Bottle Cap Locket Instructions - "Peace is Golden"

I love love love trying new things. Jewelry is pretty high on that list. This love brought me to the Bottle Cap Locket. (In my house, getting my hands on bottle caps doesn't seem to be a problem.) I already have some ideas for variations of this.

Supplies (I used):
2 clean bottle caps
Gold thread (for the "chain")
Small bit of gold ribbon, 1 1/2 - 2 inches
Pearl wire
Paper
Craft Glue

Tools (I used):
Pliers (Oh, look! My pink handled needle nose pliers)
Needle and thread
Hot Glue Gun
Scissors

1) Using pliers (found this works better than a hammer, which does often leave the in weird shapes), bend down the sides of the bottle cap to leave a nice edge. For one locket, you will need two bottle caps.

2) Paint outsides of bottle caps to preferance. I used gold spray paint (it sure has been getting a lot of use!). Just for cleanliness factor I usually spray paint things inside of a box. This keeps the over spray and the colored mist from getting on this I would rather it not. Let dry.

3) While the bottle caps were drying I cut my "chain" from the gold thread, taking three pieces of thread cut to the same length and laying them against each other. I placed a knot in the center of the three, connecting them to each other. I then placed two more knots midway between the middle knot and the end for a total of three knots. I wanted the more loose feeling for this, but I could have braided or used macrame knots here instead if I had so desire.

4) Once the bottle caps were dry I carefully attached one end of the golden ribbon inside one of the bottle caps with hot glue (you could use a craft glue instead). Then attached the other end on the inside of the bottle cap with glue as well, leave a small piece in between, maybe 1/2 inch in length. Make sure these are secure and dry/cool before moving on.

5) Fold the bottle caps on the ribbon in half, so that the bottle cap bottoms meet and line up evenly. Taking the needle and thread hand sew across the top of the bottle cap, making the ribbon piece into a loop to hold onto the 'chain'. Knot and tie off when secure. It will look a bit like a clam here.

6) Using pearl wire I hot glued a ring around the edges of the locket and trimmed a few apart to make a design in the center as well. (You can use any kind of embellishment or use a white craft glue instead, but I like hot glue and the immediate bond with short drying time.) You know have what looks like a locket.

7) For this locket, I chose to include pictures on the inside and opted instead for one side to include a peace sign made from the gold thread a piece of paper cut to size with a clear drying white craft glue to secure. For the other side, I have the message "Peace is Golden" secured with and under a good layer of the clear drying white craft glue.

I found my original inspiration for this project at www.cutoutandkeep.net. Make one for yourself or one as a gift.

Gifts Recieved - Gifts Treasured

 Over the years I find some of the greatest treasures to be those that were created or embellished by hand, not machine. Creation and art is life and means more than you can find at any superstore. We need to celebrate the hand made arts more, the people that create them, and the people who give them. They are truly beautiful.

The first is a hand made cross, I think it was crocheted. To be honest, crochet, knitting, and the like are things I know little about. (I'm just learning to knit on my own.) Someone made these cross bookmarks for me and my siblings but I can't remember who. An older family friend perhaps. (I feel bad for this, but I can't help it.) Some of them were of only one color, but I favored the one with the rainbow of colors. For years it hung on the bulletin board in my bedroom.

The little girl figurine was a gift from a my grandmother years ago for Christmas, crafted  by a friend of hers from church. The tiny book in the doll's in hand is "Christy." It is a movie and mini series that we shared. It doesn't sit more than 2 inches high.

The small chest was a gift fro a friend in high school. She found a small chest and stained it in a cedar to match the cedar chest I had made years before. I use it now to hold coins I've collected from different around the world as well as my small collection of pressed pennies. It sits on a shelf in my room amongst old family photos.

Embrace the gifts that mean the most because they were chosen just for you, made with someone's own hand.

The Backside

We sew. We stitch. We embroider. (Well, at least I do.) But most never look at the back of their needlepoint (whether embroider or cross stitch) except to check something, start a thread, or end one.

I don't know why, but I am one of those people that is often fascinated with the backside of my needlework; the part not meant to be seen, the part that is often not seen, the part often overlooked. I look at the backside of something I've been working on or something I've finished, watching the colors and the lines that connect the images or words on the front, such an important part of a finished piece, yet... How often do we notice? How often to we look? How often do we even think about what is on the other side?

There are so many thing in this world that make up not just a creative process, but life, so many things that are below the surface or on the other side. Many sometimes we just need to stop and look or at least give them a thought without letting ourselves get stuck there.

Worry Dolls

When I first went away to take over the Art & Craft Hall at Summer camp, I wanted to take some new things with me and every summer tried to continue to bring new things to the be offered and shared. These worry dolls made from twisty ties, colored thread (i.e embroidery floss), and tiny bits of fabric scrapes was something I came up with after a bit of playing with different mediums and ideas. After making a few on my own, I shared them with my aunt, teaching her how to make the little bendable people. It was important that I could make them easily, but also that I could teach them for someone else to make. 

 

The instructions below are the original ones I made, used copies of for classes, and left behind in the master craft book. I didn't have regular access to a computer at camp, but I did have a copy machine. The instructions were hand written with actual pieces laid on the copy machine as examples and how for the front and back. A master set was in color on construction paper with pieces if twisty ties and string laid on and secured between plastic.


These were so popular and versatile that one of the kids made a little dollhouse from a Velveeta Cheese box and other odds and ends.  Enjoy!