Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Using Personal Keys To Make Shadowbox Art

Last week during the blogiversary madness, there were requests for more fast & *almost* free projects – especially the ones that renters and homeowners alike can whip out in under an hour. So here’s an under $10 project that I took ten minutes, tops.

Key Family Reveal

Do you get the hidden meaning behind the keys? Look a little closer. See how there’s one tall key, one medium key, and two small keys (one of which is horizontal while one’s vertical)? Well, that’s our little key family. Haha. Burger’s the horizontal guy.

When I saw a bowl of keys for $2 at an antique store on the way home from Granny’s, I stared at them for a while, literally thinking “what can I do with these?” When I saw some big ones and some small ones, it came to me. Why not get a daddy key, a momma key, a Clara key, and a Burger key? So eight bucks later I had my little key “muses” at home on my desk in a pile. It took me a few weeks to get to the craft store to grab some nice thick wood-grain-ish paper (I ended up finding it Michaels for 60 cents), which I decided would make a fun natural background for my rustic little old keys. So I got it home and cut it down to fit into the Ikea frame that I already had on hand.

Keys1

Then I just taped the paper in place behind the mat (which came with the frame).

Keys2

Next I laid out the keys in height order, and tipped the Burger key over since that’s more like his shape. After snickering for a minute at my little key family (yeah, I’m that ridiculous) I grabbed some Gorilla Glue and put a few dollops on the back of each key and pressed them down into the paper so they’d dry in that layout. You might want to do this on top of cardboard or a dropcloth, just in case the glue bleeds through the paper (ya don’t want to glue everything to the table/counter).

Keys3

Oh and to anyone at home trying to glue something slightly heavy like a metal key to something, the key is to get thick enough paper – or if you have thin paper, try backing it with something thicker (like gluing it to cardboard or card stock) to stabilize it so it’ll hold those metal keys without buckling or sagging. Thankfully our paper was nice and thick- sort of like card stock.

Ta-daaa. The fun part about this was that it was so quick and easy that if we should ever add another little one (pooch or human) to the pack, I can always pop these off of the paper, choose a new background in any print or pattern, and grab a few more old keys at a thrift or antique store to glue on.

Key Detail2

Oh and you can kind of tell from the picture, but there’s still glass in the frame. I wondered if the keys would be too thick for the glass to work (in which case I just would have used the frame without the glass, so they would be 3-D/exposed in the front) but I just tried securing the back of the frame with the glass in there and it latched, so it’s nice to know that I won’t have dust collecting on the keys. But if you have a more shallow frame that doesn’t allow the glass to remain once you add the thickness of the keys, getting a shadow box or just removing the glass is always an option.

As for where we hung it, the wall in the laundry room right next to the door that we go in and out of everyday seemed like a nice spot since that’s where we have a few favorite personal/family pics along with other randomly meaningful items…

Key Art Grouping

… like an iron bee hook that reminds us of the bees on our wedding invites and a metal 7, which is a nod to our wedding date (we actually picked that up at a local outlet, The Decorating Outlet, this weekend and I hung it when I hammered in my key art).

  Key Art Wide After

What are you guys popping into frames lately? Don’t you love that you can grab cool textured paper like the wood grain stuff that we used? I’m a happy camper in that paper aisle, I’m telling ya. Do any of you have old skeleton keys that actually work in a door or two in your home? That has always been a dream of mine. Well, that and living in the paper aisle…

Comments

  3. Karen F says

    Such a cute and creative project! I have a skeleton key that I used to wear on a chain as a necklace. I have no idea where I got the key or what it’s for. Also, our house was built in the 1920’s, and all the upstairs doors (which are original to the house) use skeleton keys and have those beautiful crystal doorknobs. Unfortunately, the previous owner didn’t leave us any keys, but since they doors neither close properly, let alone lock, that isn’t really a problem. (still wish I had the key, though, just because!)

    On the topic of framing things, I have 3 pics of my girls that I’ve always loved, from when my youngest was a newborn, so I got a 3-picture frame from ikea and got the pics printed to the right size – just need to hang it! I’m going to hang it near my desk, so I can look at it every day!

    Reply

  6. Megan says

    I am so jealous… I have been on the hunt for old keys like that. My plan was to paint them a bright color, but now seeing yours like they are I love them. Although – if I was to do that, would my 7 month old twins have to be also horizontal? :)

    Reply

  8. Maryanne says

    Hi! love ur project! love ur blog! my husbandd says i shouldn’t read any it any more becuase i have too many ideas and projects i want to do now!!! :) anyway i am repainting some old bar stools and wondering how to prep them. i’ve already washed them and took a mr clean magic eraser to them. should i sand them lightly or use a liquid sander/deglosser? and if i use the deglosser do i need to wash it off before painting?

    Reply

  9. Amanda says

    I’m so impressed by your ability to go to Michael’s and not spend $50.

    I always go in for 1-2 things and come out with at least $50 worth of stuff that I was meaning to get for other projects.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, oh yes I have that yearning too! It’s usually John acting like the angel on my shoulder saying things like “resist the force!” and “keep it movin!”

      xo
      s

  12. Val says

    So cute! I love when you guys post art projects — so nice for those of us who suck at taking pictures, but still want to have gallery walls. :)

    The background paper reminds me of Regretsy. They used to have this premise that you could sell just about anything on Etsy, as long as you took a picure of it on top of some old barn wood. So people would send in pictures of all kinds of random junk on top of “barn wood,” like a chicken McNugget box or some broken crayons.

    Reply

  15. Erica Martens says

    This project is so clever, I love it! I have Alice in Wonderland knobs with keyholes in almost all of the interior doors in my house – it was one of the reasons I fell in love with my 30s fixer-upper. We (the hubs and I) picked up some old skeleton keys from the hardware store when we moved in to test them and they work! I’ve been meaning to create some art similiar to your idea, thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  16. threadbndr says

    Some of the doors in my old (c1930) house DO use the old school keys.

    Funny story. I tried using one to lock the master bedroom door so that my son wouldn’t get into things when he was about Clara’s age. Worked great, except that it wouldn’t UN-lock. My dad and husband had to pry off the door stop and take a hacksaw and saw though the bolt. Now my bedroom door doesn’t lock at all LOL.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh gosh! That’s dramatic! Someone else mentioned she locked her hubby in the room for 30 minutes when playing with the key! Those old keys seem a little finicky! Haha.

      xo
      s

  17. Alison says

    My house came with a skeleton lock for the bathroom door plus a blank key. I took the lock apart and filed down the key to make it work (feeling just like burglar!). I rarely use it, but love that it is possible to lock the door.

    Reply

  20. Keelan says

    This post just motivated me to do my own “Dude get on it already!” project! I got married in May and have the forks from our cake cutting. The forks have the date and Bride and Groom on them. I have been thinking about some how framing them and putting it up in the kitchen. Reading this post and seeing how to go about it has given me the motivation to finally do it. Thanks! Love the blog!

    Reply

  21. Sarah@SBrandesDesigns says

    This is super cute and yet soooo simple!

    I’m not popping much into frames lately because our living arrangement is so temporary (only a year total, & halfway through that) so I worked with what we had right away in the beginning to make a frame wall above our bed that I love love love but not planning on adding to it until the next time we move (don’t need to accumulate anymore stuff for the movers to pack up). One frame did get a little updating though a couple weeks back. We started an anniversary picture tradition where we hold the framed picture from the year before, and since our yearly picture was a few weeks ago that is now hanging up in place of the previous one.

    Reply

  23. Barbara says

    Sherry – while I love this and think it looks great, I do have to tell you that my mother did this in 1967 with keys she found at our local dump. Then, as now, it was a cool and cheap way to decorate!!

    Reply

  24. eileen marie says

    All of the doors in our 1920s/30s (not sure which) era condo are original, so all of the keys to the various doors (bedrooms, bathroom, closet) look like the “John” key. I think once we sell (hopefully soon!), I’ll snag one of those -there’s usually 2/ring- to frame or hang on the wall at our new house (a 1940s ranch!).

    Reply

  25. Leah says

    I framed the key to the first apartment my boyfriend and I rented together. we had matching robot head key covers, so I stuck the key into the only one left (I lost the other) and glued that rubber cover to the glass of a small, deep-set frame with a blue paint swatch I liked as mounted inside background. I even wrote “our first place” with the address on the inside of the glass with a dry erase marker (so if I decided it was cheesy I could just wipe it off!)

    Reply

  26. Anika says

    I love that textured paper you used! I never seem to find any paper that special at michaels (even though I’ve seen some amazing bloggers create great art with them before), so I’ll have to give it another shot. BTW I am one of your readers who is still renting so I really appreciate these quick/simple/cheap projects.

    Thanks for sharing your ideas with us!

    Reply

  27. Jennifer Harrup says

    question! I really thought someone else would have asked this by now…but I noticed that the pictures in this post don’t look quite as amazing as the pictures you guys normally take. Different camera? different technique? or am I the crazy one?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ugh, it’s because the reflection in the glass was hard to deal with, so we just couldn’t get great shots (if we got too close we got reflections/glare).

      xo
      s

  28. Paige @ Little Nostalgia says

    I’m so jealous of everybody who has skeleton keys for their house! Ours was built in 1970, well after those were in style. Womp, womp.

    I did find a bunch of old keys at an antique mall once and turned them into necklaces for my holiday craft show last year. They sold like hot potatoes!

    Reply

  29. Susan S. says

    You definitely need to pop out the glass so that you can stick a little tiny bow on the tiny Clara key and a scrap of fabric on the Burger key for a collar!

    Reply

  30. Chrissy Henry says

    Yes please!! I love these little easy projects; I love your big projects too. But as one of the above mentioned renters, I truly appreciate the little arts/crafts ideas and inspirations more then you know!

    Reply

  32. Jessica says

    Very cute! I knew it was Burger right away! I wish I saved my keys from previous apartments…I love your other key project!

    Reply

  33. Leah says

    I make pictures out of old pages from books. I’ve done quite a number. Here’s the only one I have posted online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lapenn/3977639936/

    I take a page out of a book (either an old one from a thrift store, or if I find an antique store that sells pages out of old books), mount it on acid-free paper, and frame it up. I love using kid’s books for neat art in their rooms. This particular piece was a gift for a doctor friend upon his graduation (he wants to be a cardiologist). It is fairly simple yet high impact.

    Reply

  34. Andrea J says

    My hubby and I live in an updated 90-year-old house that still uses skeleton keys on the interior doors! It is the coolest thing ever, even though some of the locks don’t really function anymore. I absolutely love the character that these old doors/locks add to the house. I even like that the metal isn’t perfect-looking, but well worn with a few superficial flaws. :)

    Reply

  35. Kim P. says

    What a cute idea! I am so amazed how you two can look at ordinary items and come up with such adorable and personal uses. I can’t wait to copy it ;)

    Reply

  37. mp says

    I have four embroidered cards from Haiti — given to me by a friend a couple of years ago — and a small poster from the last presidential campaign — the famous Shepard Fairey image — that I need to pop into frames. I used to spend a fortune on getting art prints framed, but have backed off from that (ran out of wall space) and am going casual with small stuff from now on.

    Reply

  39. Hayley says

    Totally inspired me to do my own little 10 min free update! Seriously, i read the post and then did the project and now im commenting.
    Had a large frame with a 3 photo framing mat in it, that i was given, not into the 3 pictures in one frame thing, but suddenly i realised i could just put one big piece of art in, and ignore that 3 photo framing mat.
    Put in a cute free map of my city (Melbourne) that i found ages ago and had wanted to hang, and now it is on the shelfs in my laundry. Putting art in laundry totally inspired by you too btw.
    Love it! – makes a utility space look pretty! and it was free, my favourite.
    Love you guys xo

    Reply

  41. Amy says

    All of you’re homemade art has helped inspire me as we try to fill the walls of our new house! And so funny you should ask what readers have been popping into frames lately- just last Sunday I cut up some paint swatches to serve as “matting” in some empty ikea frames so I could turn handmade, personalized gift cards- that came with a gift from a friend- into art for our home!
    You can see them by scrolling down at the link- they are so sweet and charming, i’m amazed with her skills: http://roboticdog.tumblr.com/

    The Burger key (and all of it) is really fantastic.

    Reply

  43. Sharon says

    I LOVE your clothes pin light fixture in the laundry room! Is that one of your own creations and, if so, will you share the secret to making it?

    Reply

  44. Amme J says

    I didn’t even see the “key family” coming. When I looked at it while reading the question “do you get the hidden meaning?” I totally thought it was a a play on your favorite number 7, just a mirror image and laying down. Wierd I know. The key family is a better way to go I think

    Reply

  47. Bonnie Grace says

    Oh my goodness! Our old house (1946 bungalow) came with a box full of old skeleton keys. There are probably 20 in all and some actually do work in some doors. I’ve been working on a way of displaying them. I love the idea of backing it with an interesting paper (I, too, am obsessed with all things paper). Great idea! You’ve renewed my passion for my old keys.

    Reply

  48. Brooke says

    Want to know something incredible? My front door key is a skeleton key. No joke! The house we live in was built in the late 1800’s and is my husband’s grandfather’s house and our front door is pretty original to the house. It cost me $8 when I moved in to get a copy maid.
    When we finally buy our own place, I’m framing it :)

    Reply

  50. Brandi says

    For our first anniversary I bought my husband a cool vintage map and framed it but took it a step further. Using black sticker/pushpins I marked all the places we’d like to go together; China, Alaska, NY, Russia, Egypt etc. And using silver star pins I marked all the places we’ve already been together; Australia, Fiji, South Africa etc. It’s cool to see our travel bug out on paper and it’s a great conversation starter at our house!

    Reply

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