How to Craft With Bottle Caps
If you want to do something with used soda or beer bottle caps besides throw them away, consider using them to make a craft. There are far more crafts available for bottle caps besides hammering a row of them on to a belt. Display their kitschy charm, if you desire, by making crafts that display the original logo and label. Otherwise, create an image that you wish to display.
Things You'll Need
- Bottle caps
- Pot
- Water
- Tongs
- Tweezers
- Rubber mallet
- Paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Glaze or lacquer
Instructions
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1
Place the bottle caps in a pot of water over the stove.
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2
Heat the water until it is boiling. After five minutes, remove from the heat.
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3
Using tongs, lift the bottle caps out of the water.
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4
Use tweezers to remove the rubber lining on the underside of the bottle caps.
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5
Use a heavy rubber mallet to deliver even hits to both sides of the bottle cap until it is flat. Start with the cap positioned label-side down.
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6
Take your decorative paper or picture and cut it into a circle to fit the underside of the cap. Be sure to make it small enough so you can still see the scalloped edges of the cap.
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7
Glue the paper to the underside of the bottle cap.
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8
Cover the cap with a coating of clear glaze or lacquer. Let dry for at least an hour until dry.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Glue on a thumb tack or a magnet to the back to create personalized versions of these. For pendants and other jewelry purposes, drill a hole into the cap.
Twist-off bottle caps are better than the non-twist-off varieties for crafts since they won't be bent after you remove them from the bottle.
Be careful not to cut yourself on the sharp edges of the bottle cap.
