Hi there!! I'm gonna teach you how to make a bottlecap pin since I've gotten a lot of questions about where I got mine from baby punks and others who just find them cool! I've found that a lot of people buy their pins online from companies that overprice and over-process their designs, and often times steal them from smaller businesses. Punk has been gentrified over the years, so this tutorial acts as a way to reconnect to the roots of DIY fashion made by people with limited resources and time. This is a great way to show your interests, pride in your community, and pretty much anything else you want even if you don't have a penchant for traditional art. Don't worry about it looking good, just try to have fun! At the end of the day, the shittier the job, the more punk it is.
[ Step Count : 6 ]
Here's what you're gonna need! (optional materials have a star next to them instead of a regular point):
-> hot glue gun (in replacement of pliers)
-> safety pin
-> bottlecap (unbent, preferably a twist off)
-> can tab
✮ pencil/pen
✮ sandpaper
✮ paint & paintbrush/posca pens
✮ regular Elmer's glue
STEP 1:
Gather your all of your materials and place them on your workspace. I'm going to paint mine, so I got the sandpaper, paintbrush, and paints as extra materials.
STEP 2:
If you're not going to paint yours, go ahead and skip to step 3. Otherwise, get your sandpaper and your bottlecap, then sand down the surface (A). Paint your base, draw a design with the pencil/pen, and fill it in with your paints/posca pens (B)! After I'm done painting I'll usually seal it in regular Elmer's glue to make sure it doesn't get messed up anytime soon (C). I chose a little green skull since the person I'm gifting this too likes and spooky stuff and green is their favorite color :]
[ Also sorry for the change of scenery, I had to finish at the library cause I was studying. Visiting, donating, and helping your local library is Punk As Fuck. ]
STEP 3:
What you're going to do now is set your bottlecap aside, and take out your can tab. I have joint problems and I can't use pliers, so I bend it over the edge of a table by holding it half over the edge and pushing down to bend the metal. But try not to bend it too much so your safety pin stays in place!
STEP 4:
Okay, here comes the tricky part. Like I said, I have joint issues, so I can't use pliers because they hurt my hands. Instead I'm going to set aside my now bent can tab and bring back my bottle cap, then flip it over. Place 2 hefty drops of hot glue on the bottom and top of the pin, then get your safety pin and open it so you can place it on the back horizontally.
STEP 5:
Now, place your bent can tab on the back of the pin and over the open safety pin, pressing it into the hot glue drops and letting it dry for a little bit (A). If you like, you can also put two more drops of hot glue on the tops of the bent can tab for extra security (B). I also put some hot glue in the middle of the tab's opening for extra security on the safety pin. Please pardon the absolute dogshit photo quality it wasn't cooperating for some reason LMAO
STEP 6 [FINAL]:
Wait for it to dry, then you're all done!! Your very own bottlecap pin. You can attach this to bags, jackets, shirts, pants, and pretty much any material that a safety pin can glide through.
Here's the finished product, as presented by my friend D at the library (everybody say thank you D for modeling)!!
Top - choker made out of a vinyl binder pocket and a bracelet that was too big, I used a candle and a screwdriver to melt the plastic together where needed. I like doing this :D
Tattoo choker - tag from a puppy surprise but I may or may not have broken the ribbon loop off to get it so I had to get creative with attaching it
Locket chain and tattoo bracelet - the locket part of a real littles journal, bracelet was made out of a shortened tattoo choker and the key to the locket
Inspired by Mai Magi (is she no longer on tumblr? couldn't find her) and my friend from insta (mosscoveredtroll) I made my own braided belt reccently! I started simple by doing a standard braid with 3 main strands (4 strands per "strand" though) and used this pretty bronze gold belt buckle I've got from a bargain bin ages ago. Finally it's time to shine has come!!
Making the belt was so much fun, I immediately made another one for my dear friend Meg's birthday present and already plan already on making another one for a craft swap with my dear friend @wuselwesen.
[id]Pic 1 & 8 are full body shots which incoorperate the finished braided black belt into an outfit. A fat, white, young seeming woman with long brown hair worn over one shoulder and glasses is wearing a berry-coloured dress. The dress is loose-fitting, and as such nicely accentuated with the braided black belt. She's wearing a berry-coloured bandana in her hair, with white lace edging. A black scarf, black leggins and black shoes tie in the black belt. A berry and orange patterned kimono-inspired jacket finishes the whole look!
Pic 2-7 show progress pictures of how the braided belt was made.
Pic 2: show the single strands of the belt being prepared and hung over a chair in the meantime
Pic 3: The beginning of the braids: the strands of shirt-yarn are being knotted to a bronze-coloured key (wait? a key?)
Pic 4: We see a finished black belt with a key buckle, which you use to tie the belt up.
Pic 5: But what's that?? More belt buckles?? (including the one seen in the full body shots.) Wait a moment... might these pictures reveal something?
Pic 6: Alas, the first belt turned out too small and the belt being worn in the outfit is actually the second belt! Surprise! They are very similar, one belt just has a key belt buckle and the other a D-shaped belt buckle. And of course the second one is longer (though you can't really tell, as it's wrapped around a bottle in the picture)
Pic 7: Apparently a braided bracelet has been made from scrap material! Also conveniently modeled on a water bottle.
I have been sent
What's your favourite thing you've done DIY-wise recently? I saw the cloak a bit further down the blog and the moons on the back look super cool
It's so hard to pick a favourite tbh... the cloak is one of the largest things I've made recently and I'm very very happy with how it came out!
Here's some recent works that I don't think I posted on tumblr yet?
Pouch I sewed earlier this year and embroidered for @coveredinredpaint, a dangly trinket for on a jacket and a little pan flag skeleton
How to Make Your Own Accessories from Leather or Fabric Scraps
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Do you have some leather or fabric scraps lying around that you don’t want to throw away? You can turn them into beautiful and unique accessories with some creativity and basic sewing skills. In this post, I will show you how to make six different accessories from leather or fabric scraps: a leather bow, a…
Re-vamped my combat boots with more of a crowcore vibe to suite my new style.
Happy to finally have a project to use the bronze gear charms in, I've had them in my trinket hording box for so long. Some of the beads are meant to look like mushrooms, not sure if it's working but I like them anyway.