by Chanell Gautreaux

Created on: July 02, 2009

Bottle caps are a cool curiosity item, especially when they come in a variety of colors with designs on top. Flattened bottle caps are somehow even more fascinating to young and old alike and it is always fun to find one in an unexpected place.

The simplest and quickest way to make a bottle cap necklace is to turn your bottle cap into a pendant. If using a flattened bottle cap, carefully put a small hole an eighth of an inch from the outer edge by carefully using a hammer to drive a small nail (or other piercing tool) through it. This is best done over a block of wood and you will want to tap lightly until the nail has gone through the bottle cap and into the wood just deep enough to give you the size of hole that you need.

Turn the hammer around and carefully extract the nail. You may even want to use safety goggles or glasses while working to protect your eyes. If you have small enough bits, you could also use a hand drill for this step, but it may make holding the bottle cap steady a little difficult and you might also injure your hand in the process.

To decorate your bottle cap pendant you can use enamel paints, a sticker, a favorite photograph, or any other bit of miniature art work cut to the size of the bottle cap minus an eighth of an inch. You may want to cut out a paper template first to be sure you have the size just right.

If the bottle cap was a rusted one that you found in a lot or on the side of the road someplace you will most likely want to apply a clear coat of acrylic, polyurethane or Rustoleum spray before adding your decoration. If the cap was one that you flattened yourself you may still want to seal it to protect in from moisture.

Once your bottle cap is decorated to your satisfaction use needle nosed pliers to open a wire jump ring by holding the ring where the ends of the wire meet to form a circle in one hand and slightly pushing one end forward and away from your body. You never want to separate the ends of the ring by pulling the ends apart towards the sides of your body to open up the circle as this will reshape the jump ring and can cause it to break.

Carefully slide your bottle cap pendant onto the opened jump ring and close the ring by gently squeezing the wire edge that you opened back into place with the pliers. It may be easiest to close it by holding it in one hand while moving the wire back towards your body until it closes so that you perform the exact opposite action you did to open it.

Attach your bottle

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