Fixing Mistakes & Starting OverSeveral things can go wrong when making bottle cap crafts. Hopefully all my tips & tricks prevent most of them..but, there are times when even we can't prevent something from going wrong.
Things go wrong. Accidents happen. Lucky for us, bottle caps are made of metal....so, they are very durable and for the most part, easily "erased". Here's some examples of things I'VE done...and how I started over. Oh yes...true stories. Example #1: Starting Over Completely The Story: Beautifully crafted Twilight bottle caps, a set of 5. Images are perfect (if I do say so myself). I've used the "packing tape method" to protect my images. My bottle caps are painted black with glossy spray paint. I apply my 3D Crystal Lacquer in the usual fashion. I remove any and all bubble with a needle. I then move my images to dry over night. The next day...OH NO! The edges of the image have become discolored!!! Looking just like a photo thats been put into water. Ruined! Why did this happen? I didn't seal the edges of my images! (See TIPS 2) The Fix: I soaked these in warm soapy water for about 3 hours. The glaze turns white, and peals off easily. the image was made into a sticker...so it also peals off easy. A cotton ball and some acetone (finger nail polish remover) removes the 'gooey' residue left behind, as well as any paint that's flecked off. WHEW! I can now re-paint and re-use the caps! Example #2: Crooked Gloss The Story: Another beautiful project, and I've added the glaze. But...it's dried horribly lop-sided! I realize I've left my project and it's glaze to cure on a table that's leaning ever so slightly to the left! The Fix: Apply another coat of glaze. Thicker on one side than the other. But, insuring the glaze is coating is entire area. Allowing to dry on a level surface. (This worked for me, but another coat may be needed). Example #3: Chipped Paint The Story: My beautifully painted bottle caps are all chipped and the paint is coming off!! I used a good quality spray paint, but I've placed them into a plastic bag for storage. As they smacked into each other, even the slightest movement made the paint chip. The Fix: I tried to re-paint one, but the chipped areas were noticeable under the new coat of paint. So, I took as little of the paint off as I could with paint thinner (or acetone). And then re-painted them...worked great! These are only a few examples of the things that can go wrong. But, as I said already...bottle caps are metal...and the stuff we put on them can be soaked, pealed, pried, sanded, or acetone'd off. |