How to Make Acrylic keychains with Cricut
Learn how to make keychains with Cricut machines. These make fantastic DIY gifts and things to make and sell at home! This post contains affiliate links.
There’s no better time than now to learn how to make keychains with Cricut – a super easy Cricut craft for beginners! This is such a hit craft that there are even specialized kits for making these in quantity.
Table of contents:
- What you need to make acrylic keychains with your Cricut
- Download your free keychain SVG
- How to make keychains with Cricut step-by-step tutorial
- Tips and Tricks before you start your acrylic keychains
- Preparing Your Designs In Design Space
- How to make keychains with Cricut – assembling them
- Finishing Steps
Acrylic keychains are an easy Cricut craft to make and sell because it checks off all the boxes:
Use up scraps when you learn how to make keychains with Cricut! I just love scraps projects! While making these as a custom project for a client gives you less flexibility, making these as gifts for your friends and families means that you can use up those edges of Smart Vinyl (just put them on a mat) or even regular vinyl.
There’s nothing like a personalized gift – it’s one of the best perks of making your own. These can so easily be personalized – whether with a name, an initial or monogram, or even a company logo!
And since it’s a small craft, you can make it on any Cricut smart cutting machine – even the Joy!
So what are we waiting for? Let’s get crafting and learning how to make keychains with Cricut cutting machines!
What you need to make acrylic keychains with your Cricut
- Permanent vinyl in a top color and a background color
- Optional: clear vinyl to protect it
- Keychain blanks and hardware – or get a complete set with tassels
- Awl
- Pliers
- Cricut cutting machine
- Standard Grip mat
- Transfer tape
- Basic tool set
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Download your free keychain SVG
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How to make keychains with Cricut step-by-step tutorial
Tips and Tricks before you start your acrylic keychains
- Always wipe down your acrylic round with alcohol so the vinyl will adhere better.
- If you are worried about the vinyl lifting or scratching you can cut out a circle of clear vinyl and place it on top of the design.
- Always be very gentle when removing the film from your acrylic piece so you don’t scratch the surface.
- The surface does pick up fingerprints, so try to touch it as little as possible. If you do get fingerprints, just wipe the keychain down with alcohol when finished.
Preparing Your Designs In Design Space
1. In design space open a new project. On the new project screen click upload.
2. Upload your SVG file and follow the prompts to add it to your projects. You’ll see that each designs is a separate layer (note: this was made with a different SVG – I’ve added to it since this tutorial was created.)
3. Disable the layers you don’t plan to make. Adjust your color settings to suit you. Resize your layers to fit your blanks. When you’re done, save (always save!!) and hit “make it”. In the settings section you will choose premium vinyl, default pressure, fine point blade. Follow the prompts to cut your keychains.
How to make keychains with Cricut – assembling them
Step 1: Remove the film from both sides of your acrylic blank.
Step 2: Cut out your design and backing piece on your Cricut and weed. Apply your transfer tape and cut it as close to the design as you can.
Step 3: Being as accurate as you can, line it up to your acrylic piece and apply. If needed, use a piece of removable tape on the back of your blank so you can tape it to your surface while applying the vinyl.
Use a scraper/squeegee to adhere it well to your blank and then carefully peel back the transfer tape.
Step 4: Apply the backing piece (the white circle) It should now look like this:
Step 5: Using your awl push the vinyl through the hole at the top. Twist it a little so the vinyl will be flush and you have a perfect hole for your keychain component.
Step 6: Using your pliers, attach your jump ring through the hole you just made. Hang the tassel on the front side like this:
And then attach the keychain component to the back like this:
Close the jump ring and your keychain should like like this:
Finishing Steps
- Wipe down the keychain with alcohol to get rid of any dust and fingerprints.
- Apply your clear vinyl if you are using it.
- Attach your keychain to a keychain display card for a great gift presentation or sellable end product.
You’ve successfully learned how to make keychains with Cricut! What’s your favorite Cricut craft to make? Comment below!
Thanks for the awl tip. I am wondering do you know how to get the 2 inch key chain template that I see people using. I am brand new to cricut and just starting to do projects and extremely overwhelmed. Any help would be appreciated.
Julie
Hi Julie, Are you trying to download the SVG in this post? YOu can skip here: https://www.momsandcrafters.com/how-to-make-acrylic-keychains-with-cricut/#download-your-free-keychain-svg-78b35a98-97df-4100-8ccc-e2c7233ca707 directly to the download. If you’re having trouble with it, feel free to email me [email protected]. Any SVG can be resized to the size you need in Design Space.