I am no longer sharing the printable letters in this post, but you can get printable milk cap letters with each of the short vowel spelling mats on the site.
Gather your materials. You’ll need:
- letters printed onto card stock (I am no longer sharing bottle cap letters, but you can get the patterns for the milk cap letters with the printables linked at the end of this post)
- Mod Podge
- scissors
- 1.5-inch circle punch if making milk cap letters
- 1-inch paper punch if making bottle cap letters
- wide tipped paint brush
- a collection of milk or bottle caps
We don’t drink a lot of bottled water at our house, but we do drink a lot of milk. And since we make our own yogurt (my crew goes through about 6 quarts a week), we have more milk caps than we know what to do with. My tutorial uses milk caps.
And there you have it! It will look like the caps are dry much sooner than 24 hours later, but try not to get too eager as I did – or the paper circles will slip off the lids. You can always apply more Mod Podge if necessary.
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carlee tredrea
Love these so much. Thank you!
Is there any chance you could possibly make diagraphs and alternate sounds please?
Kara Coyner
You can also use the Xyron sticker maker using the permanent sticker to make the backs of the numbers or letters stick to the milk top as a sticker. They won’t come off or mess up. I printed on regular paper and laminated it at school. Then I used the 1 1/4 inch punch so that the label didn’t stick right to the edge allowing it to be popped off. So far they look like they will hold. Can’t wait to make more things to extend this. Math mats-math signs ie plus, minus, equal sign, greater than less than would be great to have as well as punctuation and sight words! Or a blank editable page we could extend the letters and numbers to fit our needs for our students. Thanks for this great set!!
Anna G
Thanks for sharing how you’re making these work, Kara! At this point I do not have plans to add to the set, but I appreciate the suggestions.
Susan Frame
Hi,
Could I please get numbers 1-30 for the milk bottle cap size?
Thanks!
Susan
Anna G
Thanks for the request, Susan! Unfortunately I’m really busy right now launching an online course, so I won’t be able to make time for this.
D.
You can also just use a permanent marker to write on the caps. I write directly on the caps and then use a dry erase marker to change the letters on the caps when I need it.
Anna Geiger
Thanks for the great tip!
Rachel
Have you ever had issues with these not sticking to the milk caps? I did exactly as you had shown above, but the letters just pull right off the milk caps. I’ll have to try again…
Anna Geiger
DId you wait 24 hours? I had that problem when I didn’t wait 24 hours. Also I have had a couple peel off, but I reapply lots of Mod Podge and let them dry. Another thing to try is to put some double stick tape under the label and then Mod Podge the whole thing. I might do that if I have others that come apart.
Rachel
Yes. I’ll attempt another coat tonight. Thanks for the tips!
Stephanie
Hi!
Does it have to be cardstock? Will it adhere right if I were to use regular paper?
Thank-you!
Anna Geiger
I don’t think there will be a problem with it adhering… I like to use cardstock because the paper doesn’t wrinkle when it gets wet from the glue. You could give it a try and see how it works. I almost think it might adhere better with regular paper. I really like these, but eventually I had a problem with the circles coming off.
sara
Thank you a lot for the great effort you are putting in these teachable printable samples
they are of great help, I am sure to many of us teachers.thank you again
Anna Geiger
You’re very welcome, Sara!
Paty_c
Wonderful ideas!!
Coombemill
Great idea for milk bottle tops
Gude @HodgePodgeCraft
These look great! You could also put magnets on the back too and use them on the fridge/a cookie tray?
Thanks for sharing at this week’s #Pintorials
Emma @ P is for Preschooler
What a great way to reuse milk caps – and learn letters at the same time! #pintorials
Marie
This is wonderful!!
The possibilities are endless.
Thank you for sharing your talent:)
Beth
Finally a use for all those caps I’ve been refusing to throw away. Thanks!
Anna Geiger
You’re welcome, Beth! Have fun!
Terri
I use milk caps in my daycare / preschool. Love them, and so do the kids. I am re-doing all of my milk caps using your printables. May I suggest that you make a set for numbers?
Thanks!
Anna Geiger
Hi Terri! I hope the new milk caps work out well for you. I’ve added milk cap and bottle cap numbers at your request. Come back to the post to get them!
Paper and the Pea
This is so awesome! 😀 Now we just need to collect some caps.
Anna Geiger
Start drinking your milk now 🙂
Lauren
I love this idea! I’m always saving our caps. I just need to get one of those punchers and I’ll be set. Thanks for sharing our paint palette idea too!
Anna Geiger
Seriously, I don’t know how I lived without my puncher :). As I was posting this my six year old wondered when WE were going to try your paint palette idea. I guess I need to set up a homemade easel and let her get to work!
Anna Geiger
Thank you so much for the feature, Beth!
Michelle
Thanks for sharing these. They look great! We don’t go through quite as much milk as you guys, so it might take me a little longer, but I am going to make these for my kids.They will love them.
Anna Geiger
So glad you can use them, Michelle!
Carolyn Wilhelm
You make such beautiful printables and everything is so neat and organized! I had no idea about those helpful circle punches, when I get them (soon) I will click on this post first to get to Amazon. Excellent!
Anna Geiger
You’re so kind, Carolyn! I’m glad it’s an idea you can use. Honestly, I don’t know why I held out so long to buy circle punches! They’ve changed my life 🙂
Carolyn Wilhelm
I finally got my punches, thanks again for the great idea and patterns.
Anna Geiger
You’re welcome, Carolyn!
Renee
Hi there – this is an awesome activity. I can’t wait to try it with my preschool children. Just wondering which size paper punch you used? Amazon has extra large large and medium. Many thanks for sharing your amazing idea!! Renee
Anna Geiger
Hi Renee! I linked to the punches I use at the top of the post – it varies depending on if you’re doing milk or bottle caps. In the tutorial I’m using the large one for milk caps: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OMZXGU?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B000OMZXGU&linkCode=xm2&tag=themeamom0e-20 (affiliate) I hope that helps :)!
Kristine White
I have several sets of bottle cap letters in my classroom for spelling extensions that are starting to fade. I think it’s time to redo them with my modpodge! Thanks for the great idea!
Anna Geiger
Mod Podge feels like a miracle product to me 🙂 I hope you have success with this!
Colleen
Love these. Thanks for the great how -to post!
Anna Geiger
You’re welcome, Colleen!
Jennifer Fischer
I need to print those out! Much better than me writing on the caps with a sharpie! Thanks for including our post. I will be sharing this!
Anna Geiger
Thanks so much for sharing, Jennifer!
Renae
I never think about saving things like milk caps etc. What a great idea. Perhaps I’ll start. Thanks for sharing. Feel free to check us out at http://everystarisdifferent.blogspot.com.
Anna Geiger
Thanks for checking it out, Renae. Looks like you have been VERY busy over at your house!
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)
Great idea! I am always looking for things to make with my milk caps. 🙂
Anna Geiger
I hope you can use it, Gina 🙂