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Forget about those overpriced souvenir magnets! Here's a quick project you can do with the kids. All you really need is:
- a paper bag/decorative paper/Christmas Cards/something you want to use as a graphic for inside the bottle caps
- glue
- bottle caps
- magnets
- modpodge
- (optional) a stick
- (optional) resin or resin stickers
About a month ago, the Navy Reserves sent me to San Diego. Since my husband is off in Afghanistan, I brought the kids along. They had a great time and wouldn't stop talking about it even after we came home. Like everyone else, we are trying to watch our budget, and didn't buy many souvenirs.
1. Here, we have a bag from the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. You could also recycle theme park ticket stubs, postcards, wrapping paper, photos from all those Christmas cards, or anything else you happen to have laying around the house.
2. If you are using standard bottle caps, then you should cut out 1 inch circles from the bag to fit into the bottle caps. I happen to have a 1 inch circle punch, so that's what we used. You can also trace circles lightly with a pencil and cut with scissors. If you are using light or thin paper, you might want to cut out some circles out of plain white paper as a backing, glued on behind your desired image... just to be sure you don't end up with something translucent that shows the bottle cap liner. Since this bag was printed on "kraft paper," I didn't need it for this particular project.
3. Now, for the fun part. Mod Podge! Mod Podge is the bomb. It's an adhesive AND seals your paper without that permanent "wet" look. Get a stick or use your fingers and smear a thin coat on the front and back of your circles. Then stick it in the bottle cap and voila! Well, you're not quite done, but almost. Let them dry and go eat lunch or take a nap or something.
4. Now, you have a choice. You can leave the bottle caps the way they are, slap some magnets on the back and call it a day
OR
You can put something over the paper to help preserve your souvenir. Typically, folks choose either poured resin (usually found by the jewelry making supplies) or using clear resin stickers (normally found with scrap booking/paper craft supplies). Since my 2 year old was helping me, I went with the stickers. (If my 12 year old was the only one around, I would've mixed up some Ice Resin to pour into the bottle caps since that lasts a LOT longer.)
You could use regular magnets and Tacky Glue, but those magnets aren't as strong and Tacky Glue takes longer to set. Don't use Tacky Glue with the rare earth magnets. If you do, I guarantee that the first time you try to pull the magnet off of the refrigerator door, the bottle cap will come off in your hand and the magnet will be stuck to the fridge.
There you go! Ready for the fridge. Or get an old baking pan and let the kids play with the magnets in the car. Ta da!
Thank you so much Mandy! If you are interested in sharing a tutorial, please contact us via the Contact link at the top of the blog!
3 comments:
Very cool...I think I will use this craft idea for Sunday School!
Thanks
Robin (CreationsAnew)
Awesome! This batch wasn't quite as colorful as the ones we made using ticket stubs but the kids like talking about the animals they saw.
Resin stickers are a number of the maximum a laugh and simple objects in existence. They are very simple, and have so many specific uses. They can be used to for my part mark a specific item as one’s own, however in a completely candy and easy way.
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