The Reveal, Pt 2

I had so much fun making bridesmaid invitation cards for my ladies, I decided to be even more ambitious for Tom's groomsmen. I once read somewhere that "simple" does not equate with "easy"...Boy, was that ever the case for this project which I found via the Martha. (I've said before, all Martha projects are required to have that subtle and unanticipated element of fiendish difficulty.) I don't have the numbers for this project, but it most certainly wasn't cheap. If, however, one realizes that there is plenty of material left over to continue making these, then the costs per item goes down. For someone with infinite patience and steady hands, this might be a good idea for a favor. The original Martha post can be found here.

For this project, you will need:

* Collection of twist-off bottle caps
* Craft glue (i.e. Mod Podge or Elmer's glue thinned with water)
* 1" circular punch
* Clear casting resin (We used an EasyCast Clear Resin kit from Michael's. Just remember that if you buy epoxy separately from a kit to buy the additional activator.)
* Rubber cement
* Magnets
* Mixing containers (at least two, and they should not be coated in wax, a glass or plastic vessel will work just fine)
* Wooden stirring implements (Popsicle sticks would work well)
* Gloves
* Syringe (We're scientists, and Tom's dad, Gary, is a tinkerer, so we happened to have gloves and syringes on hand. The syringes are non-essential, but they make pouring the resin that much easier)

1. Find an image you like, print it on photo paper, and punch it out using your 1" circular craft punch. (Incidentally, this is the perfect size to fit inside of a bottle cap.) We downloaded a vector image from iStockPhoto and added each groomsman's initials in Adobe Illustrator.


2. Gather your supplies. Note that a glass of wine is essential for the success of this project. To keep your ink steadfast (i.e. to prevent bleeding when the resin is poured into the cap), coat your image with 2 thin coats of Mod Podge. It's easiest to apply the Mod Podge with a slightly wet brush. Work quickly, and allow about 15 minutes between coats for them to dry. (You may find it easier to apply the Mod Podge before punching your images out with the craft punch.)



3. Using more more Mod Podge, glue your dry image to the inside of each (cleaned and dried) bottle cap. (We started this project in Indiana and finished in New York, due to some unforeseen glitches that sent Tom and me on one of the most romantic drives at 11:30 at night to an all-night Indiana institution, Meijer. Seriously, it was romantic. It's kind of like a 24-hour Super Target, but better. Tom says that they used to go "Meijer-ing" in high school, wherein when you were bored at 1 in the morning you would go play dress-up in the clothing aisle. Gary concoted a totally sweet way for us to transport our fragile bottle caps on the plane.)


4. Cover your work surface (we used an old, gross, greasy pizza box), making sure you are in a well-ventilated area. The kit we used said that the components work best at 75 degrees, so you might warm the components for a few minutes in a cup of warm water. Remember to glove up at this point. Measure your ingredients and add them in a 1:1 proportion. Mix for two minutes, then transfer to a clean container, and mix for another minute.



5. Either carefully transfer the resin to your syringe and use it to inject the resin into the bottle caps, or simply pour the resin in slowly from your container. Tom wanted the bottle caps to have a "domed" surface, but this means putting in a fair amount of resin, which can spill over the sides and get messy. How full the caps are is up to personal preference. Note that the resin will have some bubbles in it, which should pop on their own if the resin is at the right temperature. You can use a toothpick to push the bubbles to the side of the cap or use a hairdryer (low setting only) to try and pop the bubbles.

6. Let the resin set-up for 24-72 hours. Remember, the best things come to those who wait, so I'd recommend 72. Also, remember to admire your work often. These things are pretty neat.


7. When your resin has hardened, use rubber cement to glue magnets to the back of the bottle caps. Let dry. Eh, voila! You're done.

We whipped-up a card to attach the magnets to but no fancy labels since these are being sent in padded mailers. Hopefully they're a hit.