Do you have more than one key on your keychain that you can never tell apart? 
Most of the time men are most guilty of not marking their keys. Women have less of a hard time blinging out our keys. We don’t mind having a keychain that looks like this…
After all, everything on my keychain is essential…
Little Zipper Pouch — Carries $2 in quarters each week for Isaac’s allowance. Most of the time my 4 year-old son likes to spend his allowance money on gumball machines. So this little pouch is gold to me.
Car Keys and Car Clicker — Yes both of these are important. My hubby doesn’t like the bulk of car clickers in his pocket so he does not carry one. I think he is nutso to have to use his key rather than click when he wants his car door open.
Shoppers Club Cards — I don’t need to tell you the value of these. If you go to Kroger without one you are overpaying.
Fabric Keychain Fob — (tutorial here). I make these all the time and every woman I give it to uses theirs. No more lost keys when I have them around my wrist.
Keychain Wallet (tutorial here). This is not only adorable but it keeps all my gift cards and extra shoppers cards not used as often as the ones on my keychain. (Sally Beauty Supply, Library, Flower Factory, Dollar Tree, etc.)
Ok back to the point of this post…
So you have three keys on your keychain that are the same. So every time you go to open the door you fiddle around trying to figure out which one is the correct one.
Take a metal file and make a notch into the keys. That way when you fiddle around you can feel the notches and know which one is which. It takes about 5 minutes and it never wears off.
I left one key without any notches, one key with one notch, and one key with two notches. Think of a way to remember it and now you can tell the difference.
How do you tell the difference between similar keys?
Key covers work well too…
Key covers will go around the rim and for 3, they costs $1 at Home Depot and Walmart. That seems easier than knotching out metal on a key.
A drop of finger nail polish on the top of the key…different colors for different doors.
Whiteout works good for this too, but comes off easier.
You can also mark the top of the keys with different colors of sharpie permanent marker.
This is a really good idea! I have my house key and my mil's house keys cut onto different patterned keys. But, only because a friend owns a hardware store. Otherwise I would have had to pay for it!
Although my way and all of the above, you can't see in the dark!
This is cool. Also, I was reading in an old Martha Stewart magazine the other day that she paints a coat of fingernail polish on the top of keys that are hard to tell apart.
Oh. I just looked and saw that somebody else already said this. 🙂
That's a good tip! I have 2 or 3 of the "same" key and I've been too lazy to do anything to tell them apart. :s I remember which one is the house key b/c it hangs on a separate spot on the keyring. I keep my car keys separate b/c I have about 675 keys on the other ring. :s
Everyone had good ideas — my husband forbid me to put heavy keychains or excess things on my key chain – he says that the heavy weight on the key chain is bad on the ignition (he was a mechanical engineer for years at General Motors so I believe him, though who knows…) – I find that most places take your phone number instead of the store card itself – and for the gift cards and quarters, I use a small clear make-up case in my purse to keep them all organized… I would limit your car key fab to your car, house, and maybe mail key – everything else I would put on another key chain that you don't need to pull out very often… that's my thoughts on the topic of keys…
The placement. I have two identical keys for two different homes, so I place one beside the car clicker and one beside the garage clicker. So when I look for the key, I look for the right clicker which is much more prominent than a key.
Donna
I do the same as Funky Junk…I have certain keys in certain places on my key chain, but this is a GREAT idea! I have a friend who could really use this idea, she is blind and this would be a much easier way for her to tell her keys apart! I'll have to let her know. Thanks!
Brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing.
1. Wow, for some reason, every time I saw those key fob things, it never occurred to me that it was a wristlet. Duh!
2. We have tie dye and leopard print keys from WalMart.
3. I keep my keys separate by using a butterfly-shaped caribeaner. Different categories go on different wings. 🙂
Cute fabric keychain fob!
Well I love this idea and thought it would be harder than it was. I have two alike keys and the shine on the newest is wearing off .. so it has a nice new notch now :o)
And the weight of a keychain on the ignition was true back when the keys were thinly made. Now with advancements and thicker keys .. not so critical, just saying!
hugs, xo
I only carry my car fob, which is also the key, and my house key. Nothing else is going to hang from my ignition. I always stick those in my pocket when I go into a store. I have this fear of losing my purse. This way if it ever gets lost while I am at I can still come home. Also, anyone who finds it doesn't have keys to my house. I probably sound super paranoid.
I have a separate key ring with all the shopper cards, library card, etc. I have probably 30 little cards on that ring.
This is a neat idea if you must carry more than one similar key, especially in the dark.
Super simple, super cool idea. No bulk of a key cover and something easy to "feel out" in my bag without having to look for what color cover is the right one.
Might have to give this a try! Especially since I love doing things "the hard way" (smile). This seems easy enough though.
Bernadette
http://www.b3homedesigns.blogspot.com
What a great idea, I love your key chain wallet too for all those gift cards, I often find myself looking for it, or forgetting all about them, erghhh so annoying. This is sure to solve that problem. Again, if you would link up, gosh I would LOVE you even more, he he. Oh and your candy earrings are what brought me over here, THEY WER the CUTEST thing EVER. How incredibly creative, some people just have it, and you clearly do. 🙂 If you come up with any more Halloween awesomeness, I am also hosting a **6 weeks 2 Spook** party. Thanks again, Bella 🙂