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houseparent
March 6th, 2007, 05:08 PM
Here is my latest creation. I would love to be able to buy the dogtag keychains to give to each kid but my budget just won't allow it. Instead each day the children will make a fob to add to their keychains during craft time. It only takes about 5 minutes and the final cost for a finished keychain is under $1.50.

I purchased the letter beads and cord from:
http://www.craftkitsandsupplies.com (http://www.craftkitsandsupplies.com/alphabet-beads-letters-alphabet-beads-letter-c-7_13_112.html?osCsid=371d483d84ec4026b106b9769ca28 50b) (This is also where I got my 6x19mm spaghetti beads to use in my morse code necklaces 300 for $4.75)

The Mini D-rings from OT: MINI METALLIC CLIP KEY CHAINS (4DZ-UN) (http://www.orientaltrading.com/application?namespace=browse&origin=searchMain.jsp&event=link.itemDetails&demandPrefix=12&sku=39/1665&mode=Searching&erec=10&No=96&D=key%2Bchain&Ntt=key%2Bchain&Ntk=all&Dx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&Ntx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&y=14&N=0&x=19&sd=MINI+METALLIC+CLIP+KEY+CHAINS+%284DZ-UN%29)

And the Mini Glow-in-the-Dark pony beads at Walmart.

You Need the following letter beads to make a complete key chain: 2-A's, 1-D, 2-E's, 1-F, 2-I's, 3-L's, 2-N's, 2-O's, 2-R's, 1-S, 4-T's, 2-U's, 1-W. Multiply Each letter by the number of children you expect and divide by 100 and that is the number of packages you need to buy for each letter.

I am planning on 50 kids so I had to buy 2 bags each of L and T and one bag each of all the other letters. They come in packages of 100.

The nice thing about this is if I come up 15 kids short of whats expected, I can use the beads for some other craft in kids church or something. I am planning on having other crafts with the scripture verses on them so they will still have the verses and I am also going to reward those that memorize their scriptures with prizes.

Last year I bought the little wooden pieces for $5 a set from another publisher and ended up with about 18 sets we never used. That was almost a $100 I could have used for something else.

huffmanres
March 7th, 2007, 03:33 AM
Great idea! I agree, while I love the dog tags, for a small church with a tight budget they just aren't financially feasible. I saw the alternative someone else had posted about ordering blank dogtags and making custom stickers, but even the price of those was outside the reach of our church. This is a wonderful alternative!

iloveVBS
March 7th, 2007, 05:41 AM
houseparent-
Those are great!!! And what a $-saver!!! LOVE IT! - Thanks so much for sharing all of your wonderful ideas!
Do you happen to remember how much black cord (and what type) you need per child (not sure how much to purchase) - what size lengths did you use? Thanks!!!

TrinityJen
March 7th, 2007, 07:26 AM
Another great job Houseparent!

Thanks for the idea and for the new links!

NormaVK
March 7th, 2007, 08:04 AM
We also couldn't afford the metal tags, so I made my dogtags from two layers of silver poster board, added the verses and logos, covered the whole thing with contact paper to strengthen it, punched a small hole and added a jump ring and put them on a key chain. I only wish I could send a picture of them, they are so neat and inexpensive. Since we will only need about 35 ( I didn't make them for the preschoolers or the junior high group), I had them made in no time during this cold winter weather. PS: I have lots more time to spend on this stuff than you young people who have little ones and jobs, etc. I am a great grandmother, 71 years old!
Norma

huffmanres
March 7th, 2007, 09:30 AM
Wow Norma, way to go!! You're devotion would put a lot of us younger folks to shame! Another great idea for an alternative to the more expensive version.

houseparent
March 7th, 2007, 06:12 PM
houseparent-
Those are great!!! And what a $-saver!!! LOVE IT! - Thanks so much for sharing all of your wonderful ideas!
Do you happen to remember how much black cord (and what type) you need per child (not sure how much to purchase) - what size lengths did you use? Thanks!!!

You need about 4 feet of the black rattail (Synthetic Round Leather) cord per Key chain

iloveVBS
March 8th, 2007, 05:09 AM
You need about 4 feet of the black rattail (Synthetic Round Leather) cord per Key chain

THANK YOU!!!

J2911
March 20th, 2007, 11:25 AM
Houseparent-- What a fantastic idea! Thank you for sharing!

JulesEC
March 20th, 2007, 11:44 AM
Thanks Houseparent for all the great ideas!!! The dog tags from GL are too expensive for us too, so this is a great alternative.

Jules

TrinityJen
April 7th, 2007, 09:41 AM
We also couldn't afford the metal tags, so I made my dogtags from two layers of silver poster board, added the verses and logos, covered the whole thing with contact paper to strengthen it, punched a small hole and added a jump ring and put them on a key chain. I only wish I could send a picture of them, they are so neat and inexpensive. Since we will only need about 35 ( I didn't make them for the preschoolers or the junior high group), I had them made in no time during this cold winter weather. PS: I have lots more time to spend on this stuff than you young people who have little ones and jobs, etc. I am a great grandmother, 71 years old!
Norma

I posted the picture of Norma's here: http://www.gospellight.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4697#post4697

houseparent
April 7th, 2007, 10:52 AM
I have found something even better for stringing the beads. It is called Glow-in-the-Dark Pony Bead Lacing. I found it at Hobby Lobby yesterday.

http://www.craftsetc.com/Store/ShowProduct.aspx?p=515007 (http://www.craftsetc.com/Store/ShowProduct.aspx?p=515007)

It looks a lot better than the black lacing and more in line with the theme. It really does glow and looks good under a black light.

Also you don't have to worry about the ends fraying. It is made from a stretchy plastic material.