Do A Key chain
In this ever-changing and complex world, what reassures your heart? Do you take someone or the love towards something as your power to overcome difficulties? Does family mean solace to you? I’m sure everyone has different answers. For someone bearing children, there is nothing sweeter than being able to see their little toddler’s face any time, which will warm their heart and relax them a little from the troubles of work. To realize this vision, adding photos of beloved ones to items that we could see or use anytime seems a great idea. But the remarkable thing is that this item should be easy to carry. We will take the key chain for example today and guide you to make things work.
-Go for a Sandwich
First, let’s go for the traditional and simplest way. What we will need is simple: Two acrylic boards, some printed photos, and a few sticks or a baseboard.
Before starting, decide the size of the key chain you are going to make, and the material you would like to apply for the outside frame or the baseboard (for single-side). Usually, wood is used to create a vintage feature while metal is often for an industrial style and plastic is for a modern feeling.
Steps:
1. You could purchase the baseboard, especially if you prefer colorful plastic boards or a board with cartoon patterns. You could also choose to make the outside frame by yourself, which only requires you to simply assemble one with four sticks and fix them with glue. If you choose to make it with a baseboard, then carve out a groove to put your photos.
2. Resize your photos down to the size to suit your key chain. Meanwhile, cut the two acrylic boards into the same sizes to suit the frame, a little bigger than the selected photos.
3. Attach the two photos back-to-back and then sandwich them with two acrylic boards.
4. Insert the photo board into the picture frame or the groove you made before and secure them with glue on the seams.
Want more?
If it’s too easy and simple for you, a useful trick might be helpful- go with some weaving. All you will need is to add an extra step, wrap the picture frame outside with wool, simple but can make you feel more involved in the process of DIY, and also endow the key chain with more love and meaning.
- Directly Print It
Have you ever wondered how people get images directly on a wooden board? Now, it’s time for the fun part! We will teach you how to print your photo directly on the key chain – don’t forget to flip it before printing.
Apply a thick coat of photo transfer medium to your image, and lay it face down on your piece of wood. Use a brayer to push out bubbles and flatten the image onto the wood. Once dry, wet the paper and carefully rub the paper until your image shows. Be careful with rubbing the paper too much unless you want a really aged look to your key chain. Once you are done removing the excess paper, let’s ‘antique’ it. Use antiquing wax and apply it on the edges of your key chain and make sure the faces don’t have any stray specks of wax or paper before it dries. Finally, attach your key chain ring, and you are all done!
Make It A Candle Holder
As a person who pursues romance, an unforgettable date night must be lightened with candles, and that never goes wrong with delicate candle holders. Even though the holders in the market are quite enough for most situations, however, for some special occasions like anniversaries and engagement parties, something more meaningful is required. And these kinds of occasions are often connected with old memories and memorable moments, in other words, lots of old photos. White candles, soft light, recorded old memories, and unique photo frames, that’s the point! The combination of these special elements will definitely level up the romantic vibe.
Prepare the base in advance:
Measure and cut the size you will need for the base. This will be a piece slightly larger than the width of the picture frame whether you need to make a square or a triangle. Next, use acrylic paint and a foam brush to paint the base to any color you like.
Now let’s get started:
1. Turn the picture frame over and remove the glass, backboard, and metal pieces that hold the glass.
2. Take your frames outdoors or in a well-ventilated area, and paint or spray the picture frame with the selected color. （Skip this step if you prefer the original color）
3. Select pictures that you would like to display in each frame and sandwich each with two pieces of glass. You can choose to leave a blank of course.
4. Use your glue gun to secure the glass back into the frame. Hold the glass in place for 10 seconds before moving on to the next. Be sure to use more glue in each corner.
5. Working quickly, use your glue gun to run a line of glue down the bottom of each frame to adhere them to the base. Then use some hot glue at the top corners to keep the frames together, holding them in place for 15-20 seconds until very secure. Rotate it so you can repeat this step for the next two frames until all frames are connected.
6. To make sure the frames were very steady, we also run a line of glue down the inside seam of where every two frames are connected.
7. Add some embellishments to improve the outlook optionally. But remember to add an extra glass shield if you want to place ornaments inside the holder, next to the candle, making safety first.
Now it’s done! Now you could add your candle inside the lantern and there you have it, a gorgeous and decorative item with ambient lighting that can be used at dinner parties on the patio or in any romantic atmosphere around the house. Don't forget to secure the candle upon the base and put it in a well-ventilated area if you plan to burn a real candle. Most importantly, never leave a burning candle unattended.