Sharing my DIY keyring ornament gift
I want to share with all of you a gift I've been preparing. I love finding good gifts and seeing people's reactions when they get something that truly blows them away. But this is the one I'm most proud of yet.
First, some backstory! Early February 2021, something amazing happened in Belgium. The winter cold wave hit hard and all over the country, lakes froze.
In the middle of an intense and frustrating lockdown, after a 5 months lull during which all ice rinks were closed and travel was impossible, Belgian skaters all across the country put on their boots and went to skate outdoors on lakes.
On February 12th, that's exactly what I did with my (at the time) friend from the rink. I posted about it here before. We had a blast of a time; truly a day you don't forget, and it came at a time where both of us were seriously depressed.
Today, that friend and I have gotten very close and she has become my skating partner. Recently, she moved in to her new apartment close to the ice rink, and I needed a housewarming gift for her! I settled on a keyring. It's very on-brand for a housewarming gift, and I myself have skate boots keyring ornaments kinda like these which are pretty cool. But this is someone I really like, and I wanted to personalize it a bit.
I then thought about a skating figure ornament that could represent her. And what better than my absolute favourite photo of her from our day on the lakes?
So I got to work, and a friend helped me trace the initial silhouette as vector since my tracing skills suck. I did clean it up in Inkscape, and I now needed somebody who could turn this digital silhouette into a real physical artifact!
I found this shop on Etsy, but they did not respond in time when I asked them about cutting that figure for me. So I asked my ex girlfriend (who is doing a Ph.D in metallurgy, soldering and metal printing) for some advice. To my surprise and delight, she volunteered to do the laser cutting herself!
And so we got to work. I turned the SVG into a DXF (thanks Inkscape for being able to do that!), and she helped me clean up some of the edges. We calculated dimensions, stress spots, and added an attachment anchor. Here is the final contour for the cut, and here is the first trial sample!
So, after fixing a couple more minor issues, she gave me eight samples. We engraved her trouser's pink stripes into two of them; they're very representative of her skating attire.
One final issue to deal with was the burn marks. The back of the samples had very burnt edges due to the laser. Today, I found a jewelry workshop which was able to polish that away. I then added a small chain and a cute little snowflake ornament.
And so, here is the final result:
- Front: https://imgur.com/TqKLCzU
- Back (after polishing): https://imgur.com/7OdItjf
Full album: https://imgur.com/a/SW7Sqdm
She's currently sick and in quarantine. Once she recovers, we are having dinner at her house. I cannot wait to see her reaction :)
Update: By a friend’s suggestion: Added a print of the original photo with a cute note on the back. Looking nice!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/d5gvZEqx3eRZgN5dA
It turned out amazing, and I love the added snowflake too. Great job! I can't wait to hear what she thinks of it. :)
PS - Yes I'm aware this sets the bar ridiculously high for future gifts haha. Cinema tickets won't really cut it anymore eh?
And tagging @kfwyre because hi I absolutely want to share this with you! <3
Absolutely splendid work! This looks incredible, and I'm sure it's going to mean the world to her. It's a wonderful gift idea, wonderfully executed. You and @Omnicrola are really breaking the curve for the rest of us when it comes to gift giving. Stop setting the standard so damn high! 😆
Also, I'm outing myself as a Dance Dance Revolution nerd of the most severe caliber here, but the silhouette immediately reminded me of old-school DDR promo art (the dancer on the right in particular).
I'll also mention that your continued love of skating is downright infectious. I'm delighted every time you talk about it, and each mention makes me think "Man, I really need to find a hobby I love as much as Adys loves skating!"
Oh thanks for tagging me, this is really cool @Adys! Thanks for sharing the backstory behind the whole thing, I love knowing the stories of objects.
DAMN dude, I read your project while on the way home and I am super impressed. I had missed your post! This is a whole other level :)
I didn't want to forget to thank you for your message! I'm often afraid I'm talking about it too much here and boring people out haha. Tildes is where I tend to .. brain-dump.
Agreed on DDR, and in fact that in turn reminded me of the old school iPod ads!
https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+ipod+silhouette+ads&source=lnms&tbm=isch
Great work, and thanks for sharing the project!
I'll sign on to appreciating the enthusiasm you have for skating, though usually that only shows as a vote due to the same desire not to bore anyone.
Maybe I owe your posts for somewhat picking up contact juggling again? (that ornament would be a lot easier to make)
There was a character in a book I read when I was young that was described as being so full of joy that she couldn't help but have it spill over to those in her life; it's a good thing.
Lol, no worries. I do the exact same thing!
And those ads were (still are) awesome. Made me really want an iPod back in the day.
Wow, this is a beautiful. Are you doing anything with the samples that were cut, or are you planning to keep them so that your friend has a one-of-a-kind piece?
I was asked for a minimum order of five samples, I just got three more as a bonus in the batch. So I asked her to engrave only two of them: The one I'd use as a gift, and one backup in case something goes wrong.
I gave away two of the plain ones to my ex and my friend who both helped me with the project, and I'll probably keep one for myself as well. But specifically only my partner will have the engraved one. I will lock everything else away, the backup will be there in case she ever loses hers :)