys you have that don't work for any of the projects. I will be happy to pay the shipping costs.

My husband collects keys, he has thousands of them but still is thrilled every time he gets a new one. You've seen "The Matrix" movies? The last one that has the "Keymaster"? That guy is just like my husband - one time my nephew took off back to Tennessee with our truck keys in his pocket and we didn't realize it till they were halfway home - we took the antique car out to Menards, he bought a couple of key blanks and a file, and set to work filing the key from memory. The door key worked on the first try, it took two attempts for him to make the ignition key.

At any rate, I've already given him all the spare keys I have, and his friends are always sending him a key or two when they get them. His eyes just light up every time he gets a new one. He especially likes car keys from the 60's or before, he's not so keen on the old skeleton keys like in the picture above.

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
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smoothiejuice Posted - May 06 2007 : 12:48:41 PM
Once I made a lampshade out of old keys. I found a lampshade frame and soldered and soldered and soldered away until it was covered in keys connected at the edges. It had really cool negative space for the light to shine through. I mounted it on an all metal lamp base from Salvation Army and soldered some keys to the base as well. In the end, it was on display for an art class I was taking, and someone else must have really liked it...it was stolen and I never even got to take 1 picture. Maybe I will start collecting keys again and make another. I had all but forgotten that one and it was so much fun. Thanks for reminding me...jess
GaiasRose Posted - May 06 2007 : 12:28:13 PM
I will take a picture of a few of my outdoor things I did with keys....they have Witchy meaning to them for me, but are certainly adaptable just for the fun of them.


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frannie Posted - May 06 2007 : 12:26:13 PM
when my parents passed away and we were closing up their house i ended up with all the keys that they had over the years, which was quite a few, i put them intermittently on a beautiful ribbon and used it as a curtain pull back, cause it was the "keys to my childhood"/
i love some of the other ideas on this post, so original and clever.
i also thought of putting my keys together like a fringe and attaching them on the bottom of a lamp shade.
those are my ideas, but i really love the one about a windchime.

love
fran

(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/)
Luzy Posted - May 06 2007 : 10:30:16 AM
Thanks everyone, great ideas! I wish there were some keys in the box that look like the one in the photo with the wallpaper necklace, there aren't any...at least that I've seen yet. I went back to the sale yesterday and got an old flour sifter with the red handle (doesn't work) and a old box type grater and I'm gonna use those for the tops of the wind chimes. Oh and I got a bag of old silver plated silverware to include also. I'll let you know how they turn out. ALSO, I'm so excited about this too....the nephew of the old man that had the estate sale is selling me a little wood cook stove for $50.00! I'll see it today at 2:00pm and pick it up if it's in as good of condition as described. The little old man had bricked in a huge beautiful old stove in his patio years ago. I asked if it was for sale, and the nephew said he had a small one at his place if I was interested!! I thought my heart was gonna leap out of my chest! I'll report back on how this all turns out. It's so cool to have you all to share this stuff with, cause I know we are all kindred spirits when it comes to this type of thing! I'll catch up with you later...come on two o'clock!!! Lu

--
May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.
CabinCreek-Kentucky Posted - May 05 2007 : 10:58:06 PM
oh .. i just thought of something i once saw in an antiques shoppe and will forever wish i had gotten. it was a darling child's halloween costume dress (i think it was a witch costume cuz' it was all black .. and ADORABLE! they had hanging around the hem .. a lot of those tiny little antique metal ice cream spoons .. they 'jangled' when you walked (i suppose) ... it would be cute to do that with olde keys too!

i think olde keys would make a neat necklace or bracelet too!

or make up 'friendship' cards ... attach one and say .. 'you have the key to my heart'.



True Friends, Frannie

CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY

CabinCreek-Kentucky Posted - May 05 2007 : 10:55:50 PM
ha! my favorite idea was sharon's ... sneak one on friend's key chains!

luzy darlin' .. that is sweet of you .. but i wuz jus' joshin' you .. i do have quite a few olde keys already. i have one really big olde key that i put on a ribbon and hung it from a tree branch .. with a sign that says: SECRET GARDEN.

love the little rose picture and key! now gurlfren if THOSE are the kinds of keys you got .. i'd sure do some trading for those! i do have a buncha' 'house/car' lookin' keys .. but it's those funky shaped olde ones that i love. xoxo

True Friends, Frannie

CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY

Bluewrenn Posted - May 05 2007 : 9:34:17 PM
tie them with ribbons and hang as christmas ornaments?

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sunshine Posted - May 05 2007 : 6:35:43 PM
make cement stepping stones with the keys embedded as decoration

have a lovely day and may God bless you and keep you safe
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Naomi Michelle Posted - May 05 2007 : 6:22:37 PM
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be-Abraham Lincoln
vintagechica Posted - May 05 2007 : 6:10:46 PM
I would swap you for some of them...also a link to share:



I have been wanting to do something similar to this photo with keys. This photo is from the farm chicks and here is a link for more info:


http://www.thefarmchicks.com/fashion_feb06.html

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A sure way to avoid housework...live outdoors.



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shmeg Posted - May 05 2007 : 4:28:21 PM
Instead of framing, you could mosaic them onto an old frame for a mirror or something.
sleepless reader Posted - May 05 2007 : 1:19:55 PM
You could sneak one on to somebody's keyring and drive them crazy trying to figure out what that key goes to! ;)
Sharon

Life is messy. Wear your apron!
kitchensqueen Posted - May 05 2007 : 1:12:15 PM
The windchime and framing are both good ideas. You could also do a garland to hang on a feather tree, or make necklaces, or turn them into keychains, fashion them into drawer pulls, hang them from lightswitch cords... that's all I can think of right now. :-)

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junebug Posted - May 05 2007 : 12:33:48 PM
My two ideas are taken, I"d make a windchime out of them and frame some too! Let us know what you do with them!

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BackyardTreasures Posted - May 05 2007 : 12:29:10 PM

How about framing some of them? Take a look at this: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_furnishings_accessories/article/0,1793,HGTV_3436_4116023_08,00.html

~~Anne

www.homesteadblogger.com/BackyardTreasures
Luzy Posted - May 05 2007 : 12:09:47 PM
That's funny, cause I was just gonna originally buy about 5-10 or so, to put them on my dolls too! Then, the guy said you can have the box for 5 bucks, so now I have them. I was thinking about making a wind chime and have them hang from an old flour sifter. I'll send you some Frannie if you'd like some. Just shoot me an e mail. Hugs, Lu

--
May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.
CabinCreek-Kentucky Posted - May 05 2007 : 11:47:23 AM
wellll .. you could send 'em to ME!

i've seen dolls with keys for arms and legs .. sometimes i put olde keys on a string or ribbon on a dolly and a little sign that says ... 'you have the key to my heart'.

xo

True Friends, Frannie

CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY


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