Introduction: Nuka-Cola Ring Toss

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Combine your love of Fallout with a classic carnival game!

My husband and I made this bottle ring toss game for our post-apocalyptic carnival themed wedding, but it would be fun at almost any event.

Step 1: Cleaning and Etching the Bottles

The first trick was finding Coca Cola in glass bottles. After a little searching we were able to find some in two different sizes.

We drank the Coke and then rinsed out the bottles.

To clean the painted Coca Cola labels off of the bottles, we used nail polish remover and a razor blade.

There are plenty of Nuka-Cola labels available online if you want to add a printed paper label (like this), but I wanted the whole bottles to glow, so I chose to etch the label into the glass.

We cut the Nuka-Cola logo out of vinyl (one for each bottle) and taped off a strip around the bottle (where the original label was) with painters tape.

Martha Stewart's glass etching cream was applied according the directions on the bottle and then rinsed off.

Step 2: Filling and Capping the Bottles

We filled the bottles with tonic water (the secret to making them glow).

The bottles were then capped with the help of a bottle capper. If you don't have a bottle capper you can usually rent them from your local home brewing store.

Step 3: Building the Base

We tested out a few different arrangements and then decided on the bottle layout.

Once we had the formation worked out, we traced the bottom of the bottles onto a foam floor mat and then cut out the circles with a knife. The foam holds the bottles in place but it is flexible so you can easily remove the bottles for transport.

We lined the inside of a sturdy cardboard box with aluminium foil, and then added a black light (like this). We cut a small hole in the side of the box for the black light power cord and then cut a big hole in the top of the box for the light to shine through.

A glass cutting board was placed on top of the box to support the bottles, and then the foam mat was placed on top of that.

We wrapped the outside of the box in ribbon to cover up the ugly box.

Step 4: Time to Play!

We used a permanent marker to write the point value on the bottle caps.

The rings from mason jar lids are perfect to use for this game and make a really satisfying sound when they hit the glass bottles.

The game is lots of fun and you can adjust the difficulty level by making players stand farther or closer to the bottles when throwing. One of our wedding guests played for hours to score enough points to take home a giant stuffed tiger!

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