Bottlecap Necklaces

Once upon a time, I saw a photo in a magazine of a white picket garden gate hung with a folk art flag made of bottle caps. Super cool, but requiring about 500 bottle caps. I showed it to my favorite GI Joe, and, of all the things I’ve mentioned to him over the years, that one was the one that stuck.  So whenever we have a get-together involving beverages in bottles, he saves the caps like a madman. As though we’ve ever lived in one house long enough for me to nail bottlecaps to the gate!

I don’t have the heart to tell him that I lost interest in the bottle-cap flag about ten minutes after I showed the original photo to him, or that I can buy bottlecaps at any craft store if I need them for other projects. Thus, I periodically try to use a few of the bottlecaps in other projects, since we have a growing stockpile of them. Through about 4 moves now.

Recently I made a couple of necklaces with them…super simple and customized to whatever jewelry colors your wardrobe might be missing. All you need is some scrapbook paper, a 1” circle punch, and some Crystal Effects to seal it. And some bottlecaps, of course.

You can save them from your favorite beverage or buy them from a craft store.  Stampin’ Up! even has them in their newest catalog.  You can also buy clear round epozy stickers at the craft store, so you don’t even have to use Crystal Effects…just pop a sticker on top after you adhere your paper to the inside of the bottlecap. Use E6000 to attach a bail (that’s the thing with the ring to attach to a jump ring) and you’ve got a fabulous pendant.

For this necklace, I used a piece of paper with a cute little circle design and some coordinating beads from my stash. I strung them on a $1.50 magnetic clasp wire necklace from Walmart. Super thrifty, and quite wonderful!

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Princess Thundercloud loves jewelry, of course, so I made this one for her.  I punched the circles from Stampin’ Up!’s Storytime Paper and added an “E” from tiny pearls.  I strung these on a ball chain and tied 1/8” and seam tape ribbon pieces on to keep the caps where I wanted them, and because it’s more textured and cute. Hers is long enough to go over her head so she doesn’t have to fool with a clasp.

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Perhaps I’ll take another look at that folk art gate when we finally make it back to our “forever home.”  Until then, we’ll just keep saving those caps!

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About Megan

My various hats: mom to three crazy teens and one quirky dog, wife of 27 years to my retired GI Joe, and high school math teacher. After my husband's retirement from the Army, we've settled in the Pacific Northwest. Crafting, cooking, photography, and reading keep me sane (that's a relative term!) and I hope you'll enjoy following along as I navigate the chaos of life!
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7 Responses to Bottlecap Necklaces

  1. Stephanie A. says:

    More cute ideas! I just need to get my son to save his beer caps now. Should I tell him he CAN drink more beer??

  2. Gretchen says:

    The only thing about your forever house is how long it feels like before you move back. The fence is just the right size, though !

  3. Kathy V. says:

    Looks like we’ll have to rebuild that fence for sure now! Cute idea (shhh, don’t tell GI Joe I’ve got at least 500 of those little suckers back when bottle caps were the rage. I think I just might have found a home for them! Ha)

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