Wednesday, July 13, 2011

ICC#28-Recycled Bottle Cap Flower Tutorial

This week's Iron Craft Challenge was to create something using materials that would normally be thrown away.  I have been collecting bottle caps for years with the thought that someday they would become a project.  This was the day.  I created a flower out of bottle caps and turned it into a decorative garden stake.  Here is the finished product.


Now, here's a step-by-step tutorial.  First I collected my materials.  I used bottle caps (I used 20 in mine), a tin can lid, a chopstick, and glue (I started with super glue but switched to epoxy b/c some weren't holding).


From there, I started bending my bottle caps into the shape of flower petals.  The basic idea was inspired by a previous Iron Craft project where I had created a felt flower.  I used my pliers and just started bending until I got the shape I wanted. 


For me, the easiest way to do it was to grab the rim of the bottle cap and pull it down to flatten it.  Then I would bend in the two sides.  Finally, I would bend down the top.  My first few petals looked like blobs of metal so it takes a little trial-and-error.


As I went, I laid my petals out on the tin can lid to determine how many I would need.  I did two layers of petals, but you can switch it up and do more if you like.


Next I glued on the petals.  I did the entire outside row first and then switched to the second layer.  Like I mentioned above, I tried using super glue but found that some of my petals weren't holding so I switched to epoxy.


Finally, I added one more bottle cap in the center.  Now you have a finished flower!


From there, I attached a chopstick by gluing it onto the can lid in between two of the petals.  This allowed me to turn it into a garden stake.  But there are lots of other possibilities.  You could paint it, add leaves (maybe cut from soda cans?), turn it into a pin, etc. 

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

41 comments:

  1. Great idea! Jake saves a lot of his bottle caps. I'm not sure how he'd feel about me using them for a project like this haha, but it's a very neat idea. How cute would a few of those be in a front or back yard?

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  2. I loved this so much I showed it to my 10 year old who is an "industrial artist" at heart. He was very intrigued. I think we might go on a bottle cap search and do this!

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  3. These are pretty amazing. We've been saving bottle caps to make magnets but I like this better.

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  4. Awesome work upcycling! And it was a really fun idea to turn it into a garden stake, too. Well done.

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  5. Totally worth a blister or two. Awesome job :)

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  6. Love it! It looks so fantastic. I wonder if my boyfriend would let me transform his collection of bottle caps...

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  7. That is "so" cute! Luv it. You are very creative, and the upcycling makes it even better. Have you thought about making more? For your shop or a show?

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  8. thanks for all the nice comments! i did enjoy making it and may make some more once my bottle cap collection grows again. i don't think i will start selling them though; they're just not my passion. they were fun though, definitely worth the blisters :)

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  9. Cool! Now I know what to do with the pile of bottle caps on the counter. :-)

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  10. I would love to make one of these for my garden! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  11. I love it! great tutorial! Thanks for sharing!

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  12. These are adorable! I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that I recognize most of those caps! Hehehe.

    Stopping by from SITS.

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  13. That's really cool! I have a ton of bottlecaps, but they're plain, so I don't think mine would be as pretty.

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  14. just popping in from SITS....

    Oh my gosh....that is oh soooo cute!
    I have been collecting bottle caps for years now as well. After creating magnets, brooches and charms I have run out of ideas and, quite frankly, interest. I once read an interview of some man who created mosaic art with them (mostly fish, and they were neat) but I don't have that many caps left and well, I think I'm bottle capped out......until now! Your flower is inspiring....so very clever.
    Thank you
    Have a beautiful day

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  15. Very cool idea. Your flower looks great.

    Stopping by from SITS.

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  16. This is great. We've been collecting bear bottle caps for a long time just waiting for an idea. I think nyou could even turn the caps over to show what they are, you could make a Tecate or a Corona flowr.

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  17. It came out great, thanks for the tutorial! So cool to see it on Craft!

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  18. Its A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! Had collected a huge lot of such caps- four pringles box full of caps....kept waiting for an idea to make something out of them.....waited...waited...finally trash grew up so much that i threw them all a couple of weeks ago :( wish i had kept them a little longer, i probably could have made a half dozen of these!
    Will start over again....this is a great idea, thanks!

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  19. What a super idea and great craft!

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  20. @Chinnu oh no! I hope your collection grows back up quickly.

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  21. Hi, Jenny! I love the look of this flower - have never seen one like it, so colorful and cool! Nice recycling, w00t!

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  22. I anticipate nyou could even about-face the caps over to appearance what they are, you could accomplish a Tecate or a Corona flowr.

    Beanies

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  23. Jake saves a lot of its bottle caps and feel to me to use for a project like as very clear idea. This is given images and information is really important for basic concept of different hats.

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  24. I loved that it showed my 10 years of age who is an "industrial artist" in the heart. I was very intrigued. I think we could go for the bottle cap and

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  25. I loved it so much that I showed it to my 10 years, which is "an industrial artist 'at heart. He was very interested. I think we could go to the bottle cap from the search, and not do it!

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  26. Love it! Especially love that you used actually used bottle caps. Drives me crazy when someone buys something new to make a recycled craft idea, what the hey, especially when the used item is so readily available! Definitely want to try this thanks for the tutorial. Just finding you thru pinterest today.
    Susanne.

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    1. Hi Susanne- Thanks for stopping by and leaving a nice comment! I'm just glad I found a use for the bottlecaps. Like many crafters, I save everything in case I can make something out of it so I had been building up quite a store!

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  27. Great idea, I've been saving mine for a crocheted hotpad but I might use some for this project! Also, do you have any ideas for water bottle caps? I am making a wreath out of water bottle bottom flowers and need fill in flowers, so I saved lots of the caps-but don't know how to make flowers with them. I tried cutting them, I didn't do well they are ugly. Any thoughts? Thanks.

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  28. Good question about the water bottle caps. I would have to look at them, but here are a few thoughts. You could put several in a cluster like petals. You could also cut out a hole in each and string them together in rounds. Or else maybe punch a hole in the center and wrap some ribbon or tulle around in a doughnut shape to make a flower.

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  29. Love this Jenny, what wonderful whimsy it would bring to any garden...so doing this!! Beautiful blog, looking forward to following you...Cheers Julia

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  30. Your project's been Candoodled! I love it so I've shared it:
    http://candoodles.blogspot.com/2012/05/repurpose-bottle-cap-decorating.html

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  31. I wonder how it would look if the bottle caps were turned over and hand painted? But this is a great idea.

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  32. Great idea. I would love to try to reuse bottle cap.
    Nice share...

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  33. Great tutorial! Thank you for sharing. What a creative use of bottle caps. We save all of our bottle caps because I always thought they'd make a great crafting medium. Some of the bottle cap designs are very artistic and unique (in fact, I admit that sometimes I'll buy a bottle of beer just because the cap is intriguing), and some... not-so-much (like the Costco - kirkland brand beer. haha.) This is a great way to utilize the colors of the bottle caps but 'hide' the cap brand-design. I am going to try this so we can decorate the stand we made for our beehive. My vision is that our hive will look like it is atop a field of flowers. Hopefully I can master your bottle cap petal forming skills! Thanks, again!

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  35. i have to make this for the little boy upstairs. we can stick it in his pot of flowers we take care of. he's a little gardener like me! he'll love it. any way to make it spin? judy

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    1. You know, I have no idea how to make it spin. Maybe adding a nail through the middle to attach it to something else? My suggestion would be see if you can find another tutorial for a pinwheel and see if you can blend the two together. Have fun!

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Thanks for your comments! I love hearing from my readers :)