Creative Ideas for Bottle Caps
Bottle caps have been around since 1890, when William Painter lined a cap with cork and deemed it a "crown cork" to seal up glass beer bottles. Caps began to be mass produced in the 1900s and manufacturers quickly saw them as a functional way to further advertise their products. Metal caps became collectible items and inspired kids everywhere to make tap dancing shoes out of their sneakers. Still useful for both sealing bottles and crafts, there are numerous ways to creatively use or display your bottle caps.
Frame
Use vintage metal bottle caps to decorate a plain wood picture frame. Mix colors and styles of caps along the border of the frame to add interest and contrast and adhere with hot glue. Add a photo and gift to provide an accent for a rustic or kitschy home decor.
You can also add a vintage touch to a frameless mirror. Glue bottle caps directly to the mirror or outline the mirror with a flat wood frame and nail the bottle caps, cap top up, to the frame with finishing nails.
Magnets
Bottle-cap magnets are easy enough to make to get the kids in on the fun. Look through magazines and trace a nickel over a colorful portion of a picture, a person's face or interesting words. Cut out carefully. Glue the images to the inside of the bottle caps and attach a small round magnet to the back to complete. Minimize fine art images on your computer for a stylish touch to your bottle cap magnets.
Contain Them
Vintage bottle caps can be shown in a variety of ways. Select a glass vase to fill with bottle caps as an accent for a bookshelf or table or toss a bunch into a goldfish bowl on a bar top or desk. Fill a shadow box with metal bottle caps to hang on the wall of a rustic or country-decorated powder room.
Table Top
Cover an inexpensive plain wood round occasional table with black paint and then mount bottle caps to the top with small finishing nails or clear glue. Add a few layers of bottle caps to add more interest and top off with a round glass table top for a rustic outdoor table or primitive art piece for your den.
