Introduction: Bottlecap Checkerboard

Welcome

Supplies

  • 24 Bottle Caps
  • Cardboard Pizza Box
  • Colorful Cardboard (Optional)
  • Hot Glue Gun or Tacky Glue
  • Command Strips (Optional)
  • Circular Magnets
  • Thick Poster Board
  • Ruler or Measuring Tape
  • Paintable Magnetic Vinyl Sheet
  • Silver Sharpie

Step 1: Glue the Magnets to the Bottle Caps

  1. Acquire the magnets and lay them out next to the bottle caps.
  2. Flip caps upside to prepare to glue the bottom side to the magnets.
  3. Grab the hot glue gun and apply a modest amount of glue on the underside of the cap.

Step 2: Prepare the Pizza Box

  1. Lay the pizza box on top of the whiteboard. Position it in a corner to save space just in case you need to use the whiteboard again. Grab a pencil, and trace the outline of the box. By already having the box against a corner, you should only need to trace 2 sides of the square.

  2. Grab a pair of scissors and begin to cut across the line you just traced. When finished, you should have a near-perfect square.

  3. Using the hot glue gun, prepare to glue the top of the pizza box liberally. This is the surface where the whiteboard you cut out in step 6 will adhere to.
  4. Make sure you line up the whiteboard as accurate as possible to the pizza box top. Press the whiteboard down against the glue, and caringly press the two together to ensure they stick correctly.

Step 3: Decorate the Pizza Box (Optional)

  1. Measure the length and width of the sides of the box that are not covered with poster board.
  2. Use those measurements in the previous step and trace out that shape anywhere on your colorful cardboard. We cut out the Corona packaging to match our bottle caps and create a theme.

Step 4: Create the Checkerboard

  1. Flip the magnetic vinyl sheet upside down (Whiteside up) and place the box on top of it. Trace the box outline just like earlier to be cut out on the sheet.

  2. Cut across the line you just traced in the previous step. It should be a near-perfect square, which fits well on top of the whiteboard you cut out prior.

  3. Layer glue across the top of the whiteboard. Immediately press the magnet sheet against the surface of the whiteboard, and hold firmly for a few seconds for it to set.

  4. Flip the entire pizza box upside down and quickly add a weight on top of it. In this case, we used a bottle of laundry detergent. If the corners curl, reapply glue and repeat this step.

  5. Once everything has dried. Use a straight-edge (ruler, tape measure, piece of poster board, etc) and marker to draw the checkerboard.

  6. Use the provided picture of a checkerboard for reference. Mark each square that you would like to color in with a pencil to avoid confusion.

  7. Color in the silver squares, and leave some uncolored to distinguish sides. If resources are limited, you can mark the silver squares with Xs.

Step 5:

Step 6: