Hello! I’m Britt from Charlie’s Halo, and you might remember me from the recent Skinny Headband tutorial. I’m thrilled to be back! This time I will teach you how to make cute bottle caps with images on them using epoxy dot stickers. I will also demonstrate how I attach them to hair bows. Almost everything I used for this project can be purchased from The Ribbon Retreat!
1” Bottle Cap Images
Bottle Caps
1” Epoxy Dot Stickers
1” Circle Punch
Super Glue
I also use a hot glue gun, scissors, lighter and ⅜” ribbon to attach my bottle caps to my bows.
Let’s begin…
How to Make Bottle Cap Hair Bows
The first step is to punch out your images with a 1” circle punch. I use my punch upside down for accuracy.
Epoxy dots are really fast and easy to use. When removing them from the sheet you should be very careful not to touch the sticky side. If a fingerprint touches the sticky side, it will be visible on your finished bottle cap. Carefully align and place your epoxy dot over your image circle. I normally do this with two hands.
Using your fingertips, rub the back of the image until you’ve removed all of the air bubbles.
There are many ways to attach bottle cap images to a bottle cap. My favorite way is using super glue. I love how quickly it dries, it’s very inexpensive and a little goes a long way.
To attach your image, place 1 drop of super glue on the center of your bottle cap, and cover with your image. Press and hold them together for 30 seconds or so.
Images look great glued inside the cap too! It’s done the same way as gluing it on top of the bottle cap.
Bottle caps are so much fun, because the possibilities are endless! Since I am a bow maker, I mainly use them on bows. They can also be turned into magnets, pendants, zipper pulls, dog collar tags and so much more!
Next I will show two different techniques for attaching bottle caps to bows. Hot glue does not work well on the smooth surface of a bottle caps, so I use super glue in the next steps as well.
To attach a bottle cap with the image on top you will need piece of ⅜” ribbon that matches your bow. I cut a piece about 4-5” for a basic single layer bow. You will also use your super glue and glue gun.
I use 2 drops of super glue to attach the center of my ribbon to the inside of the bottle cap. The ribbon should be glued vertically to your image.
To make sure that my bottle cap is securely attached to the ribbon, I glue a reinforcement strip. To do that, I cut a ⅞” strip of ribbon and use a lighter to seal the ends. I use 2 drops of super glue and lay the ⅞” piece of ribbon across the ribbon that is already in place. You can use a toothpick or straight pin to avoid getting glue on your fingers.
At this point, the bottle cap is ready to be attached to the bow.
Use hot glue and press your bottle cap to the center of your bow. Trim down any unneeded ribbon, seal and glue down the ends to complete the bow. You can then add your clip, headband or other hardware.
Now I will demonstrate now to attach a bottle cap with the image on the inside.
Since hot glue isn’t the best for the smooth surface of a bottle cap, I use ribbon and super glue to create a glue pad that will keep the bottle cap securely glued to the bow. To do this I cut a ⅞” piece of matching ⅜” ribbon and seal the ends with a lighter. I use 2 drops of super glue to attach the ribbon, making sure that my ribbon is diagonal to the image on the other side.
I then use hot glue to bring together my bow and bottle cap.
Once again, I have had so much fun writing a tutorial for a such a great blog! I hope that this tutorial has inspired some to try something new. Bottle caps are one of my favorite embellishments and I love the possibilities. Happy creating!
Until next time,
Britt
Thanks Britt!
Britt has amazing products at Charlie’s Halo and every single one of them is done with such great quality. She is a wonderful hair bow maker and we are so happy to have her contributing on the blog! Please check out all Charlie’s Halo has to offer!
And of course, check out all the products at The Ribbon Retreat for this tutorial. We have great prices, wonderful customer service, and incredibly fast shipping. We are also here for you if you have any questions about the tutorial!
Thanks for reading!
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Have a wonderful day!
18 Comments
I like turtles!!!!!!! I love animals too!!!!!
Does this work for cabochons, too?
Hi Dee, we sell all of these supplies at theribbonretreat.com. You can find links for the supplies in the post. Hope that helps! – Shirley
I would love to make these but I don’t know where to get the Bottle caps, the Puncher and the Images. Where would I find those? Thanks so much!~Dee
I recently purchased epoxy dots/bubbles that are not self adhesive (I wasn’t thinking) any suggestions on the best type of adhesive to use that won’t show through the bubble??
Hi Kristen! We are so glad we could share the secret of how easy these are! And vintage Mickey bows sounds So so cute! Good luck and let us know if you have any questions. – Shirley
I have to tell you, I have been looking online for cute bottle caps that were already finished because I figured that the whole process was just too hard. Well!!! My my my you just made it look so easy! Thank you so much for this tutorial. I look forward to trying this out in the next couple weeks. I have some vintage Mickey bows that this would be just perfect for. Thanks again.
Krissi
Hi Silvia! We have a tutorial for the boutique bows and tons of other ones in our Tricks of the Trade hair bow instructions. We also have two other free tutorials on our blog. All the tutorials are different techniques to achieve this bow style. Let me know if you have any other questions! – Shirley
http://www.theribbonretreat.com/blog/twisted-boutique-bow-tutorial-removable-flower.html and http://www.theribbonretreat.com/blog/how-to-make-a-twisted-boutique-bow.html
Is there a tutorial for Boutique bows ?
This is brilliant. thank you. i have been wanting to do this for ages and havent got round to it yet. you have given me the spur to do it.
Thanks for sharing Shauna! – Shirley
I took a hammer (actually my husband did it the first time) a beat the top of the bottle cap two times so there wasn’t as much of a lip when I put the image on the outside.
Hi Sherry! This is a Pinwheel Bow. We do have instructions for this particular bow in our Tricks of the Trade Hair Bow Instructions. Our instructions include tons of different bows as well as a bow maker. Let us know if you have any other questions! Thanks! – Shirley
I am struggling with the bow in this tutorial. What is the bow called. I love that bow and mine don’t look like that. Can you help me?
Thanks Salina for your comment! That is so funny about your husband. The things husbands do for the ones they love!
– Shirley
i use both resin and the resin dots i like them both the dots are super easy i was not sure about them , but now i love them super easy even got my husband to help me with some lol
I’ve heard good and bad things about using the epoxy dots instead of mixing up the resin yourself. I’ve been wanting to try and make bottle caps, but I’m not sure what method to use. What do most people prefer? Will the epoxy dots work as well and keep water out? Thanks for any advice!
I’ve never used super glue for bottle caps. Does it hold up in temperature changes? I found that if you don’t adhere them right they pop apart on the first cold day. My trick is to lightly sand the bottle cap before applying glue. Super Glue would be easier if it holds up tho.