Next time you open a bottled beverage, save that metal bottle cap to make your own home decor items. These craft projects can be made to complement decor colors, personal preferences, or party themes by choosing caps with coordinating logos.
Three Bottle Cap Craft Projects
Each craft is easy and family-friendly, but requires differing levels of adult supervision to prevent burns from the use of a hot glue gun, stove top and melted wax.
Bottle Cap Serving Tray
Transform a boring charger plate into a tiled serving tray using bottle caps as the tiles. Choose bottles caps with the same logo or with a mix of brands for colorful variety to create a mosaic.
You Will Need
- Charger plate
- 37-40 bottle caps
- Hot glue gun and sticks
- Grout
- Putty knife
- Sponge
- Rag
What To Do
- Place bottle caps in the center indentation of a charger plate. Arrange until you are happy with the design. Pick up each cap one at a time, apply hot glue to the bottom edge, and replace on the charger.
Attach caps to plate. - Mix grout according to the manufacturer's instructions on the container, or use pre-mixed grout.
- Pour the grout over the caps or use a putty knife to apply the grout to the center area of the tray. Note: It is better to cover the caps completely to ensure even distribution of the grout and a smooth tray top.
Grout the tray. - Allow the grout to set for approximately 20 minutes. Using a wet sponge and working in a circular motion, wipe off the excess grout covering the caps. Rinse and repeat until the entire surface is clean and smooth. Allow the grout to dry.
- Buff the tray surface, plate edge, and the bottle caps using a soft dry rag to remove the remaining residue of grout film.
Jute and Bottle Cap Coasters
Not only are you recycling bottle caps to craft these stylish coasters, but you are also utilizing the fabric from old blue jeans to provide a soft and durable backing. This project uses a hot glue gun throughout and is not a suitable craft for small children.
You Will Need
- Blue jean fabric scraps
- Compass
- Ink pen
- Scissors
- Bottle cap
- Hot glue gun and sticks
- #72 natural jute
What To Do
- Trace a 4" circle on the wrong side of a blue jean scrap. You can use a compass or a 4" round object for your pattern. Cut out the circle.
- Lay the circle wrong side up on your work surface. Apply hot glue to the bottom edges of a bottle cap. Center the cap on the denim circle.
Attach the bottle cap. - Cut the end of #72 natural jute at an angle. Apply a dot of hot glue beside the cap. Press the end of the jute into the glue and against the edge of the bottle cap.
Spiral the jute around the cap. - Apply a line of glue around the cap and continue to spiral the jute against the cap edge.
- Continue to apply hot glue and spiral the jute until the entire denim circle has been covered. Cut the jute end at an angle and glue to the coaster edge.
- Trim the excess denim from the coaster edge.
Bottle Cap Tealight Candles
Brighten the patio, serving table, or a bar top at your next special occasion with these adorable bottle cap tealights. Candles are made using the wicks and wax from generic tealights, but will be smaller than a common tealight. Candles will burn approximately one hour. Caution: Using the stove and melting the wax should only be done by an adult.
You Will Need
- Tealight candle
- Bottle cap
- Clean vegetable can
- Pie tin and water
- Wax paper
What To Do
- While holding the metal cup of a tealight, grasp the wick and pull out the candle. Discard the metal cup. Turn the candle over and pull the small metal plate out of the candle. The wick will be attached to the metal plate.
- Pinch the rim of a clean vegetable can to form a spout. Put the candle wax in the can. Place the can in a pie tin and add an inch of water. Heat on the stove using a low setting to melt the wax.
Prepare and melt the wax. - While waiting for the wax to melt, clean and dry a bottle cap. Place the cap upside down on wax paper and center the metal plate and wick in the cap.
Prepare the caps. - Slowly and carefully pour the melted wax into the cap until full. Allow the wax to cool and harden.
Bottle Cap Tips, Prep and Safety
So you have saved several bottle caps and are ready to start crafting. Well, almost. When working with bottle caps, no matter the project, a few pointers for using them are great to have in your tool belt.
- Wash and dry the caps completely before you begin.
- If painting your caps, clean the surface that will be painted using vinegar and water or rubbing alcohol. Allow the caps to dry thoroughly.
- Fold bottle caps in half to use as petals for a flower or as beads for a rope curtain. Stand a cap inside the open jaws of pliers and squeeze closed. This will take a bit of effort but will fold the cap over. Place the cord for a rope curtain between the fold just before completely closing the fold. Note: Recycled caps are thicker and harder to bend than store-bought craft bottle caps.
- Household cement, craft or jewelry glue can be used as a substitute for hot glue, but anchors or weights may be needed to hold the components in place until the glue has dried.
- There are a few techniques you can use to flatten bottle caps for use in scrapbooking and jewelry making. A tortilla press is by far the easiest and gives the best results for a perfectly flattened cap. Store-bought brewing caps can be flattened using a Cuttlebug, but if you are going to buy caps, you might as well get ones that are already flattened. Lastly, place a cap on an old cookie sheet and use a mallet.
Plastic Bottle Caps
Metal bottle caps are not the only caps you can recycle for other purposes. Save plastic bottle caps in a variety of colors and sizes to use for math and patterning as early education tools, or use as simple game pieces for tic-tac-toe and checkers.
