Bottle Cap Earrings

Since I got my ears pierced for the very first time this past May, I have wanted to buy almost every pair of earrings I come across!  I don't though, because I'm practical and realize a) I'd go broke if I did that, b) I have no jewelry box to put them all in, and c) I like to have versatile jewelry with fun, yet simple designs which are hard to find these days it seems.  So, my collection is rather tiny.  Since I'm rather picky about what I like to wear, I decided that like everything else I do, I'd just make earrings to MY specifications.  I was inspired a couple of months ago when I saw a waitress at the local Kerbey Lane wearing earrings made from bottle caps.  I set out to make my own and I'll show you how you can make some too!

You will need:
2 bottlecaps
2 earring hooks
2 jump rings
a hammer
a finishing nail
pliers
place to hammer holes in

1.  First up, flatten the bottle caps if you haven't already.  Do this gently and preferably with a rag or something else between the bottle cap and the hammer.  You can also use the pliers to pull the flanges of the bottle cap out and flatten them a bit.  I bought my bottle caps as part of a scrapbooking element from Hobby Lobby for less than $2 and they were already partially flattened.  You don't want to flatten these guys completely, just enough to get the flanges out.

2.  Use the finishing nail and hammer to poke a very small hole in the flanges.  This is where the jump ring will fit.  Be careful, because the bottle caps can slip quite a bit.  Also, you are hammering a nail, so don't do this on your nice dining room table!

3.  Once you hve a hole, use the pliers to open the jump ring.  Slide one end of the jump ring into the hole on the bottlecap, and slide the small ring portion of the earring hook on as well.

4.  Close the jump ring and voila!  Bottle cap earrings!

You can collect soda or beer bottle caps, or you can do plain ones and decoupage your own design on top.  I'm leaving mine plain for now, but maybe I'll add some red stars or something. Have fun with it!

Craftily yours,
Kelly