Pencil Key Holder

After watching jimmy diresta and seeing all the cool things he makes - I noticed that he uses a lot of things the way they're not meant to be used. Such as carving a knife out of a giant piece of scrap metal on the ground - or making a guitar out of an ak47.

I loved the idea - and though 'What is a simple object I could make something out of' - and that is how I got the pencil key holder. It uses a piece of reclaimed wood and 3 pencil ends, sanded down and glued in place to give the keys a place to hang off.

So what are you doing reading this? Go ahead and make it!

Pictures tell a thousand words, and guess what videos are? 10000's of pictures!

So watch the video embedded above (or link here) to see the process of making this and how it looks like in the end (in case the pictures weren't clear enough already!)

• 3 pencils
• 1 block of wood (the size is up to you)
• PVA glue
• wood putty
• wall attachment screws
• wood putty

tools:

• saw
• drill
• sander

rustic wood stain solution:

• white vinegar
• container
• rusty nails
• old rags/cloths

This solution is commonly used to stain wood grey for the rustic effect.

To make the solution, just mix rusty nails and vinegar in a container and leave to dissolve for a few hours.

The rust will dissolve into the vinegar and make it so that when it is absorbed by the wood it goes grey!

Get your wood piece and mark 3 holes evenly spaced between the wood lengthways. Then drill the holes with a drill bit the size (even a bit bigger) than your pencils. Drill a straight hole first, but then afterwards angle the drill slightly so that it leans upwards. This will allow the pencil to sit on an angle and stop your keys from falling off.

Next, get your pencils and cut the top (where the point is) third off - do this for each pencil.

Sand down the pencils to remove the outer paint (or not if you have the natural wood ones). Make sure to keep the shape and not turn them into cylinders.

Now slot them into the holes - leaving equal distance pointing out and upwards. Then insert some glue from both sides to fill the hole. Lean it all on a table and leave to harden.

The glue should be set rock hard by now - if not, wait some more; you wouldn't want to ruin the project now would you?

Start by sanding down the pencils at the back. It might be useful if they are unusually long to hold them while you sand them to stop them from bending or snapping. After sanding, it might need a bit of wood putty to fully seal the holes and make it fully smooth. If so, just apply the wood putty and then sand it down again an hour or so later.

After the whole piece is sanded down nice and smooth, apply the rustic vinegar solution taking extra precautions to limit it's exposure to your skin (hands, etc). After a few minutes, you will notice that it goes grey - leave it to dry for a few more hours.

That's it - all that's left now is to attach it to the wall. If you wanted to make it even cooler you could use a laser cutting and engrave text, shapes, pictures, anything onto it.

Thanks for reading this instructable. Please don't forget to vote for it in the reclaimed wood contest and also check out my Youtube Channel for DIY videos & more!