I’ve been looking for a way to use bottle caps, ever since Kale started home brewing beer. It seemed like a waste to throw away the caps, so I’ve been saving them and waiting for a bit of bottle cap inspiration to come to me. That happened when I saw resin at the art store. I realized that bottle caps are the perfect container for resin and a great shape for a ring, too. That brings us to today’s project: bottle cap rings. I made a few different designs, so you can either choose your favorite, make all of them, or use this as a jumping off point for your own creative invention.
Choose a piece of fabric and trace around the bottle cap. If you have a design that you want centered in the ring, take care to line up the bottle cap before tracing.
Cut out the traced circle.
Get out some white glue, like Mod Podge.
Put some glue on the inside, bottom of the bottle cap and place the fabric.
Gluing it down will keep it from floating when you pour in the resin.
Funky buttons also look great in the resin. Simply cut off the shank (look on the back) so that it will lay flat. I glued a piece of fabric and then glued the button on top of that.
Polymer clay, which can be found at arts and craft stores, is another fun option for decorating your bottle caps.
Line a bottle cap with clay in the color of your choosing. To make petal shapes, roll the clay into balls and then flatten. Pinch one end to make them more petal-like.
To make a swirly middle, take two colors and roll them out into long logs (like when you roll out play dough on the table). Twist the two logs together. To further combine, gently roll back and forth on the table. Starting at one end roll the log up into a coil.
Here are the different rings I made.
The resin package contains two different liquids that need to be combined according to your packages instructions. The vapors are pretty strong so be sure to do this in a well ventilated area or, preferably, outside. In case of spills, be sure to cover your workspace with cardboard or newspaper.
It only took half an ounce to fill the 5 rings.
Carefully pour the resin to the brim of the bottle caps. Allow to dry for at least 24 hours. If it is still sticky or tacky, they need to dry longer.
Once dry, gently roughen up the spot where the ring base will be placed. You can used a metal file or sandpaper for this.
Get your ring bases, bottle caps and glue ready. This glue works really well and can be found at craft and hardware stores.
Place a dab of glue, allow to harden for a couple minutes, and then place your ring base. Allow to dry completely.
Your rings are now ready to wear!
I think it would also be fun to personalize a ring by printing out initials or a favorite quote and gluing that in the bottom. What ideas do you have? What are you going to put in your bottle cap ring?
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Mallory, I love this! My nephew loves to wear pins on his shirt & so I wanted to make him some, but I wasn’t coming up with any ideas of how I could make a pin then I saw this! Its perfect, Mike home brews too, so we always have bottle caps, and my nephew will love them! I’m so excited to make him some pins, thank you for sharing!
Making bottle cap pins is a genius idea, Amalia! I’m sure your nephew will love them and you’ll have a blast making them, too. Aren’t we lucky to have these home brew guys
Really informative article.Really thank you! Cool.
So glad you like it!
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