Wednesday, April 24

Plastic water jug cap earrings: My experiment

Pangs of guilt kill me every time I have to toss those One Gallon (3.8 liters) water jugs we haul over from Costco for home use.

My husband and I prefer water from the tap (filtered by the tap-attachable Brita filters). Our family finds it hard though. For over a month, I have stashed those jugs after use, in the hope of making something. But soon my pantry had a mountain of empty plastics mocking at me. With a heavy heart, we dumped them in the Recycle Dust bin outside our apartment.

But I saved the caps. And wondered what to do with them. And wondered. And wondered till I yawned.

My earlier attempt at punching a hole in a sea-shell to make earrings was a disaster. The shell broke into three pieces. This time, I tried a hole-prick with a needle instead, into the cap. It worked!

And yeah, I had some scope for an experiment!

Plastic water jug cap earrings
This was the result. Plastic earrings made from water jug caps.

It was my first ever attempt with plastic caps after a whole lot of dreaming ideas about them. To make it easier for you to try, let me share what exactly I used. Remember this jug? It was what I used to make the ball-catcher some weeks back.

Can water jug - one gallon

I began by pricking a hole into the cap, with a needle. This was because the cap's ridges were making it difficult to use a small-hole punch.

Plastic water jug cap


On its inside surface, every such a cap has a number. Unless you want these numbers to show beneath your ears to make a statement, they look tacky.

Obviously, you know by now that we need a needle. Keep a tooth-pick handy to widen that needle-hole. And then, fix a jump-ring. Do the same with another bottle cap.

Next thing, gather your other paraphernalia.

Glue, paint, brushes, Mod Podge

As the picture shows, I used

  • Craftsmart acrylic craft paint (for multi-purpose surfaces) - Brick Red colour
  • Craft glue
  • Mod Podge
  • Paint brushes, flat and thin
  • glue brush -- and I also used
  • four jump-rings
  • two earring hooks
  • nose plier for bending and fixing (you may need a jewellery plier to bend too)
Besides, I had pre-punched flower shapes from postal mail stash, in yellow colour. You could use your imagination with the design though.

Painted water jug cap
I painted the dorsal side.

Point to note here - I should have ideally sand-papered the surface for a start. Painting the cap's smooth surface is a challenge. So you need about three coats to be on the safer side. Use the dab technique, which could make it easier for a start.

Another bit to remember. Use brush strokes from the center towards the edge or from the edge to center after a coat of dab and fill dries. It makes the finish look better. My pieces turned out a li'l faulty. If you look at the pictures close, you will notice the paint peeling at some places. So be careful when you paint.

Water jug caps, painted and unpainted


This is how the cap looks from its main side, after you paint it. Have pictured it against other caps to give you an idea about how different it looks. Use the flat brush and thin brush to fill out any gaps.

Plastic cap earrings

Once the paint dried, I stuck the yellow punched paper flowers on the main side. I had half a thought of doing a design with white paint, but gave it up as this was my first attempt.

Allowing the plastic pieces to dry, I used a coat of Mod-Podge with the glue brush - again, using strokes from the center towards the edges.

After this, I fixed extra jump-rings to the existing ones that were already fixed into these caps. This was because the first set were too stuck into the plastic, with no flexibility. An extra jump-ring gave the pieces some breathing space to hang.

Next step: Fixing the earring hooks. For the jump rings and earring hooks, you will need the nose plier and blunt pliers to bend and turn.

The diameter of each cap is about 1.5 inches. So you know now, that they make the large and flashy kind of earrings. You could use the same jump-ring method to convert the caps, into pendants.

I have not painted on the inside. But when I tried them on, I realised that they would look better, painted on both sides.

The plastic used for these caps is somewhat elastic. It could behave differently when you pick up coloured caps that have screw-ridges. Am yet to experiment with those. If you have done so already, please share info.

Meanwhile, try this out for earrings, and other ideas!

Plastic water can cap earrings


Aren't they cool to wear for summer! Try other colours and designs, using other materials. Maybe you would come up with something better too!


Pictures by : Radhika M B
For permissions to re-use: radicreative@gmail.com

All pics are water-marked. Any re-use requires permission from me.


Sunday, April 14

Gifts I love: DIY photo frames painted

I have mentioned my friend Ashwini in previous posts before. Ashwini runs the food blog Indulge Ashscorner . This time when she came calling, she gave me gifts to cherish.

She had pulled out plain wood photo frames that were unused at her home, painted them in beautiful warli designs, and gifted them to me. For the forever inspiration-seeker and picture collector that I am, these frames were timely and fitting.

Since they were in matte finish though, we decided that they need a gloss layer.


Ashwini gave me these frames a while ago. But they gathered dust on my desk, as I got busy with the arrival of my family from India.

It meant, that they needed to be dusted. I preferred to use a paint-brush.

Warli art photo frame in blue

Are the frames not lovely? I like these figures of women who are working, and going about their lives  with gusto. The next step was to grab the container of Mod-Podge I already had, and the glue brush.

I generously applied a coat of Mod Podge over the frame, its sides, and behind too.

Warli art on photo frame

Using a glue-brush to spread the semi-solid Fevicol like paste makes the glossy finish somewhat textured. Am yet to figure out what technique to use, to get a smooth finish.

Warli art photo frames painted

Once glue-painted, you could use a base to hold the glass or plastic photo cover just enough, without touching the freshly Mod-Podged frame. You may give an extra coat of Mod Podge as an option. Otherwise, just let it be.

And so here they are, all ready to hold three of my many pictures.

Warli art photo frames hand painted

As for the pictures to use in these frames, I picked up those of my grandma and late grandpa. The third one, is a picture of a young girl with no limbs, using her mouth to hold a brush, and ...paint a picture. The picture has been doing its rounds on Facebook. But I preferred to get a print and use it on my desk. For inspiration. Everyday.

You could try this warli and Mod Podge bit on cardboard frames too. .


Photo frames painted by Ashwini Deshpande

Pictures courtesy: Radhika M B

Note: all pictures are watermarked. you need my permission to re-use them

Write to: radicreative@gmail.com



Thursday, April 4

A heartfelt thank you

Dear angels supporting imprints handmade,

Imprints Handmade is a year and one month old. Wondering why I post this now, a neat month after the anniversary? It's because I know now, that holding on to your dreams helps. Always.

It's because the blog has crossed 10,000 page-views or hits. Something I did not imagine being able to accomplish in such a short time. The blog began as a small step, to share pics of the bookmarks I made at home with household trash. It soon became a platform for me to learn from the lovely work of people who shared my love for craft and creativity. It brought great friends into my life. Thank you friends.

More than the number, it is all the immense love and support of friends and people who I have not even met or known at times, that is overwhelming.


This is a heartfelt thank you to all of you, for helping the blog go places so quick. It also means that we have just begun.

Imprints...is raring to touch the moon. Stay with me, write in, share your ideas. I will love you more for the recycle variety of ideas, but share your crafts, and journey with me.

Imprints Handmade seeks to become a beehive of creative ideas. Need your blessings and support more than ever.

love,
radi