How to Recycle Beer Caps

Keep that cap next time you open a bottle of beer. These round and colorful pieces of metal or plastic can be used in many different ways. Or perhaps you already have a good store of caps, but don't know what to do with them. Whether you have several dozen or even several hundred, boring bottle caps can change from trash to treasure when you recycle them in creative projects.

• 1

  Reuse bottle caps on furniture. Glue them to the top of an accent, coffee or dining room table. You can cover the table surface entirely, or make designs and outlines. Then cover the whole surface with a cut-to-size piece of glass to make a smooth tabletop. Or, glue caps onto countertops or furniture and brush on a layer of varnish, resin or lacquer. If you have a large store of caps to be recycled, turn them into a room divider: punch a hole through the center of each cap with a hammer and awl, string them together side by side with strong wire and hang the bottle cap curtain from the ceiling.

• 2

  Recycle bottle caps by using them around the house. Glue them onto photo frames, or nail or glue them onto window or door frames. Color-coordinate the bottle caps with room decor, then glue them onto a piece of wood, posterboard, glass or metal and mount it on the wall. Liven up the refrigerator with bottle cap magnets. Glue a small magnet to the insides of the caps and then glue pictures or postcards onto the front. For the Christmas season, create eye-catching ornaments: decorate cap fronts with beads, glitter, paint and the like, then brush on a coat of rubber cement. Punch a hole in the cap, tie a length of brightly colored ribbon through the hole, and hang it from the Christmas tree.

• 3

  Make castanets out of recycled bottle caps. Castanets are finger cymbals, used often in Latin American music. These small pieces of wood, worn on the fingers, are clicked together in time to the beat of the music. To make your bottle-cap castanets, you will need scissors, glue, cardboard and items to decorate them, such as stickers, paint, markers and construction paper. Draw an oval circle onto the cardboard that is wider than the bottle cap and long enough to fit comfortably in your hand when folded in half crosswise. Cut out the circle, decorate both sides and fold it in half. Glue one bottle cap with the jagged side down inside each end of the cardboard circle. After the glue dries, you'll have a clickable castanet.