Our refrigerator is just about covered with bottle caps. The boys and I had great fun making these bottle cap magnets over the last few days.
You will need:
Metal bottle caps (from soda or beer, or buy plain ones from the craft store)
Magnet sheets (the ones that have an adhesive on one side make this extra easy)
Glaze (Mod-Podge or Diamond Glaze or what we used – Krylon Clear Glaze)
Tacky Glue
Pictures, Paper, or Drawings
Cut out small circles from magazines, postcards, photos, or plain paper. If the kids want to they can make their own drawings on circles. We have a large 1” circle hole punch that made this very easy. We had fun finding different pictures and designs in magazines.
Glue the paper circles to the inside of the bottle caps and let dry. Once the glue is dry, pour the glaze into the bottle caps, all the way up to the rim. The glaze had quite an odor. I was glad we could do this outside. The clear glaze magnifies the drawing just a little and adds shine, too. We didn’t add glitter, but I think that would be a fun thing. I’m sure it would work.
The hardest part is letting them dry. You do want to check on them periodically for air bubbles. We got our bubbles out with the end of a toothpick. We did leave bubbles on purpose on one cap that had a picture of fish. It added a fun effect.
(as the glaze was drying)
After the glaze is dry, flip the bottle caps over. Cut the adhesive magnet sheets into small squares and attach.
And then you can decorate your refrigerator.
(two of our favorites)
This isn’t a project for small children. I wouldn’t want little kids around the glaze and of course the bottle caps are a bad size for swallowing. Those of you with small children in your homes should not put these magnets anywhere the children could get to them. For those of us with bigger kids it’s a fun way to recycle those bottle caps. It would be fun to do alphabet letters or even magnetic checkers or chess pieces too.
Also See:
Primary Time: Summer Activities
Thumbprint Art – Easy Crafts for Children