A few months ago, my kids and I made some bottle cap keychains as birthday gifts for their grandmothers, whose birthdays are only one day apart.
These DIY bottle cap keychains were super simple to make and turned out really cute! It was a lot of fun watching the kids create their own special designs and turn them into keychains.
This is a quick and easy craft that will appeal to kids of multiple ages. My kids range from age 3 up to age 9, and every single one of them thoroughly enjoyed this activity.
Supplies Needed for This Project:
- Flattened bottle caps. Make sure to get the ones with holes in them, so that they can later be affixed to a keychain ring. We used this pack of inexpensive flattened bottle caps.
- Clear, round 1-inch (25 mm) epoxy stickers. We used this pack of 100 clear epoxy stickers.
- Keychain Rings. You’ll need keychain rings for this project, and it’s up to you what size rings you’ll want to use. We chose to use these heavy duty 1-inch (25 mm) keychain rings.
- White cardstock paper. Make sure you use cardstock for your circles so that the glue underneath won’t seep through the paper. I found an inexpensive pack of white cardstock here.
- Fine-tip colored markers or pens. You’ll want to use markers or pens with a fine tip because the drawing area will be very small. I bought a pack of these ultra fine-point colored Sharpies, and they worked perfectly for this project.
- Strong, clear craft glue. You will need to use a strong, clear glue like E6000, Gorilla super glue, or Loctite.
- Circle craft punch. You will need to use a 1-inch (25 mm) circle craft punch, like this one or this one.
The expense for this project is very minimal, especially considering that you’ll be able to make dozens of bottle cap keychains to give as gifts and even keep some for yourself.
This craft project is even more affordable if you have some of these supplies on hand already, like we did.
As an added bonus, you’ll likely have lots of materials left over to make these again, as in our case.
Related: Easy DIY Coconut Oil Toothpaste Recipe
5 Easy Steps to Creating Your Own DIY Bottle Cap Keychains:
1. Punch out the circles!
Using the round circle cutter, punch out several 1-inch circles. Make more than you think you’ll need to give your kids plenty of opportunities to create, and also to account for any mistakes.
2. Color, design, and decorate!
Here comes the fun part!
Hand out a few blank circles to each of your kids. Let them draw on the circles (one side only, of course) with whatever design they choose.
My kids drew things like hearts, rainbows, flowers, people, robots, and even wrote things like their name or a message (for example, they wrote “I love you, Nana!” and “I love you, Grandma!” for the keychains they planned on giving to their grandmothers).
Bonus tip – Since the circles are so tiny, I recommend placing them on a scrap piece of paper before letting the kids draw on them. Our white homeschool table easily washes up due to the type of material it is, but I didn’t want to take any chances with the colored Sharpies the kids were using for this project. Make sure you protect whatever surface you are working on!
3. Apply clear epoxy stickers
Take a decorated paper circle, and carefully place one of the round clear epoxy stickers directly over the circle. Avoid touching the adhesive part of the clear sticker as this will cause fingerprints to show through once the image is placed. Press firmly to smooth out any air bubbles.
4. Glue image to bottle caps
Grab a flattened bottle cap and apply a small dot of glue onto the recessed surface. Gently but firmly press the paper circle with the clear epoxy sticker onto the flattened bottle cap. Allow the glue to dry for a few hours before handling and proceeding to the next step.
5. Assemble bottle cap keychains
Almost done! You just need the finishing touch — turning your kids’ artwork into bottle cap keychains.
Once the glue has completely dried, attach the completed flattened bottle cap onto a keychain ring (keychain ring not pictured here). And there you go! A cute little bottle cap keychain all finished and ready for gifting!
