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hogret β Tutorial: Bottlecap Pendants
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Published: 2009-08-28 08:26:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 22247; Favourites: 590; Downloads: 367
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Description
A tutorial for making resin-filled bottlecap pendants.Apologies for the huge file, but it's quite a long process.
Lots of bottlecap pendants in my jewelry gallery.
Latest examples at [link] - you'll notice in that pic that the pearl bead pendant is full of bubbles - that's what happens if you don't heat / blow them out. In this case, I thought they looked quite pretty!
Once you're confident with your resin technique, you can try using it to make pendants out of vintage watch bezels. Examples at [link] and [link]
Practice on bottlecaps first, though, because if you mess up, you feel less guilty throwing them away!
You can make these into rings too, by mounting a bottlecap onto a ring blank - see [link]
I'm happy to answer any queries or explain parts of the process where the tutorial is unclear.
Enjoy!
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Comments: 124
Oh wow, these are so clever! I'll have to give these a go.Β
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
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Thank you so much for this amazing tutorial! You've inspired me to do something like this in the near future.
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Oh I hope you have lots of fun!
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for the very first and the very last, the ones with beads and the coffee, i like it better when they dont have the dome.. xD but the ones in the middle looks better with the dome <3
THIS IS SO AMAZINNNG XDD
hmm, do u know if u can fill it with clearliquid glue, or NICE ( the kind u put on wood works to make it glossy..? XD)
so cool so coolllll
i want to make some <3
but idk where they sell epoxy in the country im living in right now xD
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I've never tried glue, but it's worth experimenting!
I also sometimes battle to find epoxy resin - easiest is to order online from etsy [link]
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Cool! I'm definitely not the craftiest person in the world, but this looks fun to try sometime!
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Hi there,
These look great!
I was wondering do you have a tutorial or picture sample like this one above of how to make resin pendants in molds?
I attempted my first batch for molded resin pendants (resin in the silicone molds) using what the craft store lady said would work & I followed all instructions on the bottle, the instruction guide & I even went online to make sure I was doing everything right with the resin brand I bought - I went to the brand resin's website & still my molded resin pendants came out looking 'frosty' on the front surface while hard but shiny & clear on the back surface although 'slightly soft' but hard at the back.
I am pretty devastated about it
I'm from Australia, we don't have Hobby Lobby or Michaels etc.. the only craft store around here is 30min drive away called Spotlight & it is limited with what they stock, that is where I got my resin (CRAFT SMART LIQUID GLOSS Resin & Hardener) & it's the ONLY resin they stocked.
Is there a certain brand I should be using for molded resin pendants to be clear & shiny all the way through?
I've heard in the Us they have Easy Cast, some recommend it & some don't..
I've heard of people sanding & polishing there resin pieces to get the shiny/gloss effect.. I know to sand the edges but does the front surface need sanding too & then some sort of polish added on top??
I'm now confused..
Any Help would be greatly appreciated, I put a lot of money into this project.
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Yeah Iβm from Australia to and this is just hell. Bunning's sells some resigns normally down the isle with the silicone sealants I think. But Iβve read a heap of tutorials on reignβs and if sanding's not working just try a couple of coats of clear sealants or the resin your using. also maybe a mould release spray might help it be clearer but i don't know.
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Hi dear - I share your frustration!
Whenever I've used a mold, the resin surface that is in contact with the mold comes out frosty / opaque-ish. Drove me nuts!
And I tried the sanding thing, which made it worse. Theoretically, you should be able to polish to a high gloss, but I've never been really successful at it. (See my bangle from a mould here [link] )
I also tried coating the surface with a thin layer of new resin, but the results were not great. In the end I just gave up, and use resin only inside containers like bottlecaps or vintage watch cases or ready-made bezels. I'm based in South Africa, so also battle to get supplies - I order from etsy a lot, which is expensive, but often the only way to find ring bezels and resin supplies etc. [link]
Sorry I can't be more help!
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I think it's because the molds are sometimes slightly 'porous' and then the clear cast is not looking 'shiny' and 'glass-like' as it should U_U because when sun beams reach that porous surface, they don't bounce back nicely like on a glass surface and make it look 'matte' or whitish-opaque
and indeed, sanding makes it even worse, since it only makes more tiny scratches and opaques it more 
My only guess here, is to use hand-made molds and make them oneself, from a mother shape that is covered in a vew coats of glossy varnish(but brushed on, not sprayed on) and then the inside of the mold is really very, very smooth, and the recasts come out perfectly clear! 
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Good suggestions thank you!
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I'v always wanted to make these! I must try this out!
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Enjoy! Let me know how it goes!
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Can you buy resin at any michales/AC moore/similar craft store?
Also, where could I get watch gears without buying a quite expensive watch, would you happen to know?
Thanks for the tutorial! I can't wait to get started on making some of these!
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You can buy it at craft stores,a nd also sometimes at hardware stores. Or you can order online from etsy - [link]
I have ordered from this supplier before [link]
You can also buy goodie bags of watch parts on etsy - or if you go to a watch repair place, they are usually quite happy to sel you a baggie of random watch junk!
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I finally got some epoxy resin.
But unfortunately, no acrylic medium...are there any alternatives for
acrylic medium? Would glue be okay because I don't think acrylic medium is
available in any of the stores near my place.
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You could try decoupage podge? Or watered down white glue?
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And an excuse to drink more beer!
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Thank you a lot! I will try do this for sell <3
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Question. What is the best way to get the little plastic parts out of the cap without bending/warping them? I keep having this issue.
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Sometimes those little plastic thingies just won't budge. I use a knife to try lever them off, but if they just won't come out, I leave them in!
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I may just do that! My mom is doing her own little version with broken stone chips and random gem things in hers. I'll post some finished looks when she gets to making them. ^^
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there's all sorts of epoxy, sometimes I think variations of resins like that could be almost endless
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This is an amazing tutorial, do you make these often? Even better...do you BLOG them?
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No blog yet, but some published in various art mags.
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I was just wondering, how did you get the plastic out of the bottle cap? I can't seem to get it out. : (
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It can be quite a mission - if you can lift a corner using the point of a knife, you can generally peel it off. But the plastic can be quite stubborn! It's not a trainsmash if you can't get it out - sometimes it won't budge and I leave it in. It just then makes a little ridge underneath any picture or paper you apply to the bottom.
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OK. My bottle caps are old, I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I'll probably just leave it in since I'll probably fill it with something. Thanks!
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Just a curiosity question: What happened to the Strawberry? O.o
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It went brown and mushy and started fermenting and erupted disgustingly smelly bubbles through the resin!
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My sister wants something similar to this, so I might just make her some homemade jewelry for Christmas. Thank you so much for sharing!!
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Never mind, I saw the one with the flower in it and now I just want to know the results of your experiment.
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