How to do Alone: Bottle Cap Craft Night

First: Fantastic Spatula got a shout out on Trista Hudzik Reynolds blogger. You should check it out if you haven't already. Second: This "How To Do Alone" is about Staying In. I know, I know. Staying In is probably the easiest thing to do alone. You might add that Staying In is probably easier than walking alone. Probably easier than reading alone. Even easier than breathing... alone? Yeah? Well, just hold your single solitary horse and let me tell you this isn't just any alone night in. We're not vegging out in front of a movie tonight. No, no. Tonight we're having craft night and we're making bottle cap magnets. And by "we're" I mean "you... alone"... Got that?

What You Need: Six pack of bottle caps (or someone who drinks beer in bottles or soda [aka pop] in bottles), Old magazines, Scissors, Anything small that will fit inside a cap like beads or sequin, Glue (for glueing things inside the cap and a stronger glue for gluing the cap to the magnet, Magnets (You can use old magnets or buy new ones for pretty cheap at a craft store), Music of your choice.

What to do: Now that you have your bottle caps handy you might be sloshed if you drank the six pack of beer your self... or suffering from an hugeungous sugar buzz if you drank coke (aka soda/pop). Whatever, power through. This is an alone night in and we (you) are making bottle cap magnets, dagumit! We (you) are going to use one of the caps to trace around images in the magazines. Cut out whatever you like. You might also find images that you really like that are way to big for a bottle cap. Cut them out anyway and save them. You can use them later to make cards or a collage or something. After tracing the images cut them out. See? Easy as pie alone.

Measure the images again after you cut them out by putting them inside the bottle cap without glue  just to make sure the images fit. They may need some trimming. Once they are the right size put a bit of glue on the inside of the cap then squish your image inside. You can glue your sequin or beads to the image (or you can glue all the little things inside the cap without the magazine image. You can actually do whatever you feel inclined to do - you know this of course. This HTDA is just a reminder that it’s ok to be creative alone.) 

Now all the images are cut out and glued, glue the magnet to the back of the bottle cap with your strong glue. Be careful because the inside of your cap may still be wet. While things are drying this is where the music comes in handy. While you are waiting for your caps to dry you can dance around the house like there is no one watching... because there is no one watching... because you're having an alone night in doing crafty things. This may also help to burn off your soda/pop/pepsi induced jitters or sober up your six pack of buzzed. Maybe. I'm not guaranteeing anything except bottle-cap-magnetic-fun. The caps may take over night to dry completely. So, you'll probably dance your self silly and then pass out on your bed from sheer dancing exhaustion. That means when you wake up you'll realize not only do you have a whole beautiful day /raging-hang-over-headache/ sugar-soda-pop-orange-crush-mouth ahead of you but your bottle caps are dry! 

Now you can test them on your fridge. Ta Da! Look at you go with your crafty self. These little guys make great gifts too. And you thought staying in was going to be sad and boring and lonely. Pfft.

What I Did: I went through and cut out tons of magazine clippings. OK, OK. I got carried away and made 50 bottle caps (which is OK since I sell them...) I also had an old sweater that was way too small for me and some googly eyes from a craft project years ago. I made sweater monsters in a few bottle caps. Also, to give them a finished look I put a thin layer of Mod Podge Dimentional Magic on some and a thin layer of gel medium on others. When this dried it gave it a shiny, water proof layer that really looks nice. You can get this stuff at a craft store. It may be a bit pricy but you (I) will use it for everything... It's up to you how much money you really want to put into these alone projects. You can use what you have or go all out (I went slightly out since I’m selling them and giving them as gifts.) I also saved some of the larger images because I know I’m going to make cards later. I also danced to The Kills and Numa Numa and a few mixed CDs that people gave to me for my NC-MT road trip last summer. Talk about a creative workout!