Bottle Cap State Art
Hey guys! Beckie, over at Infarrantly Creative, is hosting a “Show Your State Pride” linky tour, and I am so excited to be participating in it!
Some of you may be jumping over here from my buddy, Brittany’s {aka Pretty Handy Girl} blog. Welcome!
When Beckie asked me if I wanted to participate in this tour, I jumped at the chance to show my state pride. I am a Kentucky girl through and through!
In my humble opinion, Kentucky is one of the prettiest of all the states!
I pass scenes like the one above every day on my way home. It’s absolutely breathtaking.
It’s the home of the Kentucky Derby…
And of course the Big Blue Nation!
We cannot get enough of Kentucky basketball around here.
I feel so blessed to have lived in Kentucky my whole life, and I love celebrating it!
I’ve been wanting to make something for my boys’ rooms, so I thought this “Show your State Pride” tour would be the perfect opportunity.
This project is so easy!
First, you need to decided how big you want to make your art. You can make it bigger or smaller than I made mine.
I used 1×3’s for my art. To hold the 1×3’s together, I used some 99 cent wood sticks from Lowe’s.
I bought two of the 99 cent wood sticks, but only used one.
I was able to cut it in half and glue each stick to the back of my 1×3 boards.
TIP: If you do not have a manual or electric saw to cut your wood pieces, just take your measurements to Lowe’s when you buy your wood, and they will cut them for you!
Next, I used Rust-oleum’s wood stain in “weathered gray.” I applied it with a foam brush and removed the excess with a paper towel.
You can put as many coats as you want on your wood depending on how dark you want it. I put two coats on mine.
While the stain was drying, I went and found an outline of Kentucky on my computer. I have a 3M projector that I used to project the image onto to wall. I sat my wood art up against the wall so I could see the outline of Kentucky.
I used a pencil to trace around the outline of Kentucky.
TIP: If you do not have a projector you can use, you could print the outline of your state on your printer and use it as a template. Or maybe you could find a map of your state at a store that you could use as a template? Some of you very talented people could probably even free-hand the outline of your state.
Next, it was time to hot glue my bottle caps within the outline of Kentucky.
You can collect your own bottle caps or purchase them somewhere like Ebay or Amazon. I bought mine off Amazon.
It was super easy to hot glue them on. You could also use Gorilla Glue.
The last thing to do was attach tooth hangers to the back of my bottle cap art.
I hung this piece of art above Jonathan’s dresser. He absolutely LOVES it!
I also hung the blue ribbon he won at the Kentucky State Fair talent competition.
This project is such a simple way to add color to your walls and show pride in your state at the same time!
Thanks for letting me share my project with you!
Next up on the tour, we are going to continue heading down south to Gina from The Shabby Creek Cottage! I can’t wait to see what she has come up with!
Have a blessed day, y’all!
TRACI!!!! I need this! I totally agree…KY is the prettiest state. I love your bottle cap KY silhouette…did I mention my birthday in in October? Next time we have lunch I expect this to be in a bag tucked under some tissue paper ;) Love it, girly!!!
I love this!! So cute for a boys room! The only thing that would make it better would be if it included an Ale8 bottle cap:) I loved your kentucky pictures. I love living in lexington. I have a new appreciation for horse country and UK sports! Since I’m not originally from Lexington, I wasn’t used to living somewhere with the beauty of this city/state. Those pictures look like a vacation place, but it’s where we live! Crazy! Living inside the city limits it always amazes me that I get to drive past beautiful farms and horses on my way to work each day. It really is magical!
I love Kentucky too! When I go on vacation, I am always glad to hit the KY state line coming back.
The four seasons make it extra special, and the people can not be beat. Lovely place to grow up and raise kids.
Cute craft idea!
Thanks
Originally from MI – Could be interesting!
This is so fun. I love it! I’ve never seen a little projector like that…see how we learn from each other all the time :)
Too cute!
Your bottle cap project is very nice, however, your post reinforces my belief that Louisville should secede from the state of Kentucky and take the Derby with them!
I LOVE this! I’ve seen several of the ‘show your state pride’ projects… and this ranks among my faves!! Gonna have to try it- in an Alabama shape, of course!
Awww… My grandma always loved watching the Kentucky Derby. I haven’t been, I’ve always wanted to go to Louisville. I grew up in Missouri, but now live in Washington.
:) It took moving away to appreciate the landscape of Northwest Missouri. I do love the mountains though- nothing is more exciting than seeing Mt. Rainier on a gorgeous day peaking out behind the clouds. I have been wanting to make one of these type of signs, the ones that have the states you and hubby were from and the state you live in kinda thing with the heart in it.
Love this idea!
I really love this idea. I’ve never been to KY but my hubby has and he said it is beautiful. Need to make one of these of my home state of Alabama. Sure do miss the South. It is pretty here in Washington but it isn’t home.
Absolutely gorgeous. You really know how to put a beautiful ideas, thank you :)
Question, with the hot glue it filled in space behind the lip? I want to make this with some of my bottle caps I have collected.
I did not fill the entire bottle cap with hot glue, just applied it around the edges and placed it on the wood.
What a fun idea ! I may have to give this a try….Kentucky is a pretty state but I’m an Ohio girl :) I enjoy your blog, thanks for sharing !
Approximately how many caps did the ky sign need?
GO BIG BLUE!! I’m a KY gal too who now lives in NC, but I think I will have to make this project this summer with my step daughter. Great idea :)
I love this. Did you put a big glob of hot glue under the cap, (not around the edges)? I don’t notice any hot glue squishing out.
No, I just spread the glue all over the board and laid the bottle caps on top. They are so light weight that they stuck super easy to the glue. :)
What are the dimensions of your board (total)? I’m doing this in my kid’s rooms. It was a joy running across your blog since you are from KY. I’m a blog-a-holic and this is extra-special seeing one from my home state.
This project is awesome! But I’m having trouble finding where you bought your weathered gray stain at?
You can find it at Lowe’s.