Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Bottle Cap Ideas

Use bottle caps to create an interesting pattern on old furniture.


You can make crafts like magnets, musical instruments, jewelry and other simple items with bottle caps. Furniture, rugs, lampshades, place mats and trivets are just a few of the bottle cap crafts for the more adventurous crafter to tackle. You'll need a whole collection of bottle caps to create many of the crafts.


Furniture


Cover the surface of old tables, dressers, shelves, boxes and so on with bottle caps. The multitude of bottle cap colors make for an interesting pattern. Be creative with the colors to create objects within the design. Use an epoxy to attach the bottle caps and apply a clear resin to create a smooth surface.


Flattened Bottle Cap Ideas


Go "green" and recycle bottle caps to create a modern version of a 1960s lamp shade, curtain and room dividers. You can make each of these items with round, flat disks connected together. Flattened bottle tops turn into scalloped-edge disks. Connect the disks with wire or fishing line. The flattened bottle tops will turn freely and add movement to the items.


Trivet or Place Mat


Crochet around the outside of a bottle cap and connect them together to create a trivet or place mat. The combination of the metal and crochet cotton are strong, absorb the heat and will not scratch or burn the table or counter top. Easy place mat shapes include a circle, square, rectangle and octagon. Make trivets that depict a bunch of grapes, an apple, an orange or the face of a pig, puppy or kitten.


Rug


Use wire to attach the bottle caps together to create a rug. Use different colored bottle caps to create words, patterns and objects in the rug. A metal rug is for looks and not practical to catch dirt and grime before it enters the house. You should only place this type of rug on a non-scratchable surface such as concrete.


Musical Instruments


Make a castanet by tying two bottle tops together with fishing string. Play the castanets by looping the fishing line over your thumb and fold your fingers up and down to clap the two bottle tops together.


Make a musical clinker by placing five or six bottle caps on a 3-inch nail and securing it to a piece of wood. Shake the clinker back and forth to make the bottle tops clink together. More nails filled with bottle caps will create a larger noise.