April 6, 2010

Craft TuesD.I.Y with Lisa Lopez: Bottle Cap Magnets


Think twice before tossing those bottle caps into the trash -- and try making these adorable bottle cap magnets that may be given as sweet gifts or to hang and display refrigerator art! They are easy to create with just a few supplies and simple steps!


Materials You Will Need:
  • Bottle caps
  • Glue
  • Round magnets
  • 1 inch round hole punch: located in the scrapbooking section of your craft store -- or if you don't have one, you can also use a quarter to trace your circles.
  • Scrapbooking paper, photographs, pictures, magazine clippings
  • Pliers
  • Diamond Glaze
  • Colored gems


1) Using your pliers, gently go around the edges of the bottle caps and "fan out" the edges so they no longer bend inward.


2) Using your 1 inch hole punch, start punching out photographs, pictures, colored paper, or magazine pages -- whatever you'd like to decorate your magnets with! You can also use a quarter and trace around it on your paper, and then cut it out.




3) Put a tiny dot of glue in your bottle cap and place your circle inside. You will want to let this dry for about an hour before moving on to the next step.


4) Next if you are using colored gems, you can glue or stick them to your paper inside the cap.


5) Next, you will put your diamond glaze inside the bottle cap then move it around to get the entire piece of paper covered. You do not have to fill the cap -- just put a layer on top. You can gently tap the cap on your workspace to get the air bubbles out.

This will need to dry overnight, or for about 8 hours. When dry, it will have a clear glassy finish.
Lastly, take your magnet and simply glue it to the back of the cap. Be sure to let this also dry for several hours before displaying on the fridge.


These bottle cap magnets would make adorable gifts for showers, grandparent's birthdays, Mother's/Father's Day, etc. So next time you drink from a glass bottle with a bottle cap, recycle the bottle and then upcycle the cap into a beautiful magnet!

1 comment:

jacquelyn Michelson said...

I love this craft! I don't drink beer, but I plan to get other bottle caps and make these for friends. What a great idea and gift!!