I love projects that are fast and easy…but only when they also yield great results! These milk bottle caps work up quickly and can be used as dimensional elements anywhere you need a bit of old fashioned charm. This uses the new vintage milk bottle set found here and some basic supplies. Here's how to make a pile of authentic looking vintage milk bottle caps in just a few minutes.
How to Make Vintage Milk Bottle Caps
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While you can absolutely just print these out on card stock and use them, I wanted them to be a little more dimensional. I used a piece of cardboard from a coffee pod box to make them more substantial, then aged them a bit with ink and sandpaper.
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Printable Milk Caps Supplies
You’ll need the vintage milk bottle caps printable, found in the ship here. Like every item we have, this kit is free for premium subscribers.
Here‘s a closer look:
You will also need a piece of cardboard to make these dimensional. The best kind to use is from a food packaging box. Corrogated cardboard shipping boxes were too thick for this project, but a cereal box or similar type is just right.
You‘ll also need glue, scissors, sandpaper (600 grit or higher) and ink for aging. These are optional but give an amazing authentic look.
Download and Print the Vintage Milk Bottle Caps
A note about color. I wanted these to be more subdued, so I printed them onto plain sticker paper. If you prefer more vibrant colors, use presentation paper. Here's more information on choosing the right paper for printables so you get the look you want. Speaking of sticker paper, I cheated a bit and printed these onto full sheet mailing labels. Then I just peeled the backing and stuck the whole sheet onto the cardboard….super fast and easy. If you do not have sticker paper, just glue the milk bottle caps printable to the cardboard and let it dry before cutting.
Cut out the Vintage Milk Bottle Caps Printables
Cut around the edges of each piece. Your cuts don’t have to be perfect, we will be sanding the edges to smooth them out.
These are working scissors, the paint and glue are part of their charm ;)
Sand the Edges
Sand th3 edges to bond the paper to the cardboard and smooth away that “just been cut out” look. I used 1500 grit sandpaper but any fine paper will do,
If you’d like a vintage look, use some distress ink on the edges. To use, just glue in place or punch some small holes with an awl…i made a dozen and will be incorporating some into a journal later this week.
Focus on the edges, the sanded parts will pick up the ink more than the flat surface
Notes for Making Printed Ephemera look old
Old pieces do not have sharp, perfect corners. Use the sandpaper to round corners slightly..
make sure the glue dries completely between each step, otherwise your pieces could separate.
use cardstock as indicated. Regular copy paper is too thin and will tear if you try to sand it
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