I've seen a few posts in forums I'm in where makers are asking how to make name keychains, so I wanted to make a post on how to design them using a few of the more popular design programs. I did a video on Adobe Illustrator, but I know not everyone uses that program, so I wanted to go over some other options as well.

Materials:

• 1/8 acrylic in two different colors - I am partial to Craft Closet, Cerulean Tides, Houston Acrylic, Custom Made Better, or Smokey Hill Designs.

• Keychain thingie connector piece

• Split ring

• Adhesive - I use either double sided adhesive tape or All Craft glue from CT

• Your laser

• Design program of your choice. Here are the links for Adobe Illustrator, Silhouette Studio, and Inkscape.

  Below, I've broken out the instructions for Lightburn.

Here's how to create your own using Lightburn

(The default Lightburn keyboard shortcut guide can be found here!)

1. Type your text and choose your font. I used Patchwork from Creative Fabrica. (This is an affiliate link and I may earn a small commission if you purchase from it.) I recommend making your keychain around 3 inches in length. When making your text, keep this in mind that you will be adding about an inch of offset around it.

Make sure you have the "Welded" option toggled to on, especially if using a script font.

2. Go to the "Tools" drop down menu and select "Offset Shapes."

2. For your first offset, input "0.25 inches" and select "outward offset." This will be your backer shape.

   

3. Select your text again. Repeat the steps to bring up the offset menu. For this second one, input "0.025 inches" and select "Inward offset." This will be your scoring lines for placement.

4. Select your inset text & change it o a different color using the color panel at the bottom of your screen. You will set your settings on the righthand side when you go to send it to the laser, and you want your cut & stroke functions to be different colors.

   

5. Create the hole for hardware using the ellipse tool. Set the dimensions to 0.19 inches for both height and width at the top of the screen.

6. Add an outward offset to your circle of 0.125 inches. This will give you the outer ring (0.315 inches in diameter).

   

7. Line up your circles with where you want the hardware to go on your contour backer. Make sure the inside circle is not cut off by the contour cut line you have created. The full inner circle should be on the outside of the contour cut line.

8. Once you are satisfied with the placement, select both the circle piece and the contour outline and weld them together. You can do this by selecting "Tools" and "Weld Shapes," or keyboard shortcut CTRL + W (Windows) or CMD + W (Mac).

9. From here, you can move your layered text off to the side as you won't be cutting it on top of your backer piece.

10. You will just need to assign your functions and settings, and then you can send it to your laser. Keep in mind that FILL = engrave and LINE = cut or score, depending on the power settings. You will want to use LINE options for this project. Note that your material settings will vary depending on your particular laser and the materials you are using.

11. From here, you can go ahead and send the file to your laser. I usually select one of the objects (the layered text or the backer piece) and cut it from my artboard (CTRL + X for Windows, CMD + X for Mac) and run the first part, then repeat the opposite. If you are using double sided adhesive, only apply it to the back of the material you are cutting your letters from.

12. If you need to save your work, you can do "File" and select "Export" and save as SVG file.

13. Assemble by placing your letters over top of the scored placement lines.

    

14. Add your keychain thingie and your split ring.

    

15. Ta da! You are done! I'd love to see pics if you try this yourself. You can tag me @samanthasdoodles on all social media platforms.