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Upcycled Cap Murals: What Would You Do With It? Wednesday

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Awhile back, we worked on bottle cap murals. I was so excited about this idea after seeing it over at Art Grange.  We spent a lot of time playing with our collection of caps, making various creations. While we played with the caps, I also started to test out various options for glue.
 
 
The original murals used a screw to hold each individual cap down. I knew that some of our crew could assist with securing the caps, but thought that finding a good glue would make the project more child friendly and they could complete it in a faster time frame. In the end, I found that the tub and tile caulk/glue would work great for our outdoor murals. I tested it to see how it would hold- and I even left it out in the rain to make sure that it would hold up in the weather. What I forgot to test.... is the fact that we live in the U.P. of Michigan........ and it gets COLD- freezing COLD in the winter....
 
 
And, well.. the caulk doesn't do well in the winter.
The freezing cold weather caused the adhesive to detach.
 
PROJECT FAIL!
 
You see, we have these kinds of things happen often. Projects fail, ideas don't always turn out as we plan..... but we don't give up, and in the end, all you usually get to see is our finished product. What worked. The perception in that type of posting is that things always work- or that there is that false sense of "perfection."  I'm here to tell you, it doesn't work that way. Not for us, not for anyone. We are all continually learning, growing, flopping... and figuring things out.


We persevere. We keep moving forward- we keep trying, playing - tinkering, and eventually-
 AWESOME things happen.
 


 
(This mural is going to stay indoors so the tub and tile caulk works great!)
 
So, for our outdoor murals- we scrapped the failed project that was coming apart, starting with a clean board.... A pile of caps..... A box of deck screws (so they won't rust) and a screwdriver!

 
The children were not really interested in using the screwdriver in the beginning. They were more interested in placing the caps.  Their plan was to design the mural- and they asked if I could do the hard work of attaching all of the caps.
 


So, we went to work. It took quite some time to get all of the caps in just the right places. The children were engaged in the process. This time around, they were not creating anything recognizable. They were immersed in the process of creating.....
 



and navigating the problems of different ideas and visions when collaborating. I didn't jump right in to help them. I gave them the freedom to figure it out, to determine exactly how they would make this collaboration work.
 
 
 
And in the end, they made a fantastic design- and I used the electric screwdriver to finish securing all of the caps.  Now, we have a fabulous abstract piece of art to add some color to our winter wonderland!
 


 
 
Have you ever made a bottle cap mural? Have you found any other creative ways to upcycle caps? I'd love it if you would link up your awesome ideas! (I'll highlight your projects on my Facebook page and on Pinterest too!)
 
We also used some caps when we made our
 
 
Upcycled Bird Feeders

If you remember in our last edition of What Would You Do With It? Wednesdays, we made some AWESOME Pool Noodle Sculptures!  Teach Preschool also linked up a great post giving us all kinds of other ways to use pool noodles!



I love the chain links! So many learning possibilities with simple, inexpensive materials- I LOVE IT!

What Would You Do With It? Wednesday is a linky where you can link your ideas to help us reuse "trash",  recyclable materials, or inexpensive materials  that some folks might throw out or send to the recycling center. This linky happens every first and third Wednesday of the month.

Unlike some link up, there are only 2 rules:

1) Your post must use the item featured.

2) Your post must be family friendly.

You don't have to follow or make any comments. (Although, who doesn't love having a new follower or to see comments on their blog??? ) You are more than welcome to, but not required.

The posts and blog hop links are open for an extended period of time (at least year). So, you can look at older posts and link up your projects and ideas to any week at any time.

By linking up you agree to the use of one photo from your post to be featured in the future.
Thanks for joining in- and happy linking!
 
 
 
 

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