This is a project I wanted to do for a long time! I have a friend who is friends with a bartender who hooked me up with a large amount of the bottle caps shown. This would be the best route to go for someone who does not want to drink a lot of beverages. However I made sure I included all the Grain belt caps which came from a memorable night. Some of the bottle caps came from craft and local beers which can be more interesting in design. The cabinet/table was purchased at Salvation Army for about 12 dollars. The hexagon shape is aesthetically appealing so I would look for something different. This project was the first time I have ever used any high gloss finish so I had some challenges.

Step 1: Sort Your Bottle Caps

Take the time to sort out all your bottle caps. I made my decisions for my design based on the amount of certain types of bottle caps I had.

Step 2: Glue Your Bottle Caps Into Place

Don't be afraid to try out multiple designs. I took pictures to get a view that was further away to get a different perspective. I decided to make rings starting with the larger amounts of bottle caps I had. Remember to think about colors they can make a big difference in how the relate to each other. It was challenging to fit all the bottle caps on the table because many where bent so it just takes some tweaking. I started gluing from the outside working my way inside. I did this because If I worked inside out the bottle caps might get pushed off the edge of the table. The center of my table is a glass moon bead I got at a Axe Man store in St. Paul. I used a strong adhesive super glue because I did not want any of the bottle caps to move which I strongly suggest doing. Dont try to cut corners on that one, dogs, cats, or people could knock these out of position. The total time it took me to do this was about 3 hours. I also think that this is an garage or outside project not an inside job.

Step 3: Pour the First Layer of Resin

After looking at other DIY instructions I chose to use foil with tape underneath. I used Envirotex pour on high gloss finish resin. It is very adhesive so put down a lot of newspaper and wear dirty clothes. Make sure you are in an environment that is 70 degrees for quick drying. I read the in the instruction labels there is a risk of clouding and less clearness with colder temperatures. After the first layer dried I realized I would need a lot more of the solution. Ended up going through a quart in half! I had to raise the levels almost up to a half inch. However don't do it all at once. This requires patience.... This picture is after my first eight inch when I realized that I needed to create some type of straight edge around the table. A lot of tables you see covered with bottle caps online are inward this tables goes upward so that is why I needed so much Envirotex. I also forget that the Enivrotext would seep underneath the bottles caps. It also moves out nicely over time you just have to wait about a 8 hours in between coats.

Step 4: What Not to Do....

Don't use this blue painter tape to outline the table. The Envirotex attached to it and almost absorbed it so I had to go in with a dremal tool which took about two hours to get all of it off! I originally thought the blue tape would remove easily not the case.

Step 5: Cardboard Sides Good Idea!

I used cardboard side to create the edges around the table/cabinet. If I were to do this again I would use some type of foil tape. The Envirotex in this picture is about half way up.

Step 6: Forget to Photograph Some of My Progress.

So this is jumping ahead to the final picture in the garage taken after the blue tape was taken off with dremal tools. That is why their is dust. I also used acetone to clean up the edges before dremal tooling... This was the most annoying part of the project but the time take if off was worth it in the end. Because I used dremal tools I had to use walnut stain the top wood edge because the dremal tool took not only the blue painters tape away but also some of the wood.

Step 7: Your Done!

Just make sure you wait long enough for the Envirotex to set. I waited 24 hours before removing the tape and cardboard.

Step 8: Final View From Above!

Step 9: Top Detail

Step 10: Close Up of Edge

Step 11: Have Fun

Have fun with this project! Enlist the help of friend and family. Thank you very much to my mom who helped me. I am already thinking about doing this technique with my Pokemon cards.