Wednesday, April 8, 2009

bottle cap basket instructions
















Click here to see the original post of the plastic bottle cap basket

for a basket the same size as the one in my original post you will need 63 caps
(5 caps by 3 caps and 3 caps tall)

I was not able to post all the pictures here so if you would like to download a pdf with all the pictures and instructions click here to DOWNLOAD the PDF

these are the tools you need:
wire (I used steel 18 gage)
wire cutters
needle nose pliers
1/16" hole punch

cut the wire to these lengths:
3 pieces of wire 19" long
5 pieces of wire 16" long
4 pieces of wire 22" long

punch 4 holes in each cap (evenly spaced)

take one of the 19" wires and one 16" wire and string them through the holes on one cap

on the 19" wire place 4 more caps on it, then string the other 4 - 16" wires though those caps (as picture shows)

string on another row of caps then place a 19" wire through those caps

add the last row for the bottom section and string the last 19" wire through those

push the caps together and straighten them as best as you can then bend up the wires on each side

add one row of caps all the way around the basket, this will take 16 caps

then string one of the 22" wires through those caps, you may need to use the needle nose pliers to help guide the wire into the punched holes

the caps might slide up when you are putting the wire through (this is ok) you will be able to push them back down later

when the 2 ends of the 22" wire meet bend them in and then twist them around each other on the inside of the basket

then clip the ends leaving enough to bend the point of the wire into the caps

once all the sides are done you will want to square out the basket, just mold it to look good and have straight walls

once you have your basket in a shape you are happy with you will need to place the last of the longest wire around the top of the basket, keep it in place by bending the wall wires over it

also where the ends of the wire meet twist them around each other and bend the ends up into the nearby caps

once you have bent down the wires trim them leaving just enough to bend them up into the caps