Skeleton Key Fan Pulls

The first thing we see when we walk into our abode is our living room fan/light combo.  Don’t judge me – I know fans aren’t acclaimed to be the most chic of all the lighting choices, but this is the desert and we have 11′ ceilings.  So, fan it is!  

Because this is the first thing seen as you walk in the door, (and the fan pulls being the closest to eye line) naturally, I contemplated ideas for attractive fan pulls.

Now, we live in a house that is almost 100 years old.  As the house is so old, we have many doors with skeleton key locks.  So when the idea of using skeleton keys as fan pulls came to me, I knew it would be a neat way to sort of elude to the history of the house.

Here is how they came to be:

Supplies:
1. Fan pulls
2. Skeleton keys (Note: look for some with thin metal to fit around the jump rings easier.  I also recommend going to your local antique stores for these.  I found them at about 1/3 of the price you can get them online.)
3. Jump rings (tiny jewelry pieces that look like mini key rings)
4. Needle nose Pliers

• I just went to the jewelry department of Wal-Mart and found small jewelry pieces that look like tiny key chain parts - as stated above, they are called  jump rings.
• I coiled the jump ring around both the end of the fan pull and the top of the key.  
• Then I used pliers to clamp the piece of the fan pull shut.  You have to really pierce it together - if it is not pierced tightly, the key will eventually pull off (because the fan pulls are handled so often. (I also recommend hanging the fan pulls low enough that you can grab the top of the key, not the bottom, to avoid eventually stretching the jump ring out and loosening the key.)

I took a picture and posted before and after pictures below so you can see what the part looks like. 
  
Check.  it.  out.  See how happy they are now?

Til’ next time, friends!

My First Blog: An Introduction to Why I Feel My Life is Blogworthy (she types, choking back laughter)

Testing, testing...1, 2, 3.  Is this thing on?

Hello to all those out there kind, bored, or obligated enough to visit my blog!  This is a good place to say, 'Thank you (and truly)' for cyber traveling over to my little mouse hole of the internet!

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Long have I admired the blogging community.  Whether we like it or not - blogs have entirely reshaped our lives over the last several years.  I am not blind to the myriad of empty blogs out there - but I also feel there are those that do some good with this readily available power.  

Filled with countless tutorials and advice - a blog can help an aspiring chef find just the right recipe to make, an unemployed penny pincher  make his own laundry soap, or just inspire and instruct a mom in taking better pictures of her loved ones.  With these mini magazines online, fellow blog enthusiasts can be exposed to amazing photographs that otherwise would have not been seen (probably my favorite of all the blogging treasures), or somebody in one corner of the earth can learn about and pray for a sick child thousands of miles away.

So, why do I feel my life is blogworthy (she types, choking back laughter)?  Not sure if it is.  Pretty sure it's not.  But, it sounds like good fun, and I think if it's done right, I think I can contribute something of worth to the blogging community (ooh, and to Pinterest!).

But if you need some convincing to come back and check in once in a while: I have a really rad 100 year old cottage style house that I will be renovating, two totally excellent girls that I (with my husband) will be raising, and what I feel is a wealth of DIY and decorating ideas - some of which already made, and others stored in "the vault"  (*points dumbly at ear, realizes mistake and moves pointing finger to head*) that I will be sharing along the way. 

I guess my point is this: If my life were ever blogworthy, it is now - while my kids are still young, my house is still unfinished, and my fingers are still carpel tunnel free!

And now ve vill commense ze picture photograph showing: