Repurpose: The key to a steampunk heart...

This is the story of a feathered girl

with a clockwork heart. 
And her magician love who, 
at long last, fashioned the key 

that allowed her to fly.

As promised, a little steampunk pendant doodle for you.  I made this on a whim, after finding the available tutorials a little thin on the ground.  This little key pendant is now, hands down, my favorite piece of jewelry!  I started with an old quartz watch and a key I've had lying around for years, waiting for just this moment to shine. And let me say ... I think old keys (especially little ones) are magical all by themselves.

I didn't really know where I was going until I opened the watch. I've never taken a watch apart before (I know, I haven't lived, clearly had no childhood etc). And when I saw the mechanism, I felt like a magpie!  Much more appealing than I was expecting it to be.

Steampunk Pendant Tutorial

1.  Once I popped out the plastic reinforcement, it was a matter of getting a small screwdriver under the face and gently lifting the whole thing up.  Ultimately, I couldn't get the single face/mechanism piece out without snapping the little screw connecting the "winding" mechanism.  That was the only thing that broke.  The mechanism pealed away from the face quite easily.  The hands fell off in the process.
2. I decided to put the hands back onto the front of the mechanism - makes it a little more whimsical than punk perhaps ... but that's also more me.

3. I glued the mechanism onto the key.  I use good fabric glue when I make jewelry - it works great.
4. I took a close up of this because I wanted to point out how easy it was to attach a jump hoop to the mechanism.  I thought I'd have to do a little wiring.  But when I removed the battery, there was a convenient, perfectly positioned hole just waiting for the hoop.  I have no idea if you'll always find a gap like this under the battery.

The final touches:  a flat copper disk from a necklace I took apart years ago, glued to the back of the key. I wanted one more copper note because the color gleams in the mechanism.  Then a small bead added to the front.  It's the closest thing I have to a "gear".  And voila. My little key got steampunked.