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Leather Keychain – Great DIY Christmas Gift Idea

If you know someone that loves leather, they will love an easy DIY Christmas gift...a leather keychain! This DIY leather keychain only takes a few minutes to throw together and the result is so cute! There's a tutorial for two different kinds: a leather tassel keychain and a braided leather keychain. Take your pick or make them both!

Making handmade gifts is probably one of my favorite things in the world (for real!). I absolutely LOVE making, giving, and receiving handmade gifts.

There’s something so special about watching someone unwrap a gift that you handmade with love for them!

For today’s DIY Christmas gift idea, I’m sticking with leather.

If you’re a regular Making Manzanita reader, you know that earlier this year I found a way to get FREE leather for my crafts….are you curious?? Hop on over to this post to see how I get free leather for crafting!

The moral of the story is that I’ve got oodles of leather sitting in my garage, so I wanted to come up with some fun ways to make DIY Christmas gifts using my leather stash… and the DIY leather keychain was born.

I also made some leather bookmarks and two leather Christmas ornaments here and here.

There are a few people on my holiday shopping list that I think would love these leather keychains and then, of course, I’ll be keeping some for myself too…

That is the best part about making cheap DIY Christmas gifts right?! Treating yourself to some extras!!

This leather keychain post contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my full disclosure here.

Let’s jump right into these DIY leather keychain tutorials!

DIY Leather Keychain #1: Leather Tassel Keychain

Leather scrap, scissors and chains - materials for diy leather keychains

Supplies for tassel leather keychain:

Cut a square from the leather scrap with scissors

Step 1. Cut a square of leather.

Using these awesome crafting scissors, cut a square piece of leather about 8 in x 8 in. You could go smaller if you wanted as well!

Step 2. Mark a line about 1 inch down from the top.

On the backside of the leather, use a pen to mark a line about 1 inch down from the top of the square. This will be your guideline for where your tassel pieces end.

Creating tassels by cutting strips in a square of leather to make a leather tassel keychain

Step 3. Cut 1/4” slits up the leather.

I used a rotary tool and clear acrylic ruler to cut 1/4-inch slits up the leather all the way to the guideline that we drew.

Continue all the way across the square of leather. (If you don’t have a rotary tool, scissors work too!)

Attach a hanger loop with glue to the leather keychain

Step 4. Attach hanger.

Using a small strip of leather about 1/4” x 3”, glue on the hanger onto the back side of the leather.

Roll up leather to make a leather tassel keychain

Step 5. Glue and roll up the leather tassel.

Add glue all along the top portion of the leather on the backside and start rolling. You’ll really start to see the tassel come together when you start rolling.

Attach a metal loop hanger to the tassel keychain

Step 6. Attach tassel leather keychain to hoop.

Loop the hanger of the tassel onto a lanyard hook and attach it to a split ring. Both the lanyard hook and split ring can be purchased in this little set of keychain accessories.

A completed DIY leather tassel keychain

Isn’t this leather tassel keychain adorable?! I love how it turned out!

A cute DIY leather tassel keychain attached to a set of car keys

Tassels are pretty trendy right now and so is leather, so this DIY leather keychain is a great idea for a lot of different people on your holiday list this year.

Are you ready to see leather keychain #2??


Leather Keychain #2: Braided Leather Keychain

Supplies for braided leather keychain:

Use a rotary tool to cut a strip of leather to make a leather keychain

Step 1. Cut a strip of leather.

I really had no idea how long the leather strip needed to be, so I cut it extra long…probably about 2 feet, you probably could get away with a strip only 1 foot long. I ended up cutting off a lot of excess at the end. The width of the strip was 3/4”.

Step 2. Cut slits 1/4 wide.

Leaving about 1 inch at the top (similar to the way we made the leather tassel keychain), cut 3 slits in the leather 1/4” wide.

Cut then braid the leather strips to make a braided leather keychain

Step 3. Braid leather.

Next, simply braid the leather down until you get a length you’re happy with. I did about 5-6 inches or so.

A braided leather keychain sealed with fabric glue

Step 4. Secure the end of the braid.

To secure the end of the leather braid, add a drop of glue on each strand of the braid on hold tight. After the braid was secured, I cut off the extra leather.

Secure the end of the braid with a small strip of leather

Step 5. Wrap the end of the braid.

To cover up the glue spots at the end of the braid. I glued another piece of leather around the end. This finished off the braided leather keychain nicely.

Add an 8-shaped keyring to the top of the braided leather strip

Step 6. Secure to a keychain.

Using the larger loop part of the 8-shaped keyring, feed the top of the leather keychain through the hoop and glue it to secure it.

Lastly, I added the 8-shaped keyring to the split ring. Both the 8-shaped keyring and the split ring can be found in this little set of keychain accessories.

A finished DIY braided leather keychain

This braided leather keychain can probably be whipped up in 5 minutes or so! Seriously, can you think of an easier DIY Christmas gift idea that will ACTUALLY get used?

A braided leather keychain is a great DIY gift you can make in minutes

I love how this braided leather keychain turned out too! I don’t really know which one I like more!

If you’re looking for a simple DIY Christmas gift that you can make in minutes, give these leather keychain tutorials a try. You’ll even have time to make yourself a couple.

How to make easy DIY leather keychains in two styles: a braided leather keychain and a leather tassel keychain

Which leather keychain is your favorite???

Let me know in the comments below.


DIY Leather Keychains: How to Make A Tassel & Braided Leather Keychain

DIY Leather Keychains: How to Make A Tassel & Braided Leather Keychain

Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $5

If you know someone that loves leather, they will love easy DIY Christmas gift…a leather keychain! This DIY leather keychain only takes a few minutes to throw together and the result is so cute!

Materials

Instructions

For Tassel Leather Keychain

  1. Cut square of leather about 8" x 8""
  2. Mark line about 1 inch down from the top on the backside of the leather.
  3. Cut 1/4'' slits up the leather all the way up to the line.
  4. Attach hanger (strip of leather about 1/4" x 3") with glue on the backside of the leather.
  5. Glue and roll up leather tassel.
  6. Attach tassel leather keychain to lanyard hook and attach to split ring.


For Braided Leather Keychain

  1. Cut strip of leather about 3/4 wide and as long as you want (1 - 2 feet).
  2. Cut slits 1/4" wide up the leather leaving about 1 in ch at the top uncut.
  3. Braid leather.
  4. Secure end of braid with drop of glue.
  5. Wrap end of braid with another small piece of leather to cover end.
  6. Secure to keychain.

30 thoughts on “Leather Keychain – Great DIY Christmas Gift Idea

  1. I’m sitting here kicking myself for giving away the old leather coat that was way out of style. These are so simple to make yet brilliant and beautiful. I need to head to the thrift store and buy supplies (aka old out of style leather jacket) to make a few for my family/friends.

  2. Hi Chelsea,

    This leather key chain idea is fabulous! I’m a big fan of natural elements and I think I have more than a few friends who would love a gift like this. Perfect!

  3. I’m a vegan, so I don’t see myself making this project, but I’m so glad that if you’re *set* on using leather, your site advocates using old, used leather that would otherwise go to the landfill. Skin couches, not animals! 😉

  4. You know, I’ve never actually crafted with leather before…I guess because I’m kind of intimidated by it…but this looks pretty easy! And my sister would love that tassel keychain. Maybe I’ll give it a try! Thanks for the inspiration!

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