How to Make a Monkey Fist Keychain with Paracord

How to Make a Monkey Fist Keychain with Paracord

Learn how to make a monkey fit knot keychain using paracord for an awesome handmade gift! This fun craft is perfect for older kids, especially teenagers. This would be a great gift for your teens to give their friends or family.

We love gifting handmade presents on Christmas. Each child and parent makes a handmade gift for everyone. It's the highlight of the holiday! It instantly changes the attitude from "what am I going to GET for Christmas" to "I can't wait for them to open the present I made them". I love that mental switch, thinking of others before themselves.

I hijacked my 18 year old son to help me with this project. He's an expert whip maker and the Grand Champion Whip Cracker 2020, check out his instagram here. He works a lot with paracord in his whip making, so this is a pretty simple craft for him.

I received this paracord from Strapworks in exchange for this post. Affiliate links included. 

Strapworks has all the paracord, strap/webbing, tie downs, buckles and more! I knew their selection of paracord and keychain hooks would be perfect for monkey fist keychains.

Sometimes it's hard to get older boys involved with crafts or handmade gifts. This is a fun one for that age group. These keychains are cool and there's skill involved making them, but it comes so naturally to them. 

These also make a great masculine gift--sometimes those can be tricky to come up with. This cool keychain is perfect for keeping track of keys or clipping to a zipper on a backpack!

Here's a video to show the process:

Supplies Needed for Monkey Fist Keychains with Paracord:

6 feet of Paracord in various colors

1/2" Light Duty Metal Trigger Snap

Marble

Scissors

Lighter

Step 1: Cut Paracord

Begin by cutting a length of paracord at 5.5-6 feet. 6 feet is great if you are wanting to make a necklace, 5.5 feet is plenty for a keychain.

Step 2: Wrap

Now begin 6 inches from one end of the paracord and loop the cord 3 times around your fingers. Then hook the cord between 2 fingers as pictured so the cord goes to the back of the hand.

Then wrap around the 3 loops, with another 3 loops.

With the last loop, pull the paracord end through the center of the loops.

Step 3: Marble

Now place a marble inside the loops of paracord.

Step 4: Wrap Again

Now wrap the paracord all around the marble 3 times.

Notice my son's "special" fingers? He's left handed, so I wondered if this tutorial would be confusing for us righty's. However, because he's missing fingers on his right hand, he holds the cord the same way I do...so just follow along!

Step 5: Pull Tight

Now it's ready to pull to tighten. Start at the end of the cord and follow it all the way through to the other end of the paracord.

Step 6: Tighten Again

After going through the cord and tightening as much as possible, go through and repeat the process, this will really cinch the paracord down on the marble. 

Repeat the process for every color of paracord and make a bunch of handmade gifts for friends and family!

Finish off the keychain with the metal trigger snap.

Slide the hardware on both cords of the monkey fist paracord.

Then wrap the paracord in a knot around the hardware and pull very firmly. Then clip the ends short with the scissors and light the nylon ends with the lighter. Let them cool and it's done!

Turn one into an adjustable necklace too! This can be a loose necklace or tighten like a choker.

Here's the video on how to tie this sliding knot:

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That's it! I still have lots of paracord to make more monkey fist keychains! Make some and share them on social media--then tag me so I can cheer you on!

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