How can I reuse or recycle beer bottle caps?

Bottle capsWe already know what to do with narrow-necked glass bottles like those used for beer or lager and plastic screw-on caps, but what about the metal bottlecaps?

Like so many little random things, these lids seem infinitely usable – I just can’t think of many ideas to use them up.

Any suggestions?

(Photo by trelin)

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89 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle beer bottle caps?”


  1. Delusion says:

    If you nail/screw/glue one of these to a lollipop stick with the spikey side out you can use it to scale fish! :)

  2. Ben says:

    I just throw them under a large appliance.

  3. Mary says:

    I’ve seen belts and purses made with bottle caps–somehow pounded into the leather, covering the whole surface. Could be cute…

  4. Mel says:

    I take all my old bottle caps and make pendants out of them. Nail a hole in the top, put a jump ring through it- put a piece of bright colored paper inside (or a fun picture) and cut out type from an old book.

    Pour modgepodge over this and let sit til it dries. (The modgepodge WILL dry clear, even if you doubt it)

    Now you have a pendant that you wear as a necklace or keychain.
    Personally, I attach them to the purses that I make as an extra upcycled touch.

  5. I concur with Mel, though I’ve also turned my caps into earrings. Alternatively, I’ve turned the caps over, filled the “bowl” with tiny trinkets — beads, small photos, glitter, etc. — covered the whole shebang with a clear decoupage medium, let dry and voila! A cool charm for a necklace, bracelet, or keyfob. You can also affix the charm to a ring blank for some sweet, homespun bling. Happy crafting!

  6. yogahz says:

    Glue magnets in the back for decorative fridge magnets.

    Vintage crocheted hotpad that uses bottle caps:
    http://tipnut.com/bottle-cap-crochet-2-free-vintage-patterns/

    I think I’ve seen welcome mats that have bottle caps nailed into wooden slats for scraping mud off of your shoes.

  7. trish says:

    Glue or decoupage a pic on the flat surface, attach a magnet to the other side. Personalized magnets.

  8. trish says:

    Along the magnet idea, Put ABCs on them, and as long as you put something over the sharp parts, older children can use them (choking hazard.)

    Make special symbol magnets, for emphasis on important things, or “secret” codes to significant others.

    If you can cover the sharp parts, my cats LOVE playing with any they can get their paws on.

  9. Jeff Lovett says:

    This may seem pretty simple, but they are magnetic, so I recycle them with my steel cans and such.

    • Alice says:

      ME too, i would have thought everyone would do that. i’ve got ewnough rubbish on my fridge without sticking garbage on it!

  10. Shala says:

    Recently when I couldn’t find a button for a crochet project, I used a bit of wire and turned a bottle cap into a button. My 17 yo son loved it.

  11. abbet says:

    they stick to stucco ceiling, make a picture or design

  12. Ashley says:

    I can’t believe no one mentioned fixing them to a table top! Glue ’em down, and put a clear coating over them to fill in the gaps.

  13. Charles Crowley says:

    Do It Yourself Sistrum: Drill holes in bottle caps. String 4 on a nail, you will have to experiment with hole and nail head sizes, and drive the nail into a long piece of wood, something like a 1×2 a couple of feet long. Just drive the nail far enough to hold, letting the caps to rattle and clink loosely together. Repeat this process until you have nails and caps all up and down all 4 sides, just leaving enough space at one end or in the middle to grip the stick. Voila! You have a musical instrument! It makes a nice metallic “Tsshhh tsshhh” sound when you shake it. Take it to drum jams.

    • Tamara says:

      you gave me an idea. windchimes.

      if you punch holes in them, and tie them off on strings.

      it’s very windy here…

      i love windchimes

  14. Charles Crowley says:

    I’ve heard of penitents putting them in their shoes…

  15. Barbra says:

    Paint them or decoupage small photos on them or glue small items to them and make a checkers set out of them :)

  16. Brad says:

    They make excellent foot scratchers.

  17. Ali says:

    my cat loves playing with them.

  18. Becky says:

    If you go onto http://www.craftbits.com it shows you how to make them into keyrings. There are some pretty bottle tiops out their and it seems a same not to show them off.

  19. Jennyb says:

    i make magnets, keyrings, earrings, brooches, badges, mirrors, buttons….and possibly soon cufflinks

    oh and a hair clip is also planned soon.

    depends what else i have laying around or a spot in charity shops!

    i decorate in various ways, often depends on what people want.

  20. carrie says:

    i heard of someone using them for a treasure hunt at a birthday party.

  21. mike says:

    punch hole in them, thread string through them, and make rattle, and sell to morris dancers

  22. Sara says:

    I’m up for the “glue them on to stuff” movement. How about sticking them on:
    -flower pots
    -mail box
    -posters for awesome pop-out look
    -cyclidrical vases
    -metal lunch boxes
    -other sturdy stuff that needs spiffing up

  23. warren says:

    I like to put them upside down on the floor so when my hungover roommate gets up in the morning he walks on them and gets all pissed off. They’re also fun to see how far you can fling them with your fingers. Besides that I think they’re useless

  24. chelsea says:

    im currently working on a beer bottle cap lip balm container. to make the homemade lipbalm, taken patrolem jelly, melt it down, then add things like:

    vanilla extract and red food coloring. or hot coco powder, or even pixie sticks powder, what ever your heart desires.

    and mix it in with the melted jelly.

    here is where you use the bottle caps, find a pair of identical logo bottle caps, spoon some of your newly homemade lip balm into it, but don’t overflow it, because it with run into the cap. after i spooned in my three different flavors into three different bottle caps, i left it in the freezer to reharden over night. now this morning ill find the matching logo to each cap, and pick out a cute thin ribbon. i plan on hot glueing the ribbon across the logo part of the bottle caps, so that, when folded, the underneath are facing eachother, with the logo on the outside. then tie the left over ribbon into a bow, to close it. and, viola! your new trendy//cute//!!RECYLED!! lip balm.

  25. Billy Bob says:

    If you can collect 20 (this may take many years if you are not ENGLISH) if you are ENGLISH you may have already amassed many hundreds of thousands before you reach the age of 18. You will need for the game 20 bottle caps & one CAT and two of your Earth human beings,take it in turns to place the caps on the cat when the cat shakes them off the player with the least caps wins, the winner can then shave the cat to their liking. Yes a lot like Buckaroo but with the added bonus of shaving..now what to do with all that excess Hair i wonder??

  26. neelikescrafts says:

    Use them for plant pokers. It’s also a great way to recycle your popsicle sticks. Just decorate them, and glue them on to a popsicle stick.

  27. adrein says:

    Collect enough to get a variety of colors and create a mosaic picture.

  28. Leftyfixit says:

    they are /Very usefull for scrapbooking. They are painted and used in makeing pages for scrapbooking. and good scrapbooking store will have hundreds of them painted in various colors.

  29. Hello my crafty Compadres!

    I recycle my beer bottle caps into truly unique magnet sets, bottle cap belts, and other accessories!

    Feel free to take a look at my shop for ideas or inspiration and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!

    Sincerly,

    Amanda M. Anspach, Owner

    CreativeRampage.etsy.com

  30. Tom says:

    If they are twist tops, then you can glue them on the volume and tone knobs of electric guitars. It looks awesome. I’ve also seen somebody nail them all over a guitar’s front. a bit risky… but if you’re going for an original look it could be wicked cool.

  31. john says:

    can you just buy a crimper and put them back onto bottles such as home brew?

  32. Pet says:

    I made a cross of two twigs, threaded the bottle caps on several strings and hanged these at the horizontal twig. I put them in my square-foot-gardens to scare the birds.

  33. Sara says:

    How about using them as poker chips? I have a ton since i collected them as a child, and i’m planing to make drinkcosters out of them.

  34. Lager Lad says:

    Here in Australia we nail them to a stick to make a lagerphone, which provides a rattling percussion instrument for folk music.
    http://www.apex.net.au/~keiths/Lagerphones/examples.htm

  35. Anonymous says:

    Flatten them and turn into ornaments.

  36. Emily says:

    hey (:
    I make necklaces with bottle caps.
    ex: http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/srryaboutyrcouch/get-attachment-2.jpg
    so you could always send them to me XD and I would be more than happy to make some for you :]

  37. Shorty says:

    I recommend all of those craft projects, but I doubt the teacher would like it if your teenager went into school dressed in beer caps, so I often paint them to make them into fat little ladybugs.

  38. Steve says:

    Play the drinking game caps. Save up a bunch of them and set two cups on either end of a room. Get teams of two and and alternate taking shots at the other’s cup. Each cap made the other team drinks. First one to ten wins.

  39. karen says:

    i’ve recently made a beer bottle wind chime with a bottle of beer…empty duh than strung on loads of beer tops, i think it sounds great :)

  40. frangipan says:

    Hi if you would like to get rid of your beer bottle caps then please feel free to send them to the address below. I recently become unwell and so I am trying to fill my time with craft ideas by using recycled / reused items, it might be rubbish but it is suppose to be therapy ha

    thanks up front

    F.DANIELS
    TYNI
    LLANGOEDMOR ROAD
    PENPARC
    CARDIGAN
    SA43 1RQ
    WALES
    UK

    • Anonymous says:

      you’ve got to be kidding I have 2 plus 5 gallon buckets full of beer bottl caps

    • Susan says:

      I had lots of fun making decorative holders for dryed plants. I collected dicarded potatoe chip bags, most are shinning on the inside, cleaned them and turned them insode out, wiped the bag around a discarded cigette box, put a small piece of discared styrofoam in the bottom of the box and gathered some very beautiful native dried plants. I was inspired with this idea while I was walking up and down roads looking for recycable, found this free bee for a gift and made several and gave them to my friends as a gift. All the discarded items were somebodys litter.

  41. There are many people who collect beer caps and make pay for the postage to take them off your hands. Or sell on eBay, try a search – old or unusual ones can make a few quid.

  42. ROG says:

    If your going to or thinking of concreting a path, put all the bottle beer tops in the wet concrete &…WOW! you hav yourself a Fab piece of art & a Fab path.

  43. ROG says:

    thats some idea…wat do u all think?

  44. Madison says:

    Wow, ROG, that sounds awesome!!

  45. Steph says:

    Yes sounds fab, like an 21st century eco mosaic!

  46. Alan says:

    I make beautiful replicas of fine art (e.g. Matisse, Warhol) and logos from bottle caps: See my site at http://www.bottlecapartwork.com

    Also, If you have caps, please email me at bottlecapartwork@gmail.com and I can get you some money for your trouble to send them to me. Paypal available.

    Cheers!!

  47. Ivegotabag says:

    Push one into the bottom of a bar of soap and it will keep it clear of the basin – no more soggy soap. A great incentive to avoid plastic bottles. So simple.



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