How to Make Bottle Cap Pin Jewelry. Easy, cheap, and fun!

(I hope to see you all at my FREE bottle cap workshop this Monday, July 14, at the Ada Victory Library at 4:30 pm to make bottle caps! Everyone takes a bottle cap pin home!)

 A selection of Christmas bottle cap pins, some with just the image, others with Christmas items. The trees, holly, gingerbread men, stars and snowflakes are in the scrapbook section of any craft store and inexpensive. The images are free downloads. Take a bottle cap with you to store for size. Next year, different images and inserts!

Bottle cap items can be wonderful as gifts for all sorts of occasions. A baby shower? Give a bottle cap pin with the photo of the new mom as a baby! Maybe pins for all the attendees! How about making a bunch of Christmas bottle cap ornaments? Give out a bottle cap magnet for a Halloween treat! A project for your child's class? The limit is your imagination.

It's possible to do bottle caps the old fashioned way, cut out the image with a pair of scissors, recycle used bottle caps if not bent, glue and then use clear varnish on the top, but most of these supplies are inexpensive and if you're like me you'll keep coming up with new uses.

Materials (check Beadaholique or Amazon, links are to Amazon, the punch and Glue Dots are available in office and craft stores too):

50Mixed Color Bottle Caps (or collect your own throughout the year and it's FREE)

CraftScrapbook Jewelry 1" Circle Epoxy Stickers For Bottle Cap Pendants 

EK Success Papers Shapers Nesting Punch 1" (or any brand, as long as 1")

Glue Dots Super Strength Multi-Use 1/2" dots (or use super glue, but you have to wait longer, however, sometimes the glue dots "let go" after a couple of years)

Images: use photos, images from magazines and greeting cards, draw your own, stencil, use stamps, stickers, glue small objects that fit within the 1" circle, there are inexpensive bottle cap images for sale, or use your imagination!

How to:

Take your 1" paper circle image and press it against a Glue Dot. Press the circle into the bottle cap. Place a 1" Circle Epoxy Sticker on top. DONE Then attach whatever to the back, whether it be a pin back, or hanger for pendants, or magnet. DONE.

Here's how to attach a pin back (so that the pin is on correctly): Take a piece of paper and line up your bottle caps on the paper with arrows pointing which way the image is up, like this:

Then flip over the bottle caps and glue the pins to the back--easy!

Do you have an idea for bottle caps to share?

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Egg Free, Pumpkin Cake for July Fourth!

What could be more US of A than pumpkin?

Yes, it seems odd to have pumpkin cake for a Fourth of July celebration, but what is more American than pumpkin? And you'll never miss the eggs, wheat, dairy or soy, I promise! This is a recipe from my upcoming Conda's Healthy Cooking cookbook.

PUMPKIN CAKE

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Gluten Free oatmeal flour (make your own oatmeal flour using Gluten Free oatmeal--check to make sure it's GF as oatmeal is grown/processed with wheat otherwise)

2 generous teaspoons baking powder

1 generous tablespoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 generous tablespoons Ener-g Egg Replacement powder

5 generous tablespoons of vegetable oil (I use canola)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 and 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup of rice or coconut milk (not hemp or flax seed, it won't come out right)
1 scant teaspoon of Xanthum Gum (may be omitted)

Stir dry ingredients except for Ener-g Egg Replacement powder. In a separate bowl, combine coconut milk and pumpkin puree, heat in microwave until warm, not hot, then add the egg replacement and whisk well until dissolved. Combine the dry and wet mixtures, add the oil and mix well. Let set for 5 minutes minimum, mixing occasionally. Batter will be fairly thick, if very thick add pumpkin and or milk.

Spread batter in a greased 8x8 baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Variations:

Add nuts, walnuts and pecans work well.

Add chocolate bits (there are some that are dairy, soy and wheat free).

Add both chocolate bits and nuts.
Pictured:  I added pecans to the batter and then spread chocolate bits over the top of the cake when it was done and let them melt--instant frosting!

Any questions? Comment and I'll answer!

A "regular" version of this recipe can be found in my cookbook The Mall Fairies Sweet Tooth Cookbook. The new edition of this cookbook is just released with bonus recipes and short stories!

And everyone--

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!