There are so many thrifted finds you can repurpose into a swanky keychain, including belts, T-shirts, jewelry and more. For this DIY, I’m upcycling a blast from the past—a bright pink leather belt from the ’80s.

Supplies Needed: a thrifted leather belt, scissors, chalk, ruler, metal split keychain ring, glue gun, glue sticks.

Step 1 Source a perfect second-hand belt to refashion into a keychain. The belt I found at a Salvation Army thrift store was thin leather in an eye-catching pink. You’ll also need to find a metal split keychain ring.

Step 2 Cut a rectangular piece of the leather. I used the full width of the belt, which was approximately 10 cm, and then decided on 20 cm for the length.

Step 3 Cutting lengthwise, make tassels for your keychain by cutting 5-mm wide strips, leaving a 2.5-cm uncut border at the top.

Step 4 Create a hook to hold the metal ring by folding the end tassel into a loop and securing it with hot glue. Make sure to hold this in place until the glue has dried completely.

Step 5 Using hot glue to secure, wrap the remaining leather around the loop until you run out of tassels. Again, hold everything in place until the glue has dried completely.

And that’s it! You can make as many as your leather belt will allow and gift these to friends and family.

Denise Corcoran (aka Thrifty By Design) is an author, upcycler, community builder and workshop facilitator based in North Vancouver. She shares her enthusiasm for crafting and upcycling by facilitating “Crafternoons” throughout Vancouver. She is also a creative expert for The Salvation Army’s thrift stores. Find a thrift store near you at thriftstore.ca.