These three bottle caps were my very first resin project. I knew the minute I saw the resin being poured that I would make Envirotex Lite my product of choice for the projects I envisioned.
Bottle caps are the least expensive bezel you can work with. You can collect them yourself or go to a "u-brew type store" and buy a bag. And of course there are many for sale on sites like Ebay. There are even a few major craft companies who are packaging them up into nice sets.
In their original state they have a little plastic on the inside which helps when you seal a cap to a bottle. This plastic can be left when working with resin, but if you don't like the shadow they can create, you can peel this plastic away. I warm them up on a griddle and the plastic starts to curl away making it easier to lift. Usually, I leave them as is as I did for today's samples.
You might also choose to flatten your bottle cap. As you can see from the picture below the flattened bottle caps are very pretty! I use my old Sizzix die cutter to do the flattening. This tool has been replaced by much newer and better models so I am happy to keep it just for flattening my caps!
You can now work with a regular cap or a flattened one. If you work with a regular cap, it is much deeper and I will show you how to do some layering.
What goes in the bottle cap? So much! If you make as many as I do you'll start looking for images to use that are one inch wide. For today's tutorial I used something that might have gone into the trash. This is the instruction sheet that comes with a
Bisous paper kit. The scrap booking kit is called "
shabby PDQ" and I wanted to make some bottle caps to go with the wonderful paper. I am so glad I am making use of the kit insert!
I always use a one inch circle punch. I get my designs punched perfectly for a bottle cap.
The paper needs to be protected from the resin or you'll see uneven staining. I coat the front, back and all the sides of the paper circles with Mod Podge. When dry, I apply a second coat. When I glue the paper to the bottle caps I coat everything again. It's very helpful to work on a non-stick surface for these types of chores.
When all the Mod Podge is dry I start to add three dimensional paints and glitter. I also glue into place tiny charms. Everything will need to dry completely before pouring in the resin.
Three dimensional paints look like pearls under resin. I like to add it whenever I can.
Then out comes the Envirotex Lite! To ensure that your resin is perfect all you need are accurate measuring skills. You need equal parts of both the hardener and the resin. The instructions are in the box and of course you can also
watch the video I have added to the side bar.
In the next few weeks I will do a tutorial on mixing and air bubbles. When you pour resin there are bubbles that can easily be removed by waving a flame or by blowing a hot breath on the surface. This is another whole tutorial I will do in the future but you can see a great technique for dealing with bubbles on the video.
With the flattened bottle caps you will need a very small amount to cover the whole circle. Here they are with freshly poured resin already looking fantastic. I let these dry over night before moving them. Then I set them aside to cure for 48 hours.
With the regular bottle caps I encourage you to only fill them up part of the way! It's tempting to add resin right to the brim, but if you come back tomorrow I'll show you why you should leave room for one more pour!
Labels: Bezels and Other Components, Envirotex Lite, Jewelry, Tutorial
