Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Bottle Cap Christmas Tree ~ Christmas Tree Ornament






Items Needed:
~3 metal bottle caps, washed and dried
~small piece of scrap (such as a food box) cardboard
~Green acrylic paint
~Paint brush
~1/2 inch wide ribbon, color of your choice
~Covered work surface (we used newspapers)
~Strong glue such as E6000, or other craft glue

~Tacky glue
~Gold sequin, small yellow button, or yellow pom-pom (or any small item to use for the star on the tree)

~ Optional:  Miniature Christmas lights or any small decorations (sequins, beads, cut up bits of plastic lids, glitter, or other items) that can be used to decorate your tree with.



1. Paint the inside of all three bottle caps using your paint brush and green paint.  Allow to dry between coats. You may need several coats for a nice look.



2.  Using scissors, cut a triangle from the cardboard, about 1 -1/2 inches on each side.  

 Paint one side, using the same green paint, and allow to dry.  You may need two coats.


3.Turn your three bottle caps over, and arrange them as shown.  Place a dab of glue on each painted corner of the cardboard, and place painted side down. Allow glue to completely dry.



Tip:  For a quick hanger for your ornament, cut a 3 inch piece of scrap ribbon.  Place a dab of glue between the cut ends and place it between the cardboard and bottle caps when you glue the cardboard down.  Otherwise, simply glue it to the backside, after the cardboard has dried completely. 



4.  Turn the ornament over, and decorated the tree.  Allow it to dry completely.   






*Just before the last coat of paint is dry, sprinkle glitter over it to add sparkle (what we did).  We also added a dab of glue around the edges with more glitter (after the paint had dried). 

We allowed that to dry, before adding the mini lights to it.  At the top, and on the bottom of the ribbon, we used tacky glue to a gold sequin star.

TIP:  Cover the backside with scrap fabric, felt, or other material.  Or simply leave it as is. 

Note:  I found that by gluing the ribbon on short, gives you enough room to slide a metal tree ornament hook into it, so the ornament hangs better on the tree. If your ribbon is too long, the weight of the bottle caps will cause the ornament to lean forward when placed on the Christmas tree.

No comments: