Oversized Bottle Cap Props (Also Great for Decoration)

For my production of The Borrowers, I needed something from which the Clock family of Borrowers could eat soup.  My solution was oversized bottle cap props.  They were inexpensive and easy to make.  As an added bonus, now that the show is over, these look great on the top of my bookshelf, serving as a wonderful reminder of the show!

Supplies:

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• Cardboard
• Two round shapes to use as stencils (I used a cookie tin and Styrofoam plate)
• A pencil
• A Canary Cutter
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
• White Latex Primer
• Paint, paint brush, and a drop cloth
• Painter’s tape
• Silver spray paint

Step 1: Cutting Out Your Components

I wanted a bit of dimension, so using a canary cutter, I cut out two different sized circles which would later be glued together.  I also cut out a long strip of cardboard which I bent back and forth like a fan.

Step 2: Putting Everything Together

Once I had all of my pieces cut out, I began gluing everything together, beginning with the folded edge.  As you glue on the folded edge onto the larger circle, lean it out slightly as the hot glue dries so that it will hold the bowl like shape.  Next, I glued the smaller circle on the outside top of the larger circle.

As I later discovered, you ll want to seal the edges of your correlated cardboard with hot glue before painting in order to have a more finished look.

Step 3: Painting

The third and final step was to paint the bottle cap.  I began by adding a base layer of primer so that none of the printing from the cardboard bled through.  This took a couple of coats (Wait about 10 minutes between coats.).  Once the primer was dry, I penciled in the designs that I would be painting in.

I used latex and acrylic craft paint to paint my designs.  Next, I used painter’s tape to tape off the top and flipped it over onto a drop cloth in order to spray paint the inside and silver edges.  Make sure to hold your paint can 8-12″ away so that the paint doesn’t run.  After about 10 minutes your paint should be dry and you can carefully peel off your painter’s tape to reveal your finished product.

In Conclusion

Making oversized bottle cap props is a simple and inexpensive project.  We used them as bowls for our production of The Borrowers, but they would work well in any show that calls for oversized props.  They also look great as decor in my classroom.

You might also like Oversized Props Tutorial.

Oversized Props Tutorial: Creating an Oversized Notepad and Pencil