Vintage Bottle Cap Necklaces By: Shay

Hi!  I'm Shay.  I'm Joni's daughter.  All of my crafty ideas come from her.  One day when we where out shopping we stopped at a little antique store on the way home.  We where just walking around and we didn't really see anything we where absolutely dying to have.  On the way out mom saw a scale that would go  perfectly in her kitchen.  While she was buying that I noticed a dish on the counter that was filled with old, vintage bottle caps.  I fell in love when I first saw them.  If you've ever seen the movie Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, you've seen the bottle cap necklace I've been dying for.  They ended up being 6 for a dollar so I bought a bunch.  My first set is made up of fun summer colors that go with most outfits.  It's bright and it definitely makes a statement.

This is so simple and so inexpensive.  6 bottle caps is the perfect amount to cover the front of your neck.  Along with these fun things you will need some type of  thick chain that will be easy to take apart.  I got mine for 2 dollars at Wal-Mart.  You can get them at pretty much any craft store.  I tried these little jump rings to link them together and they just didn't work.

So now that you have everything, you need to punch the holes.  I used a hammer and punch set my mom got me.  You need  to put your holes on the curved edge of the bottle cap.  Punch your holes on the inside of the cap where there's that little crevice, and your punch should just fit right in there.  Use a Sharpie to make marks (on the inside of course) so that you know where to punch your holes.  Try to make the smallest hole you can that will still allow the jump ring to go through. 

(Ignore the little jump rings they didn't work.)  Next you want to make your necklace a comfortable size.  Get a necklace you already have that is a good length and lay it out straight on the table.  Under that lay your chain and  adjust it so it's the same size as your other necklace. 

 Then under your chain lay out you bottle caps so they are centered on the chain.  Using pliers separate the links that are directly above the hole you made in the cap.  Do this on both of the outside bottle caps.  Put the open links through the holes and hook then onto the bottle cap closing them with the pliers. Save the links from the middle.  You will need them in the next step.

Using the extra links you took off the middle, take one off at a time and use those to link together your bottle caps. This is a lot cheaper than buying jump rings because then you don't have a random chain laying around.  It may take two pairs of pliers if your chain is really strong.  

Close that link and move on to the next one.  Eventually they should all link together to form a necklace.  Make sure the links are closed tightly so they don't slip off of the cap easily.  I know it doesn't sound like they will come off but they definitely will.  If you want to put a dab of hot glue on the hole to secure the link then go ahead.  When it's done it should look like this.

There are so many ways you can arrange these caps.  Just be creative and think of a unique way to place them.  Another way I did mine is in a "V" shape.  Just do the chain the same but use the little jump rings this time to hook the bottle caps together in the center of the necklace.  They allow your necklace to have a little movement and not be so stiff.  It will take 2 or 3 in some places because of the small size.  

These will need a little hot glue on the holes because these rings aren't all that strong.  Again, using a sharpie to mark where your holes will be punched really helps.  This makes it so you can line up the caps and they won't be crooked and out of place. These necklaces can be made in whatever shape you want.  I have another design but I'll post it later once I have some pictures.  Everyone asks me if it's scratchy or if it hurts and it really doesn't.  Another good tip is to take clear nail polish and put a coat over the chain so it doesn't tarnish and the silver will last longer.  Leave comments cause I want to know what people think of this idea.  Bye! :) 


Linking to:
Hookin up with HoH #12 
A few of my favorite things 
Funky Junk Interiors 
Tatortots and Jello 
The DIY show off: Project Parade