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Stitching & Crafting Room:  What can I do with LOTS of old keys??  |
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Luzy
True Blue Farmgirl
922 Posts
Luanne
Pueblo
Colorado
USA
922 Posts |
 Posted - May 05 2007 : 11:22:50 AM
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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
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May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 11:47:23 AM
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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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Luzy
True Blue Farmgirl
922 Posts
Luanne
Pueblo
Colorado
USA
922 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 12:09:47 PM
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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
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May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. |
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BackyardTreasures
True Blue Farmgirl
189 Posts
Anne
Connecticut
USA
189 Posts |
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
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kitchensqueen
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
521 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 1:12:15 PM
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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. :-)
http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
Now Open!: http://shadetreestudios.etsy.com |
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sleepless reader
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
CA
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 1:19:55 PM
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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! |
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shmeg
True Blue Farmgirl
222 Posts
Megan
Granville
Ohio
USA
222 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 4:28:21 PM
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| Instead of framing, you could mosaic them onto an old frame for a mirror or something. |
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vintagechica
True Blue Farmgirl
438 Posts
Eren
Poolville
TX
USA
438 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 6:10:46 PM
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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.
Visit me anytime at my blog:
www.vintagechica.typepad.com |
Edited by - vintagechica on May 05 2007 6:12:21 PM |
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Naomi Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
1563 Posts
Naomi
Sunshine State
USA
1563 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 6:22:37 PM
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| Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be-Abraham Lincoln |
Edited by - Naomi Michelle on May 29 2009 8:43:50 PM |
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sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 10:55:50 PM
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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
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 10:58:06 PM
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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
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Luzy
True Blue Farmgirl
922 Posts
Luanne
Pueblo
Colorado
USA
922 Posts |
Posted - May 06 2007 : 10:30:16 AM
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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
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May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - May 06 2007 : 12:26:13 PM
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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/) |
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GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
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smoothiejuice
True Blue Farmgirl
6309 Posts
Jessica
Bloomington
Indiana
USA
6309 Posts |
Posted - May 06 2007 : 12:48:41 PM
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| 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 |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - May 06 2007 : 6:51:33 PM
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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
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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Buttercup
True Blue Farmgirl
1433 Posts
Talitha
Vermont
USA
1433 Posts |
Posted - May 06 2007 : 11:24:18 PM
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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" |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2007 : 11:58:15 AM
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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
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
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suzyhomemaker
True Blue Farmgirl
806 Posts
Clare
Tyler Hill
PA
USA
806 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2007 : 05:04:08 AM
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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 |
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Stitching & Crafting Room: What can I do with LOTS of old keys?? |
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What can I do with LOTS of old keys??
