Upcycle Old Bottle Caps To Make A Unique Laundry Basket From Repurposed Materials

Laundry baskets are prized for their usefulness, but they're not famous for making style statements. In other words, they could be an unexpected way to add visual flair to your home. Making one from those bottle caps you're planning to recycle can showcase your creativity, help keep plastic out of landfills, and save you a few bucks. Plus, it's a gateway to the exciting world of upcycled bottle cap crafts. 

YouTuber Tatzkreen Art turned blue plastic caps into a basket that's both sculptural and functional, and you can do the same. Better yet, use this project to experiment with design ideas of your own. To get started, gather clean plastic bottle caps that are identical in size, a piece of cardboard, and a hot glue gun. You can make a small laundry basket with 400 to 500 soda bottle caps and cardboard that's at least 14 inches in diameter. A pencil or marker, a scissors or utility knife, and an existing laundry basket are also needed for this project, which is simple enough to do with kids (if supervised closely around the hot glue gun and scissors) and friends who are new to creative repurposing.

First, find a flat surface and fire up the hot glue gun. Next, grab a cylindrical laundry basket that's slightly smaller than the basket you plan to make. If you don't have one, a bucket with a round base will do. Trace this container's bottom on your cardboard to form the base of your new basket. Want a water-resistant base? Use plastic that's sturdy, flat, and thin enough to cut. Draw a slightly larger circle around the first one, creating a consistent margin between the two. The margin should be a tad narrower than the diameter of your bottle caps. When you're done making the margin, cut out the larger circle.

From here, build a cylindrical wall with bottle caps and hot glue. The caps are your bricks and the glue is your mortar. Select a cap, line its bottom edge with glue, and stick it to the margin on your cardboard. Part of the cap's edge should graze the smaller circle's perimeter. Continue this process until one layer of caps fills the whole margin. Place the basket you traced in the center of this ring. Its shape will help you align the caps in subsequent rows.

When starting a new row, center its first cap over where two caps meet in the one below. This creates offset rows, which can strengthen the structure and provide aesthetic appeal, much like running bonds in masonry. Keep going, incorporating colors and patterns you enjoy, until you reach the top of the basket you're building around. After removing that basket, decide how you'll use the one you've made from bottle caps.

The materials you choose for your bottle-cap laundry basket should influence how you use it. If the bottom is cardboard, reserve your basket for clean, dry laundry awaiting folding or ironing. If the base is plastic — for example, a kitchen chopping mat — it can probably handle cleaning liquids and other sources of moisture. This makes your laundry basket suitable for damp rags and soiled clothing. Since it's held together by hot glue, this basket is probably best for lightweight laundry. To make it sturdier, try a stronger adhesive such as epoxy, which resists water, or RapidFuse, a Pinterest-favorite glue that's helpful for home repairs. For ease of transport, consider adding handles made of rope, metal, or another durable material.

Moving laundry around isn't the only way to use this versatile receptacle. If you love how your basket looks or feel proud that you created it, you could invite it into your living space rather than stashing it in a closet. Eager to share your story of creating it? Turn it into a conversation piece. Using it to display a small record collection or a showy houseplant encourages guests to ask questions about it.

You could also use the basket in your home for storage, and opportunities abound in every room. It could be a home for throw pillows in the bedroom, rolled-up towels in the bathroom, and yarn skeins in the craft area. Celebrate its eco-friendly nature by putting reusable totes or Swedish dishcloths inside. You can even honor its origin story by filling it with bottles of your favorite soft drink.