Rudolph Bottle Caps

I had a spontaneous craft this week after I saw this reindeer bottle cap ornament idea on Pinterest. I was instantly excited because I had a packet of bottle caps I had bought a long time ago, but hadn’t found a use for yet. I thought this idea would be the perfect way to utilize them, and also make something fun as Christmas decorating is fast approaching. I thought of the other crafty do-dads I had laying around, and came up with my own way to make these little reindeers.

What You’ll Need:
• Bottle caps
• Felt (for antlers)
• Googly eyes
• Small red gems (for nose)
• Large gems (for back of bottle cap)
• Brown paper (for inside bottle cap and ears)
• Tacky glue
• Scissors
• Ribbon

• (optional) 1” circle punch

Directions:
1. Take the brown paper and create a circle to fit inside the bottle cap. A 1” punch fits perfectly inside most bottle caps, but you can hand-cut an exact fit by tracing around the back of the bottle cap. Another option is to use brown paint to add color to the inside. I used a textured brown paper that I thought added a unique touch. 

2. Place a circle of glue on the brown paper circle, and place inside the bottle cap. Allow a little bit of time to dry.

3. Now, use the glue to add on the googly eyes and gem nose. If your bottle cap has a hole like mine, make sure that stays on the top. I used goggly eyes that were bigger than the nose, but you could play around with different sizes and styles. Allow time to completely dry.

4. Now using your brown paper again, cut out ears. I used the 1” punch again to make circles, and then cut the circles in half. You could cut rectangles, triangles, or other shapes though. The textured paper I bought was also a tougher material that seemed hard to rip, which might be good to consider since the ears will be sticking out.

5. Once the ears are cut out, use the felt to cut out different shapes for antlers. They don’t have to be perfect, but make sure they are thick enough that they won’t tear easily.  Since my bottle caps already have holes in them, they are ready for ribbon if I want to turn them into ornaments. If your bottle caps don’t have holes, and you want to make them into ornaments, you would want to cut your ribbon now and glue them on in the next step.

6. Now it is time to glue again! With your ears and antlers ready, also get your big gems. This will help further secure and also give the back of the bottle cap a nicer look. Place a glob of glue on the back and place the ears how you want, add a little more glue, and place the antlers. Try to get them as even as you can, so they look nice when facing forward. Finally, put a glob of glue on the gem and put it over the ears and antlers. Press down to secure.

7. Allow to dry overnight. You can leave the reindeers as is, or add a ribbon to make it an ornament. You could also turn it into a keychain. One more option is to replace the gem in the back with a magnet piece.

Here are some photos of the final product:

I was really pleased with how these little Rudolphs turned out, especially since I spontaneously put the idea and materials together. I used up my bottle caps, so I now have enough of these guys to give out to some family members and friends. The key point is to allow for dry time, especially at the end. I am excited for more holiday activities to come!