Friday, September 21, 2012

Fair Warning For Nail Polish/Glitter Junkies

Having lived in the Southwest for most of my life, we are no strangers to the sun. There is always SOMETHING in your car that shouldn't be left there for fear of melting in the sun. As kids we used to leave VHS tapes, (does anyone even use those anymore besides me?!), CDs, groceries even food got spoiled in the car+sun combo in the time it took us to get home, a lovely 45 minute drive from town, (I grew up in the sticks). In short, the sun is harsh, and not everything is meant to be sitting in it all day long!
The beggining of the post reminds me of this picture I saw on Pinterest:
For those of you who think we are kidding, we aren't!!! This is life in 115° weather, which is completely normal in the southern United States.
So, with that here is your Pinterest Warning for the day!! Thanks Vanessa!
The Original

 There are lots of posts about the whole unique colored/glittered key thing, and the one above is the first one that came to mind.

The Pinstrosity
Vanessa saw a picture of a glitter key and decided to make her own by using glitter nail polish. She shellacked the keys all up, threw them on her key ring and took off. Perfection! Until  her keys sat in her car...trouble.
The keys melted together! Bad news is she can't really do anything about it till she can get a hold of some acetone to pry them apart them, good thing is it can be fixed.

One blog says to use mod podge, and then glitter:

The blog above uses alcohol to clean the keys front and back and then uses a nail primer on the keys. She then uses the brush to apply the mod podge and lays each key on one of the glitter containers. When they are dry she used a top coat on the glitter to seal it and keep it from making a mess or chipping off.
So, you have been warned!! Anyone else have a super fun way to distinguish  different keys or make this process less fool proof?!Let us know! We love your feedback!
Happy Friday Pinstrosipeeps!

22 comments:

  1. You could always knit your keys little sweaters (since you won't be wearing any in 115* weather!) http://stuffamymade.blogspot.com/2012/04/key-sweaters.html?m=1

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  2. I've used different colored sharpies... esp. those cute designer colors. Just color the key where you'd have put the polish. It's not nearly as bright and glam, but it does distinguish them. Still surviving triple digits here in the Mojave Desert!

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  3. Who leaves their keys in the car? One of them looks like the key to the car itself! She must be in a very safe neighbourhood!

    My mum did the nail polish on my keys thing when I was a kid, so that I could remember which key was for which door. Aside from chipping, I didn't have any dramas.

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  4. The instructions I have use Elmer's glue. I haven't tried it so I'm not sure if it would be any better.

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  5. What about using the colored duct tape for just the top part?

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  6. I guess I'm lucky enough that all my keys are different shapes and I don't need to distinguish them. The glittered ones are cute though.

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  7. I did mine with nail polish - for one I used Essie and for one I used OPI. They just need to dry for quite some time. Mine dried for at least an hour and even then stuck just a bit. I haven't had problems since then, though!

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    1. I did the same. The poured glitter all over them because I apparently think glitter is always appropriate. Then covered everything with clear nail polish. Note to self, white/clear glitter isn't pretty when you topcoat. Silver glitter over teal Essie is gorg. It's been months and I have no chips.

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  8. I did the whole glitter nail polish combo not too long ago and I did not have a problem until the other day. I went to the hardware store to get a copy of the key made and they could not figure out key needed because the number was covered over. I know that most people don't make copies of their keys often, but its something to think about if your are about to do this project.

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  9. YES!!! Something I could do up in the arctic that won't turn into a pinstrosity!! thanks Em :)

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  10. What about using some left-over spray paint? I haven't tried it, though.

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    1. I've done it and it works great! At my office we have several locks with many copies of the keys to each lock--after a while it got very confusing to figure out which key belonged to which lock. The spray paint I used was a Rustoleum one that was for outdoors (like lawn furniture)

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  11. I smack mine with alphabet stampers from Harbor Freight. Like these: http://www.harborfreight.com/36-piece-1-8-eighth-inch-steel-letter-number-stamping-set-800.html

    Fair warning... I will go after anything with my letter stampers.... garden markers, baseball bats... you name it.... I've put a letter on it.

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  12. When Mod Podge get warm it'll get a little sticky. If you do this to a whole set of keys you are likely to get a similar result.

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  13. You can buy fun keys at any home improvement store for just a couple of bucks. Some things are better left uncrafted.

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  14. What about, at least to get the original off, she sticks it back in a hot car to allow it to melt again and gt them apart??

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  15. I used a glitter polish from Butter London and sealed it with a nail polish top coat. It took about 30 minutes total. Three months later and my keys still look beautiful.

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  16. I think the pinstrosity's issue is that she coated each key to thickly. If it had been a thinner layer it wouldn't have been so bad. Probably never cured under the top coat. I have the gelish system which uses uv light to cure the polish I might try this on a key.... oh wouldn't my Electric metal lover Magneto (http://www.sleekhair.com/gel05-electric-metal-lover.html?gdftrk=gdfV25188_a_7c1551_a_7c6162_a_7cgel05_d_electric_d_metal_d_lover) look good!

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  17. I am totally surprised that no one has thought of the hot glue that has glitter in it. Wouldn't that work better?

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    1. Probably not, for a couple of reasons.

      1. You need a thin coat for this like what you get when brushing on thin layers, and glue guns (unless there's a new attachment I haven't seen yet, it's been a while since I used one) have a thick round output

      2. The problem is that the nail polish melted in the hot car. Since heat is what makes the glue for the glue gun melt to begin with, you're risking more meltage.

      3. Also, if anyone decides to try this one, remember that heat transfers quickly through metal. Don't hold the key you're hot gluing in your unprotected hand. Ow.

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  18. did this! Mine worked out great...no problems so far :)

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  19. Sharpie and clear spray paint

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