Furry Bohemian zipper pull

Earlier this week I decided I needed a new keychain. I had this beautiful beaded fish keychain on my Adventure Backpack but sadly it broke and I was heartbroken. I tried to replace it with a kitchy stuffed donut but it just didn't fit the bill. I found this adorable pink dinosaur keychain on Pinterest but it is only sold in bulk of over 5,000 from China so that wasn't going to work either. I decided I'd make my own, and if it doesn't float my goat I can make another one. This zipper pull is pretty eclectic, and I like it that way.

Supplies:
-Keyring
-Scissors
-Yarn; I wanted a very diverse feel created with multiple textures, so I used a twill-like yarn, 2 skeins of soft neon yarn, a bit of fuzzy yarn, some t-shirt yarn I cut up, and some hairy yarn. I was using up my various bits of my collection, but this project could easily be executed with scraps. I think these kinds of things are called scrap busters, right?

First, cut all your pieces to the same length. I made all of mine about an arms length long, but fingertips of elbow would be sufficient unless you are using more strands. Id say do a full arms length if using more than 9 stands.

Once all your stands are cut to the same length tie one set of ends in a basic overhand knot, leaving about 2 inches at the top.

Separate stands into 3 groups based on thickness and colors.

I chose to use 6 different pieces but you could do 9 or 12  and make a bulkier zipper pull.  I think the important thing to consider when pairing your bits of yarn is that the bundles are of about equal thickness, so you could pair 4 strands of a lesser weight with 2 bits of a thicker yarn.

Braid! Left over center, right over center, left over center...

Once you have reached a sufficient length of 5-7 inches, slide the key ring over the braid. Then tie the loose ends into another overhand knot.

Now bring both the knots side by side and cut of the excess to the same length as the first knot. Cut a smallish piece of the sturdiest yarn you have and tie it right above both knots which are sitting side by side. Tie it around and around as many times and as tight as you can. If you'd like you can give it a bit of superglue or clear nail polish to help it hold. Cut the ends of the tied strand to the same length as the rest of the ends if it's longer.

If you'd like to cut the loose ends shorter, go for it, but I am fond of the tassel like appearance of mine! It makes me so happy. I love the playful mixture of colors and textures.

It makes me think of Anthropologie and all their clever uses of textiles and things with hairy bits attached and their crazy color combinations. All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with my zipper pull but maybe I'll try my hand at some others and make a series of posts. 

What do you think? Too funky?