I’ve been on the look out for a tray to keep some kitchen items nice and tidy on my counter. I found the most hideous pink tray on clearance at Hobby Lobby and I decided with a little paint and some TLC it was exactly what I was looking for! To add some spice to this tray, I put to use some bottle caps I saved over several months, and thus the fabulous bottle cap tray was born! Here is how to make it:
Materials Needed:
- A Tray
- Bottle caps
- Spray Paint- I used
- Acrylic Water
Tips & Suggestions:
- If you decide to try this project, make sure the handles on your tray are high enough to give you plenty of room to contain the fluid and whatever you are submerging with at least half inch clearance.
- The spray paints I used were Krylon’s White, Blue Ocean Breeze, Ivy Leaf and Pumpkin Orange
- Acrylic Water is sold at Hobby Lobby, Michaels and WalMart, usually in the Floral Department.
Directions:
1. Paint your tray and bottle caps.
2. Lay the bottle caps on the bottom of the tray and play around with it until you are happy with a pattern. The staggered pattern worked well for me with not too much wasted space, though it wasn’t a perfect fit.
3. Next, follow the directions on the Acrylic Water to mix the compounds and pour the mixture over the caps. Acrylic water is self-leveling, which is great! The tough part was waiting the 48 hours to set because it cannot be disturbed at all, and my house is full of disturbances!!! 🙂
Luckily, the acrylic hardened without any incidents, and was ready for use! It turned out really cute and retro funky, just what I wanted!! I bet a lot of different things could be “captured” under the acrylic! Pictures or buttons, anything!
So, what do you think???
. . . . .
This project originally published on Somewhat Simple in August 2010. It was updated in May 2014 as a tribute to the original creator, Michelle, who lost her battle with cancer earlier this year. Here creative talents were showcased beautifully on her blog Sweet Something Designs.
I haven’t read through all the comments, but I was thinking that if the tray doesn’t have cut-out handles that the old fashioned bottle openers would be cute handles.
Hi, I have been looking on websites for this very project except with windows and glass gems. Thank you!! My question is; when you pour the epoxy liquid in, do you pour it over the caps or around them and do they shift when the liquid is poured in? And if you pour around them, will the liquid find it’s way around all of the pieces and under them? Thank you so much for posting this project…You have made me a happy camper!
What an awesome idea !!!
Can this be done with plastic water bottle caps?
i did a similar project recently, and used expensive epoxy from HomeDepot. Appartmently I didn’t stir (mix) the 2 components long enough and it never cured or set up properly. So disappointed. It looks awesome but it’s tacky/sticky to touch. Anyone have suggestions as to how to fix this?
add another layer and mix it correctly. it should seal the tacky layer.
I heard of this before but never thought of painting the caps. You have given me so many ideas! Love it!
how do you keep the caps from floating when you pour the epoxy over them/ please respond today i plan on doing this project soon, great idea
Your project’s been Candoodled! I love it so I’ve shared it:
Perfect! I have been “collecting” caps for some time (they MUST be good for something). I think this would work for keeping the caps “as is” with the brewery tag. Sooo many micros now with cool caps. Thank you for sharing. Does the acrylic water get really hard, or kinda soft/waxy? Trying to think of other uses for it…
LOVE this tray!! This so inspires me to do more! I have an outdoor cart/bar that I think I will try to do this with now! Thanks for the great tutorial!!!
I’ve been waiting a long time to try this! I finally had the bottle caps and paint to do it! So I poured the acrylic water in and it made some of the bottle caps “float” up a little. I tried to carefully push them back down, but overnight some snuck up again. Did this happen to yours?
Sorry you are having problems with this- I have never done this project, so I don’t have any advice. Try contacting Sweet Something Designs directly and see if she can offer any help. Good luck!
Sorry Steph, I didn’t realize it was a guest post. I’ll check out her site. Thanks so much!
This is really cute! I may try something similar.
Another cute idea. love it.
I can't wait to try this idea!! I have never heard of acrylic water before. I wonder if paper/pictures would hold up well??
What a great idea! I just found a bunch of buttons at a thrift store, but wasn't sure what to do with them. Now I know 🙂 So glad I found your blog!
How fun! I think I might be doing something like that in the future…super cute!
What a really unique and creative idea. I'm impressed! The colors of the bottle caps are perfect!
I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I will be linked to this post tomorrow from the new Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip. 🙂 My hope is to share many of the fabulous projects I see everyday with the vast CG audience. I hope you will not only stop by and subscribe to CG, but will tell your friends about the new category! Hope you see some traffic from it!
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How fun and funky and inventive!
Very cute idea!
Love how this all turned out. I love the colors and I love that you are able to recycle at the same time. Perfect
~Makalani
http://www.MakazHome.com
Such a cute project! I love the colors you used on your bottle caps! I am going to link to this from my blog for "someday projects"
That is really cool. I fully intend to steal this idea soon!
I might riff on this idea some time!! I love it!!
SO COOL! i absolutely love it! you are very smart!
meagan
Now that is creativity at its best! What a beautiful tray it is now! Just love it!
Sharon
This is very cute! 🙂
Love this project!! The colors you chose are perfect!! I totally want to do this now. We could use a tray on our coffee table for our million remotes!
Okay, that is totally awesome! Great idea- never heard of the acrylic stuff- good to know about. My first thought was, "How do you clean the mess between the caps?" Stinkin' clever! Thanks for posting. 🙂
omg!…this is so freaking cool!…and i'm loving the color combo!…
What a great idea! It turned out beautiful!
I love this idea. I never would have thought of painting the bottle caps. I have a cup of them and this may be what I will do with them.
Man I love this!
This is great. I will have to keep my eye out for a tray so I can try it myself!
that is amazing…I love the pop of color!
Wow! I love it! Fantastic! I can't wait to use some of that acrylic.
http://www.joybeadworks.blogspot.com
Wow! this is a transformation. I would never have thought of using bottle caps in this way. I love the colours you chose.