Saturday 14 February 2015

Bottle Cap Brooches

My hubby is a fan of real ale and as such often drinks a bottle or two (sometimes even more- real ale to him is the equivalent of buttons to me) this means I have a lot of bottle caps at my disposal. I must, also, give a shout out to our friends Andy and Carrie, they have been collecting for me as well and gave me one of my favourite caps, the owl from Hitachino Nest Beer; the other is a Brakspear Brewery Cap with their bee logo. 
These I'm saving for a different project.
I thought I would make brooches with some of the rest using resin I had and bits and bobs I had around the house.

First things first, I gave the caps a good wash, I then set about removing the plastic seal bit, stuck inside the cap, using a pair of pliers. This was easier for some than others, so for the rest I just did the best I could before giving up entirely and, to be honest, it didn't really make a huge difference.
I decided I wanted dangly bits hanging from each one so needed to drill a hole in the side of the cap. At first I tried using my Archimedian drill which was possible, but tough going as it kept slipping so I switched to my "ImpressArt Hole Punch", although a bit fiddly to hold with the cap, it made it a lot easier and much quicker to add a hole!
I gathered up pieces of card and paper with an interesting pattern, mostly from magazines and catalogues. I then cut circles out using one of the plastic inserts as a template, but handily found one of my circle punches was just the right size. If the paper was uncoated, for example from a page in a magazine, I coated both sides with clear tape- this prevents "bleeding" of the colours when the resin is added.
I glued each circle inside a cap using 2 part epoxy glue and left them to cure completely, this doesn't take too long at all, just a few minutes. During this time I picked the extra trinkets and bits to add, small buttons, glitter, resin flowers and beads for example. I also made the dangly bits using wire, jump rings, and by gluing bits to copper discs which can be hung from the jump rings.
Next I added the clear resin, carefully following the manufacturer's instructions. I poured at least a 2mm thickness in each one but made sure it did not quite reach the hole I had drilled in the side. I then left them to set for at least 24 hours somewhere they wouldn't be disturbed or get dusty.
After I was satisfied they were completed cured I glued a brooch finding to the back and added the dangly bits.
Job done! I'd love to know what you think of the recycled bottle cap brooches.
Until next time, craft in earnest! Craftin' Ernest x

1 comment:

  1. Thanks Kate and sorry for the delay!
    Thanks for the link also, the lizard is quite incredible. I also really love his drawing of the robin, it's stunning. He's very talented.

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