Make Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychains with a Cricut

June 3June 3

Quick Links To Info In This Post

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychain using faux leather, heat transfer vinyl, and a Cricut! These keychains are an easy and fun summer Cricut craft.

Summer Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychains made with a Cricut

Learn how to make Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychains with a Cricut

I love using faux leather and heat transfer vinyl to make simple and fun summer faux leather keychains with my Cricut. These Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychains are so easy to make with a Cricut Maker, Maker 3, Explore Air 2 or Explore 3, or even the Cricut Joy.

I have the keychain SVG templates for sale in my SVG shop here.

These SVGs is also included in my Summer Keychains Event SVG Bundle – you can learn more and get it here.

So if you’re ready to try making these Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychain with a Cricut, let’s get started!

Want to watch a video tutorial on YouTube instead? Check it out below!

How to make Cricut Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychains Video

You can find more crafting tutorials on my Youtube Channel

Check them out!

Printable Instructions for this Project

For printable instructions for this project, click here.

How to make Summer Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychains with a Cricut Step by Step

This page contains some affiliate links (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you). Read my full disclosure policy here.

materials used for while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Materials you’ll need to make a Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychain with a Cricut

Faux Leather of your choice – for the teal and yellow keychain, I used this faux leather in the “small scale” print. For the Patriotic keychain, I used white faux leather which you can get here and here.
Heat Transfer Vinyl in the color/type of your choice. For the teal and yellow keychain, I used Glitter Yellow HTV (Siser brand, “Lemon Sugar”). For the Patriotic keychain, I used Red Glitter Heat Vinyl and Blue Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl.
Cricut machine of your choice: Cricut Maker 3, Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore 3, Cricut Explore Air 2, or the Cricut Joy
Purple “Strong Grip” cutting mat
Green “Standard Grip” cutting mat
Blue Painter’s Tape
Cricut EasyPress Mini
Cricut EasyPress Mat, 8×10 size
Teflon Sheets (I trim mine down to a smaller size)
Cricut “Strong Grip” Transfer Tape (to protect mat when cutting chunky glitter faux leather)
Cricut Weeding Tool (I use the one from this basic tool set)
Jewelry Pliers – Needle Nose and Wide Flat Nose
Split keyrings, gold finish
Split keyrings, silver finish
10mm jump rings in gold finish and silver finish
Assorted faux suede tassels like these with silver caps and these with gold caps
Fabri-Tac Glue or Bearly Art Glue
The SVG templates in my SVG Shop. You can get them here. Choose from a Personal Use or Small Business Commercial Use option.
Or you can get these and 15 other summer keychain SVGs from my Summer Keychain Event in an Instant Access SVG Bundle here.

Get all 12 Days of Cricut Summer Keychain SVGs!

Love this Cricut Summer Keychain project? It’s one of my 12 days of surprise faux leather keychain designs created just for my Cricut Summer Keychains Event. Get all 17 event keychain SVGs at once by purchasing the Instant Access SVG Bundle below.

SHOP THE BUNDLE

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Get the keychain SVG template for this keychain project

You can get the Flip Flop Keychain SVG templates included in the Cricut Summer Keychains Event Bundle here or individually from my shop here. You’ll receive an order confirmation email with a link to download the SVG after purchasing.

Save the zipped folder that downloads to your computer. You’ll need to unzip or extract the folder FIRST so you can upload the keychain SVG file to Cricut Design Space.

Step 2: Upload the SVG template to Cricut Design Space.

Click on Upload Image, then browse to where your unzipped file SVGs are located on your device.

For this tutorial, I’ll be showing you how to make the “Simple” Flip Flop keychain. To see how to make the Patriotic Flip Flop Keychain, watch the YouTube video here.

Click on the Simple Flip Flop Keychain SVG to upload it to Design Space. You’ll see a preview of the Flip Flop keychain SVG on the screen. Click the UPLOAD button.

uploading image while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Then select the SVGs from your Recent Uploads row and click Add to Canvas. Your Canvas should look like this:

Cricut Design Space canvas preview while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

If you are using the Cricut Joy, you will need to resize the keychain layers down a bit to fit on the Joy sizes mat. For any other Cricut machine, it isn’t necessary to resize the van keychain. Click the green “Make It” button.

Step 3: Prepare to Cut the Keychain Shapes in Cricut Design Space

First, select “On Mat” for how you’ll upload your materials to Design Space.

Then click on each mat in the Mat Preview screen and toggle the MIRROR button to ON (green). This is because faux leather and heat transfer vinyl cut in reverse (face down) on the cutting mat.

cutting mat preview while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Begin by dragging the shapes on each mat away from the edges of the mat and away from each other slightly.

Arrange the shapes on your mat preview screen to get the shapes set up to cut from the least amount of faux leather possible.

Make a note of what size faux leather you need to place on your mat to cut all the shapes out with a little room to spare. For this project and cutting with a Cricut Maker, I need a piece of faux leather about 3 inches wide and 7.5 inches tall.

See the Layering Guide graphic below to know which layer will cut from what material. I used a printed faux leather for the flip flop background layer and then I used glitter heat transfer vinyl for the thong layers.

layering guide for Summer Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychains made with a Cricut

For the Patriotic Flip Flops, the bottom layer is white faux leather. Then the other layers are cut from glitter heat transfer vinyl.

Click back on the faux leather mat to select it again. Click the green CONTINUE button to make the first material selection.

Step 4: Make Material Selections

Choose the material selections you’ll use to cut each mat. I always cut the faux leather mat first.

I use the Faux Leather (Paper Thin) setting with “More” pressure for the faux leather mat.

If you don’t have this faux leather material setting as a favorite, click “Browse All Materials” to search for it and select it.

material settings while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Note for Explore Air 2 users: Cricut Explore Air 2 users will need to turn the dial to “Custom” before choosing Faux Leather (Paper Thin).

cut settings while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Use the material setting recommended by your vinyl manufacturer for your vinyl.

I use the Vinyl or Washi Sheet setting with “Default” pressure for my regular vinyl mats, and the Glitter Vinyl setting with “Default” pressure for my glitter HTV mats.

If you are using Siser Glitter HTV like I do, I find it’s best to repeat the cut one time before unloading the mat.

Step 5: Cut the Faux Leather and Vinyl Mats

Cut a piece of faux leather just slightly larger than the size shown in the mat preview screen.

cutting faux leather while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Place the faux leather pretty side down on a purple Cricut Strong Grip mat in the location shown on the mat preview screen.

Press the faux leather down to the mat well with your hands or roll over it with a brayer. Then put blue painter’s tape around on all sides.

Make sure the white “star wheels” on the roller bar are pushed off to the side so the wheels don’t make indentations in your material.

Load the mat into the Cricut and begin the cut.

Once the cut is complete, BEFORE unloading the mat, use a sharp weeding tool to check and see if the cut is complete.

cutting faux leather while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

If not, press the C button again to repeat the cut. You can repeat the cut as many times as necessary as long as you haven’t unloaded the mat.

When the cut is complete, unload the mat and remove the keychain shape. You can trim any stray fuzz with small curved scissors.

Repeat the cutting process on the Heat Transfer Vinyl mat using a Standard Grip green cutting mat and the recommended cut settings for your particular vinyl.

cutting vinyl while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Remove the cut vinyl from the mat and weed away the excess vinyl.

weeding vinyl while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Now it’s time to heat press the vinyl layer onto the Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychain base.

Step 6: Assemble the Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychain

I press vinyl to faux leather using a Cricut EasyPress Mini on the “low” setting (one green bar). You can also use a traditional EasyPress set to 255-265 degrees.

Place the thong vinyl layer onto the faux leather layer on a heat pressing pad.

heat pressing vinyl while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Then cover with a piece of Teflon sheet, parchment paper, or butcher paper.

Press for about 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, remove the cover sheet and carefully try to peel up the clear vinyl cover sheet. If it peels up easily, remove it.

If the vinyl is pulling up, place the clear vinyl cover layer back down and repeat pressing for 5-7 seconds. Repeat this process until the vinyl adheres to the faux leather well.

Then repeat the pressing on the other side of the keychain.

Next, thread a 1.25″ keyring onto the center of the connected flip flop faux leather keychain shape.

attaching keyring while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Place the connected faux leather keychain shape pretty side down on your work surface. Spread glue evenly onto the back of one side only, avoiding the center connector shape.

gluing keychain while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

Fold over the top half of the keychain onto the bottom half, Carefully line up the front and back edges and press together.

Place the glued keychain under something heavy like a book for several hours to let the glue dry well.

To attach an optional faux suede tassel, use flat nose jewelry making pliers to open a 10mm jump ring. Connect the jump ring to the tassel loop and then attach it to the keyring. Close the jump ring securely.

tassels used while while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

attaching a tassel while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

attaching tassels while making flip flop faux leather keychains with a Cricut

That’s it! Your Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychain is ready to attach to your keys or hang on a backpack!

Remember if you want to learn how to make the Patriotic Flip Flop version, watch my YouTube video here.

I hope you’ll enjoy creating different colors and patterns of these Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychains with your Cricut. Let me know in the comments which Flip Flop Keychain is your favorite!

Will you make this project?

I would love to see what you have created! Please join my free jewelry making & crafting Facebook group and share your creations with me and all of my crafting friends!

For Printable Instructions, click the image below!

Cricut Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychain

Materials

See blog post for materials & links.

Tools

See blog post for tools & links.

Instructions

Download and unzip the keychain SVG folder. Upload the SVG file to Cricut Design Space.
It isn't necessary to resize the keychain SVG unless you are using the Cricut Joy. (For the Joy, use the sizing arrows to make the keychain shapes smaller until it fits on the Joy sized mat.)
Click the MAKE IT button.
When Design Space asks how you will load the materials for this project, select ON MAT.
In the mat preview screens, click on every mat and toggle the mirror button to ON. (This is for when you are cutting faux leather and heat transfer vinyl for the project. If you are using faux leather and permanent vinyl instead, only mirror the faux leather mat.)
Now return to each mat and drag the shapes apart from the edges and each other slightly. Make a note of what size material you'll need to cut to place on the mat and cut the shape completely.
When you've done this for each mat, click back on the faux leather mat. Click CONTINUE.
I like to cut the faux leather mat first. Choose Faux Leather (Paper Thin) as the material setting. If you don't have this setting selected, click "Browse All Materials" and search for it. (On the Explore Air 2, turn your dial to Custom so you can see the Faux Leather material choice.) Then choose "more" from the Pressure drop down menu.
Trim a piece of faux leather to the size you noted in the mat preview screen. Place it "pretty" side down on a sticky purple strong grip mat. Tape the faux leather down on all sides with blue painter's tape.
Load the mat into the Cricut and press the C button to begin the cut. When the cut is complete, BEFORE unloading the mat, use a sharp object like a weeding tool to lift up the corner of a cut to see if it went all the way through. If it did, unload the mat. If not, repeat the cut by pressing the C button again. On a Joy, you'll repeat the cut by clicking on "Rerun" on the screen in Design Space.
Remove the cut shapes from the mat. Trim away any fuzz with small sharp scissors. Color the edges of the faux leather if desired with a color coordinated Sharpie marker.
Return to Design Space and cut any vinyl mats using a green standard grip cutting mat. Place heat transfer vinyl shiny side down. I use the Vinyl setting or the Washi Sheet setting with "default" pressure for regular heat transfer vinyl. I use the Glitter Vinyl setting with "default" pressure for glitter heat transfer vinyl and I repeat the cut once if the glitter is thick (Siser brand). For permanent vinyl, I use the Vinyl setting with "default" pressure (make sure mats are NOT mirrored).
Weed away the excess vinyl and cut the vinyl shapes apart.
Using a Cricut EasyPress Mini set on the "low" setting or an EasyPress set to 265 degrees, press the heat transfer vinyl layers onto the faux leather van shapes one at a time. Refer to the Layers Guide in the tutorial for the pressing order. Place the first vinyl layer onto the faux leather and cover with a cover sheet - Teflon sheet, butcher paper or parchment paper. Then press for 5-10 seconds. Remove the cover sheet and try to peel away the clear vinyl carrier sheet. If the vinyl lifts up, replace the clear carrier sheet and cover sheet and press again for 5-7 seconds.
Repeat with the rest of the vinyl layers.
Place the pressed faux leather keychain under something like book or your heat pressing pad for a minute or so after pressing to allow the keychain to cool flat.
Thread a 1.25" key ring onto the middle section of the larger connected faux leather keychain shape.
Using fabric glue, carefully apply glue all over the back of just one of the connected keychain shapes, being careful to avoid getting glue on the center connecter shape.
Fold the connected keychain shape over so the front and back shapes are touching and the edges line up neatly.
Place the glued bottom keychain layer under something heavy like a book to dry for several hours.
To attach an optional tassel, use a 10mm jump ring and flat nose pliers to connect the tassel to the key ring.

Answers to your questions about making Summer Flip Flop Faux Leather Keychain with a Cricut

Q: How do I get the SVG templates for this project?
A: The SVG templates for this project is in my SVG shop here. They are available with a Personal Use and Small Business Commercial Use option.

Q: Can I get all the Summer Keychain Event SVG templates at once?
A: You can purchase all the Cricut Summer Keychain Event SVGs (17 in total) as a Instant Access Bundle in my shop here.

Q: What Cricut is best for cutting faux leather?
A: The good news is there is no “best” Cricut for cutting faux leather. You can cut faux leather with any of the five current Cricut machines – the Cricut Maker, the Cricut Maker 3, the Cricut Explore Air 2, the Cricut Explore 3, and even the Cricut Joy. That’s because you can cut faux leather with a Cricut using the standard Fine Point Blade that comes with each of these machines.

Q: What setting on Cricut do I need to cut faux leather?
A: I use the Faux Leather (Paper Thin) setting with “More” pressure to cut faux leather with any of the five current Cricut machines. I use the standard Fine Point Blade and repeat the cut as needed before unloading the mat. For more of my best Tips, Tricks, and secrets to cutting faux leather with a Cricut, check out my blog post here.

If you loved this Cricut faux leather keychain project, you’ll love these projects too:

Ice Cream Cone Faux Leather Keychains

Summer Fan Faux Leather Keychains

Daisy Faux Leather Keychain

Want to remember this project? Save this tutorial to your favorite Pinterest board!

Want instant access to my Free Resource Library full of SVG files?

Just Enter your name and email Below!

By signing up, you’ll get instant access to my FREE SVG Library with hundreds of crafting SVG templates! You’ll also get my weekly newsletter full of crafting ideas, tutorials, and inspiration! Unsubscribe anytime.