5 Mini Crochet Keychains – Perfect for Scrap Yarn 💛

If you’re anything like most crocheters, you have a drawer, a basket, or maybe an entire bin dedicated to yarn scraps. Those beautiful little leftovers from bigger projects — the half skein of buttery yellow that didn’t quite make it into the dishcloth, the tiny ball of variegated cotton from that baby blanket, the handful of chunky wool that survived the hat — they’re too good to throw away but too small to start anything new with. Sound familiar?

That’s exactly where mini crochet keychains come in. These tiny, satisfying little projects are the perfect way to use up scrap yarn in a meaningful way, and they make incredibly thoughtful handmade gifts, market booth bestsellers, and personal accessories that show off your love of the craft everywhere you go. Best of all, most mini keychains take less than 30 minutes to complete, require only a few yards of yarn, and are beginner-friendly enough that you can teach them to someone who picked up a hook for the first time yesterday.

In this post, we’re walking through five adorable mini crochet keychain patterns that are tailor-made for scrap yarn. Each one is small, fast, and fun — and together they’ll help you finally make a dent in that ever-growing yarn stash.

Why Keychains Are the Ultimate Scrap Yarn Project

Before we dive into the patterns, let’s talk about why keychains deserve a permanent spot in your small-project rotation.

First, the yarn requirements are minimal. Most of these projects use somewhere between 5 and 25 yards of yarn, which means even the tiniest scrap can become something useful and beautiful. You’re not just using up yarn — you’re transforming leftovers into something people will actually carry around with them every single day.

Second, keychains are incredibly portable to make. Once you get past the setup row, most of these patterns are simple enough to work on during a car ride, a waiting room visit, or a slow Sunday morning with a cup of coffee. They’re low-stakes, low-stress, and endlessly satisfying.

Third, they’re wildly popular as handmade gifts. A crochet keychain attached to a birthday card or tucked into a Christmas stocking feels personal and thoughtful in a way that a store-bought trinket simply doesn’t. Because they’re fast to make, you can customize the colors for each recipient — their favorite hue, their sports team colors, or something that matches their bag.

And finally, if you sell your makes at craft fairs or on Etsy, keychains are a wonderful low-price-point item that draws people to your table and often leads to bigger sales. Priced between $5 and $15, they’re an impulse buy for most shoppers and a great way to get your handmade work into more hands.

Now let’s get into the projects.

What You’ll Need for All of These Projects

Before starting any of the five keychains below, gather a few basic supplies that you’ll use across all the patterns:

A crochet hook in the size recommended for your yarn — usually a 3.5mm to 5mm hook works well for most worsted and DK weight scraps, though you can go smaller for fingering weight or larger for bulky yarn. A pair of scissors for snipping ends. A yarn needle for weaving in those ends so everything looks polished. Keychain rings, which you can find at any craft store or online in bulk packs, usually in silver or gold finishes. Optional jump rings if you want to give the keychain a little extra length and swing. And of course, your beautiful scrap yarn in whatever colors speak to you.

One quick tip: if you’re mixing scrap yarns of different weights for different keychains, adjust your hook size accordingly. The patterns below are written for worsted weight yarn since that’s the most common scrap, but they all translate easily to other weights.

1. The Classic Crochet Pom-Pom Keychain

Okay, this one is so simple it barely counts as a pattern, but it’s also one of the most popular and beloved crochet keychain styles out there — and it’s a perfect starting point if you’re brand new to the idea.

A crocheted pom-pom isn’t quite the same as the kind you make by wrapping yarn around a fork or a cardboard circle. This version is worked in the round and stuffed lightly with fiberfill or with little yarn scraps (scrap inside a scrap — very satisfying), giving it a firm, rounded shape that holds up beautifully over time and doesn’t fray or fall apart the way traditional pom-poms sometimes do.

To make this keychain, start with a magic ring and single crochet 6 stitches into it. Then increase every stitch for the next round to get 12 stitches, then increase every other stitch to reach 18 stitches. Work two even rounds of 18 stitches, then begin decreasing by crocheting two stitches together every third stitch to get back down to 12, then every other stitch down to 6. Stuff lightly before closing, pull the yarn through the remaining stitches to close the sphere, and attach to a keychain ring with a loop of yarn or a jump ring.

You can make these in a single color for a clean, modern look, or work stripes in two or three colors for a playful effect. Try making a cluster of three different sizes — large, medium, and small — all on the same keychain ring for a really lush, luxurious feel.

Scrap yarn recommendation: This is perfect for those smaller bits of yarn you have, since the whole sphere uses only about 10 to 15 yards. Any weight works, but thicker yarn gives a chunkier, more satisfying result.

2. The Mini Crochet Strawberry Keychain

This one has been all over Pinterest and Instagram for good reason — it is absolutely adorable, and it uses up two different yarn colors (red for the berry and green for the leaves), making it an ideal project for when you have two different scraps that just happen to complement each other beautifully.

The strawberry body is worked in the same basic amigurumi sphere method as the pom-pom above, but with a tiny twist: instead of working fully even rounds, you taper the berry slightly at the bottom to give it that characteristic strawberry shape. Work your increase rounds normally, then work a few even rounds, and instead of a full decrease, slow the decrease slightly near the bottom so it ends in a gentle point rather than a fully closed sphere.

The leaves are worked separately as a small flat piece. Chain 4, then work a series of shell stitches or simple treble crochet clusters to create 4 or 5 little leaf points radiating from a center point. Attach the leaves to the top of the berry using your yarn needle, weave in the ends, and you have an incredibly realistic-looking tiny strawberry.

To add the seeds — because a strawberry without seeds just isn’t quite right — use a needle and a length of white or cream thread to embroider tiny cross stitches or French knots across the surface of the berry. It sounds fiddly but takes about two minutes and makes an enormous difference in how finished and polished the final piece looks.

Attach a small length of green yarn or a jewelry chain from the top for the “stem,” loop it through your keychain ring, and you’re done.

Scrap yarn recommendation: You’ll use about 10 yards of red and 5 yards of green. This is the perfect project for those tiny remnants of holiday or seasonal yarn colors that you picked up for other projects and barely used.

3. The Tiny Crochet Heart Keychain

Hearts are one of those perennial crafting classics that never, ever get old. A tiny crocheted heart keychain makes a perfect Valentine’s Day gift, a sweet gesture for a friend going through a hard time, a wedding favor, or just a little reminder to yourself that you made something beautiful today.

The classic crochet heart is made by working two small semicircles and then joining them to form the top curves of the heart, then decreasing down to a point at the bottom. It’s a flat piece rather than an amigurumi shape, which means it works up incredibly quickly — we’re talking 10 to 15 minutes if you’ve made a few before.

Here’s a simple approach: make two separate small semicircles. For each one, chain 2, then work 5 double crochets into the second chain from the hook. This gives you a small fan shape. Make two of these fans, then on the next round, join them by chaining 1 between them and working around both in a continuous manner, shaping the sides of the heart with single crochets and tapering to a slip stitch at the very bottom point.

Add a round of single crochet around the entire perimeter to give the heart a clean, defined edge, attach your keychain ring at the top center with a small loop, and you’re finished.

These look beautiful in a solid deep red or burgundy, but don’t underestimate how gorgeous they can be in unexpected colors — a sage green heart, a dusty rose, a deep teal. Color is everything in small accessories, and unusual hues make your keychains stand out from the crowd.

Scrap yarn recommendation: A flat heart uses only about 8 to 12 yards depending on the size, so this is genuinely perfect for the tiniest scraps. If you want to make it reversible and slightly sturdier, make two and sew them together with a small amount of stuffing between.

4. The Mini Crochet Sunflower Keychain

Flowers are another massively popular crochet keychain style, and sunflowers in particular have a warm, cheerful quality that makes them endlessly appealing. This pattern uses two colors — a golden yellow for the petals and a dark brown or dark orange for the center — and creates a small, flat flower that’s lovely as a standalone piece or grouped with a few other floral keychains.

The center of the sunflower is worked first as a small flat circle. Start with a magic ring, work 6 single crochets into it, then increase each stitch in the next round to get 12, and increase every other stitch in the round after that to get 18 stitches. Slip stitch to close and fasten off. This gives you a small, firm, flat disk.

For the petals, you have a couple of options depending on how much yarn you have and how full you want the flower to look. The simplest approach is to attach your yellow yarn anywhere along the edge of the center disk and work a series of petal shapes directly into the stitches around the perimeter. Each petal is made by chaining 8 or 9, then working single crochets back along the chain toward the base, then slip stitching back into the center disk and moving one or two stitches over before starting the next petal. Work your way all the way around for a full ring of petals.

For a lusher, more layered sunflower, make two rounds of petals: one worked directly into the center disk stitches, and one slightly behind, worked into the chain spaces of the previous round.

Once the flower is complete, sew a button or a small bead to the very center of the dark disk for extra dimension and texture, add a keychain ring at the back, and you have a tiny sunflower that’s genuinely cheerful to carry around.

Scrap yarn recommendation: About 15 yards of yellow and 5 yards of brown is all you need. This is a beautiful way to use the last of any warm-toned yarn — that sunset orange, the earthy gold, the rusty amber that you’ve been holding onto.

5. The Crochet Mini Bag or Purse Keychain

This last one is the most impressive-looking of the bunch, and while it takes slightly longer than the others — maybe 30 to 45 minutes — it’s still very much a small-project, and the result is absolutely delightful: a tiny working crochet bag, complete with a flap or a drawstring top, that hangs from your keychain like the world’s most adorable miniature accessory.

Start by working a small rectangle for the base of the bag. Chain 8, then work single crochets back and forth in rows until you have a small rectangle about 1 inch by 1.5 inches. Then, working in the round, pick up stitches along all four sides of the rectangle and work upward in continuous rounds of single crochet until the bag body is about 1.5 to 2 inches tall.

For a flap-top version, after completing the body, chain across the front opening to create a small flap, and work a few rows of single crochet to shape it. Add a tiny button closure — you can crochet a small loop on the body for the button to slip through, or use a snap for extra security.

For a drawstring version, work the bag body as above, then on the final round, alternate chain-2 spaces with single crochets to create a drawstring channel. Thread a thin piece of yarn or a ribbon through the channel, cinch it, and tie a small bow.

Add a small strap by chaining a length of yarn and attaching it to each side of the bag’s opening, then loop your keychain ring onto the strap. Done.

The beauty of the mini bag keychain is that it actually functions as a tiny pouch — people use them to hold a folded emergency bill, a small piece of jewelry, a lip balm charm, or just carry them purely as accessories.

Scrap yarn recommendation: This uses the most yarn of the five at around 20 to 30 yards, but it’s still completely manageable from scraps. It looks especially striking in a single rich solid color, but colorblock versions — one color for the body, one for the flap — are beautiful too.

Tips for Making Keychains Look Professional and Polished

Once you’ve made a few of these, you’ll naturally develop your own rhythm and style, but a few finishing tips can make a real difference in how your keychains look when complete.

Always weave in your ends thoroughly, going in multiple directions through the stitches before trimming close. For amigurumi-style pieces, tuck the tail end inside the stuffed piece before closing so there’s nothing to weave at all. Use a slip knot or a larks head knot to attach your keychain ring securely, and if the yarn feels at all slippy around the metal ring, add a tiny drop of fabric glue for extra security. If your finished piece looks a little puckered or uneven, a quick steam from an iron held a few inches above the surface (not directly touching) can do wonders for evening out the stitches.

A Few Final Thoughts

There’s something genuinely wonderful about turning yarn scraps into something that someone will use and love every single day. A handmade keychain isn’t a throwaway gift or a forgettable trinket — it’s something that goes everywhere with the person who receives it, something they touch dozens of times a day, something that might spark a conversation about crafting or creativity or the simple pleasure of making things by hand.

Whether you’re making these for yourself, as gifts, to sell, or simply because you have a basket of beautiful scrap yarn calling your name, these five mini crochet keychains are the perfect place to start. Pick up your hook, grab whatever yarn scraps are closest, and see what you can make in the time it takes to drink a single cup of coffee. You might be surprised by how much joy fits into something so small.

Happy crocheting! 💛