Bottle Cap Magents - What Hasn't Worked

My fiance has been collecting beer bottle caps for quite a while. His intention was always to use them for fridge magnets. I've finally helped him get started! I sorted out all the caps by type - he definitely has over 100 bottle caps. I cleaned a small batch of them and got to work. 

We found 3/4 inch ceramic magnets at Hobby Lobby and decided to use those for the bottle caps. 



Our first thought was to use hot glue to secure the magnets to the caps. Unfortunately, the glue did not stick well to the metal of the cap and on a lot of them, the magnet would fall out.  

Our next attempt was to use super glue - and that worked MUCH better! 

We encountered another problem once we tried to stick the magnets to the fridge. The bottle caps have a small plastic seal inside them - the perfect size for the magnets to sit down into. Unfortunately, this lead to areas where the bottle cap itself was touching, and therefore scraping, against the surface of the fridge. Not good to scratch up the fridge! 

I headed out to Hobby Lobby again and found a product called Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. It seemed to be an epoxy-like substance that I could carefully pour over the magnet, fill the bottle cap, and dome the top. As the Mod Podge dried, it shrank, which wasn't really the problem... but I had to coat the magnets so much, that they were no longer strong enough to hold up more than a piece of paper on the fridge.  

My last idea was to use Plasti-Dip, which is often used to coat tool handles. I dipped each magnet twice, after an hour dry time between. Two coats turned out to be too much, and just like with the Mod Podge, the magnet was no longer strong enough to hold up a post card. I also tried using just one coat of the Plasti-Dip, but when the magnet was moved across the surface of the fridge (like you would do when moving the magnet) the Plasti-Dip peeled right off!! 

I really liked working with the Mod Podge and Plasti-Dip though, I really hope I can find use for them with another project! 

I went back to basics - how can I cover the magnet to it won't scratch the fridge? 

Duct tape was a little too thick and didn't lay nice at the back. Electrical tape was the key. Nice and thin, two layers was perfect for coverage and didn't hinder the strength of the magnet. Finally, something that will work!! 

Now I just need to figure out a way to raise the magnet up past the edge of the bottle cap. Hopefully a solution is just around the corner! 

You can see my failed attempts at covering the magnets in my latest video, posted on YouTube just a few minutes ago! 

Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, or other ideas for projects I can try out next time!!  

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