Pendant Tray Monkey Keyrings

I have been experimenting with the inch pendant trays and keyrings that I treated myself to just before Christmas. 

They came from Etsy via China and cost me £13.72 for 50 antique effect silver trays which work out at roughly 27p each.  I had bought them initially with the intention of making Christmas Tree decorations and key chains.

With that in mind I will be going through all my stacks take-away boxes looking for suitable embellishments etc. that will fit into a one inch square, and these four Dress It Up monkey buttons (sent to me from Dianne my special friend in Florida) were just perfect. 

I cut an inch square of paper, faux stitched it round the edges and glued it into the bottom of a tray.  I then cut the shank off the button and glued it in the prepared tray, using E6000 glue, which is really strong and I know once cured will not budge. 

When the button was set in position and a silver peel-off added to two of the corners, I added “Aleene’s Jewelry Pendant Gel”, to the pendant. This was the first time I have used this product and was curious to see if it was an equal substitute to Glossy Accents or Anita’s 3D Clear Gloss Finish, I have used previously, which indeed it proved to be, setting in approx 4 – 5 hours, however to give the pendant a deep and full look I added a second layer, as one looked a little flat. I also painted a little on the monkeys face to give it glossy, slightly enamelled look.

I am really pleased with the results,  I might have to wait an extra two or three weeks when I order from various companies in China, but as I have learnt from past experience if I buy in bulk, I end up paying at least half of what I would pay in UK for the same thing.