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Many of my favorite childhood memories involve crafting with my mother or grandmother, and among my most cherished possessions are Christmas tree ornaments that Mom made. A great craft that is easy to do with children is making bottle cap ornaments.
 This project is a fun way to spend the day together, and will also provide a treasured keepsake as the end result. They can be used as accents on a full-sized tree, and they are also just the right size for a miniature, tabletop tree.
Supplies you will need:
Bottle caps (the metal kind is best, but the plastic kind can also be used)
Spray paint
Paint and paintbrushes
Glue
Scissors
Ribbon, cord, wire, or jump rings
Glitter or glitter glue
Paper, stickers, and other embellishments
Step 1: Paint your bottle caps. Since many of the metal bottle caps you'll find are from beer and other alcoholic beverages, you'll probably want to paint them to cover the logos and make them more kid-friendly. The easiest way to do this is to place all of the bottle caps on a table outside and spray paint over those logos at least a couple of days before you're ready to sit down and decorate your ornaments.
Step 2: Decorate your bottle caps. Holiday stickers are an easy route for creating your ornaments. Just make sure you buy stickers small enough to fit inside the bottle caps! Your kids or grandkids can also include their own artwork. A one-inch hole-punch is just the right size for bottle caps. Scrapbooking papers make a great background. Be creative! You can use items that aren't holiday-specific like seashells, sand, broken jewelry pieces, old game pieces, and more. Hit the local dollar store, where you're sure to find a bevy of treasures to use. To attach your embellishments, I recommend a glue that dries completely clear, such as Judikins Diamond Glaze or Mod Podge decoupage glue.
Step 3: Add some sparkle. What's a Christmas ornament without some shine? You can use regular, loose glitter to accent your ornaments, but I recommend using glitter glue. It's less messy, and provides more placement control. The glitter glue that comes in tubes is easiest for smaller hands to work with.
Step 4: Glaze your bottle caps. This step is optional, but it will provide a more polished look and will help your ornaments last longer. You'll have to wait until all of your glued items have finished drying before performing this step, however. For my own projects, I use various types of resin, but those aren't particularly kid-friendly. A non-toxic alternative is a product called Aleene's Paper Glaze, which can be found at most craft stores.
Step 5: Create a hanger for your ornament. Once everything inside of your bottle cap has dried, including the glaze, you now need to provide a way to hang your ornament. This step will need to be completed by an adult, and there are a few different approaches that you can take. You could use some really strong glue and attach cord or wire to the back of the bottle cap. The most secure route, though, is to drill a hole through the top of the bottle cap. You can then thread some ribbon or wire through and tie it in a loop, or you could also use large jump rings instead, such as those used for jewelry.
There are variations to this project, too. Some of them include:
- Linking multiple bottle caps together to make longer ornaments for larger trees. If you plan ahead, the bottle caps can correspond to each other. For example, you could use three bottle caps together to make a snowman's body.
- Wearing the ornaments as pendants on a necklace instead of hanging them on the tree. You can also find pinbacks in the jewelry supplies aisle of most craft stores that can be glued on the back of the bottle caps.
- Making larger versions of these ornaments by recycling lids from jars of food like peanut butter, mayonnaise, pickles, jelly, etc. Just like the bottle caps, both the metal and plastic kinds will work.
I hope you enjoy this easy and fun project. Happy Holidays!
Rachelle Matherne is a professional blogger for firstSTREET Online, a leading provider of unique gifts for grandparents and retirement gifts that help seniors stay active, healthy, and connected with loved ones. Rachelle has been crafting for over a decade.
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