When we cleaned out my mother in law’s house I found a darling black handbag in one of the closets. I thought the bag was cute but when I picked it up it weighed a TON. Turns out the thing was CRAMMED full of old keys. Some old, some new and even a skeleton key or two. (See what I did there?)

This key got a little twisted at some point in its’ life and I decided to see if I could make a piece of jewelry out of it.

I didn’t want to just dangle it from a jump ring, that would be too easy.But how does one go about using a skeleton key for jewelry without just hanging it from the top?

I drew out a little plan (I RARELY sketch out designs but when I’ve only got one of something I want to have a good idea of what I’m going to do before I start working) and took my key to the drill press.

I drilled holes near each end and then attached it to the chain.

The tricky part was to find the balance point in the center because the key is heavier on one end than it is on the other. I put a bead on a large jump ring with a simple wire wrapped loop and then put the jump ring over the key. Then I slid the jump ring back and forth until I found the balance point.

I made a dot with a Sharpie and then drilled the center hole.

The rest of the piece is made from a metal blank from my local bead shop and a whole lotta Swarovski crystals from my hoard. Of course, I had to add a pair of earrings. Right?

I really NEED to find more of those brass pieces. I really like them and have some other ideas for them but I’m out. Darn!

I like the over all look but I’m thinking it needs a lighter chain. What do you think?