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DIY Presidential Keychains for All Your Historical Fandom Needs

Is your keyring devoid of historical figures? 99% of responders will say yes. And we cannot have that. So, since 1. we’re OBSESSED with Hamilton, and 2. the historical fandom community continues to grow at an exponential rate, we thought we’d take it upon ourselves to make some presidential keychains. After all, it increases the chances of Lin-Manuel Miranda identifying us as his biggest fans/falling deeply and irrevocably in love with us.

One trip to the craft store, and you’ll be ready to go! You’ll need:

  • Spray paints (make sure they’ll stick to plastics)
  • Mini president figurines (sample online here), or any small figures made from a soft plastic (I found these mini-busts in the models and projects section of the store)
  • Pliers
  • Key rings
  • Eyelet screws (tiny circles with screw-looking bits on the end)
  • Jump rings* (just tiny circles)
  • Chain* (I’m using a long necklace chain)

*If you want to save a few bucks for an ice cream, you can totally make your key chains without the jump rings and chain. They’ll be a little less dangly, but just as adorable!

First, you’ll want to take your tiny presidents outside to spray paint them. Spread them out on a piece of newspaper to protect the surface you’re spraying on. This will also prevent grass and those jumpy outdoor bugs from sticking to them. Once you start spraying, it’s pretty tempting to completely cover them with loads of pretty paint. But unless you want a sticky Abe Lincoln on your key chain, it’s best to spray thin coats for better drying and less goopy paint pileup that blurs out the details.

While your presidents are drying, start putting together the top of the key chains. All these little metal bits may look scary at first, but they’re easy-peasy to assemble. Just use your pliers to help you open the jump rings and shorten the chain, then attach all the pieces in the order shown above. Not too bad, right?

After you’ve covered George and the Gang with a couple coats of paint, the last step is to attach these guys to their chains. Like with Andy Jackson here, you’ll do this by screwing the eyelet into the top of the plastic president. Just guesstimate the center of his head, apply a little pressure on the eyelet screw to get a hole started, and then keep twisting the screw into the plastic until it’s sunken in completely. You might wanna grab your pliers again here to help hold on to the tiny screw and apply enough pressure.

And that’s it! You can totally make this DIY your own with different figurines, like wild animals or army men or tiny national monuments… SO MANY KEY CHAINS TO MAKE, SO MUCH TIME.

Are you putting this on your to-do list so you can tweet pics of them at Lin-Manuel?