How to Make a Ring from a Bottle Cap
Bottle caps make great bezels for inexpensive jewelry-making — their flat tops are easy to attach to store-bought or recycled ring findings. Although metal bottle caps tend to be more attractive, this technique works well with plastic caps from milk jugs or juice bottles. As for what you place inside, there are very few limits — as long as it can be preserved in resin, you can use it. If you're artistically inclined, you can even paint your own designs on the inside of the cap.
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Things You'll Need
- Bottle cap
- Ring finding
- Photograph, old paper or fabric, found objects
- Scissors
- Clear-drying craft glue
- Epoxy resin (such as EnviroTex Lite, Colores Doming Resin or ICE Resin)
- Heat gun, hair dryer or butane lighter
Instructions
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1
Select a bottle cap that you want to use for your project. Consider the size, color and material when selecting a bottle cap — even pop or beer bottle caps can look very large on small fingers.
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2
Select some fabric, a photograph, an old invitation, wrapping paper or decorative paper or a clipping from a magazine. Place the bottle cap on the object you selected and trace a circle. Cut out the circle and trim it until it fits neatly inside the bottle cap.
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3
Prepare the cut-out circle by painting or spraying it on both sides with a clear-drying craft glue. The purpose of preparing the circle is to keep the dye from bleeding when you embed it in resin. Allow the glue to dry.
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4
Mix the resin according to the manufacturer's instructions. Place the object in the base of the bottle cap. Pour the resin over the object until it is completely covered. Continue to pour in the resin until the bottle cap is full and the resin is nicely domed.
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Remove any bubbles that form in the resin. The simplest way to do this is to pass a heat gun or a hair dryer on a low setting back and forth a few inches above the resin until you see the bubbles evaporate. Alternatively, do the same with a butane lighter — just be very careful not to touch the flame to the resin.
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Allow the resin to dry overnight or according to the manufacturer's instructions.
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Glue a store-bought or recycled ring finding to the back of the bottle cap using a dab of the epoxy resin.
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Tips & Warnings
Found objects can be placed in the resin in addition to — or in place of — the images. Just be sure the objects are no taller than the inside of the bottle cap.
This technique works with a variety of findings: rings, earrings, pendants or pins.
