Caps Off to you!

Hello Peeps!

I started this project cause I got a whim in my head (which is usually why I start most projects). I wanted to make something that was not only upcycled but that was also recycled. There of course is an over abundance of trash in our lives, and I believe in recycling and other (as my husband phrases it: Hippy stuff) but I am not your average hard-core, flower-wielding tree hugger. I am quite lax on the whole business, but I do love a good piece of art that is made from recycled materials. I have been reading a whole heap about what people can build with everyday throwaway-able stuff and there is an enormous amount of incredible talent out there. Boats and buildings made of plastic bottles, furniture made from pallets and old cars, and even giant statues made from milk jugs. This got me thinking about what I could be doing with all of the hundreds of water bottles that my family alone goes through.... what I came up with....well, that is for a future blog when it gets accomplished.

For now here is a windchime that I made for my sister using an old tin can, bottle caps and fishing line.

Here are the steps to make your own:

My friend Shelly was able to wrangle up about 250 bottle caps from 1 4X4 night simply by asking her waitress to save them for her. Yes, that is alot, but they have a ton of Jeepers who attend those events.
I started by giving them a good washing. Lots of dish soap and a turkey pan big enough to move them around to get clean. Then dry them off really well.

Next: I grabbed my hammer, a really long nail, (or galvanized screw) and a thick block of scrap wood. This was a long process since I decided to do all of the bottle caps at once instead of only the ones that I needed at the time. Especially since I had planned on doing two at once, I wasn't sure exactly how many I would need. I started with all of the freshly clean ones in an old protein jug and as I went along punching holes, I threw them into a box top. Turn the bottle caps over and use your nail to press down on one side of the cap. HLT: try to stay in the middle of the side instead of too close to the edge to avoid punching your hole out of the side. Your nail will want to move on you when you start hammering, so watch out for your fingers.

Hammer your nail in just enough to make a round hole but not far enough so that you have to use your claw hammer to get it out of the wood each time. That would be exhausting and you will want to give up on this project very quickly. Then put another hole directly across from the previous one.
Place two holed cap into holding cell (box lid) until all remaining caps have had their turn under the knife (or nail, as it was).

Paint! You may wish to use the bottle caps displaying their original artwork of brand logos, but I chose to make mine a bit more fancy. So I laid all of the bottle caps face down on a tarp (my vinyl tablecloth that I use for all of my painting projects) and gave them two coats of white Spray paint/primer. HLT: It is ALWAYS better to spray lightly, wait and then spray again rather than using one heavy coat because this helps you avoid drips and also sticking.

Once that was dry, I took half of those caps and put them in more box lids and gave them a coat of Red. Not using the white spray first shows the logos through the red paint so do not skip that step.

This is also a good time to spray down your cans, but can also be done later, if necessary. I used a 28oz can of Rotel and a 64oz can of pineapple ( Some good recipes came out of those, I might add)

I used my pampered chef scraper and some WD-40 to get the sticky parts of the paper off of the can. Make sure to clean well using a degreasing soap if you go with the WD-40 to get the surface clean enough for spray paint. If there are any sharp edges sand them down at this point. My can opener has the clean-edging system so it eliminates that step.

Spray paint cans inside and out.

Allow to dry between each coat. I did not primer the can because paper logos are removeable, yea!

Next, you will need your handy dandy hammer, nail and block o' wood again.

Mark where you would like your caps to hang from. I had 8 holes on the small can and 16 on the big one. Use your nail to hammer through the cans.

Then mark your holes and repeat the steps for the top of the can.

I used floral wire to loop through the holes and create a hanging loop for the top.

You will need to string your bottle caps together. I commandeered 12 LB fishing line that my husband had lying around in the garage. Start with a double arm length of line and knot one end. double the knot until big enough to not slip through the hole on the first bottle cap. Thread it through the middle and out through the bottom. I loop it through the same way again and the tie a knot on the outside of the bottle cap. this secures your line to the first bottle cap. Now thread the line back through the bottom and out through the top of the cap. Thread line through the bottom of the next cap and then loop back through the top of the first one. HLT: You do not want them so tight together that they do not move in the wind.
This step will take you a bit to get a handle on, but You will figure out how loose to make it so that you are happy with it. Thread through the length of each cap then tie off at the top leaving the extra line attached.

Next, attach each line of caps to your can. I like to loop the line through several times to account for wear later on. Knot each one to secure it and then trim off excess.

Then paint it with whatever finishing touches you would like.

Since my Sis-in-law's birthbay was coming up, and she LOVES Mickey - I made it with Mouse ears all over.

So I hope this inspires you to take a double look at the things that you throw away and ask yourself - Is there something that I could make with that?