$2 Flea Market Find Becomes a Serving Table for the Front Porch

Laurali M
by Laurali M
While shopping at a local flea / antiques market, I came across an old jar filled with a beer cap collection. I loved the jumble of colors and wanted to do something with them. I had no idea what, but for $2 I'd figure something out. It came to me when I ran across an old tray in my pantry. No before pics of the tray, sorry, but I spray painted a pretty leaf green. Next step, something for a base. An odd TV dinner tray, (also stashed in the pantry) to the rescue. I removed the top and spray painted the base a pretty peacock blue / teal color.
Now for the fun part. I glued the beer cap collection in a random pattern over the base of the tray, and knew I had a winner. The last step will be to pour a thick polymer over all. Tah Dah! A new beverage server for the screened in porch.
My husband, wanting in on the action, attached the tray to the base for me.
This pic is a little fuzzy, but shows another angle.
Frequently asked questions
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  • Eva Mather Eva Mather on Sep 17, 2017

    How many bottle caps do you need for the tray

  • Susan Susan on Dec 30, 2018

    I tried this with an old plastic tray I had. I poured Mod Podge over the caps and let it dry but the Mod Podge turned an orangish/yellow. I did it in layers. Any ideas why this happened? I love the way yours turned out. What did you used to seal yours?



  • Ionne (i-own) Ionne (i-own) on Dec 21, 2020

    Since the underside of the bottle caps are hollow, how did you glue them down? What kind of glue did you use?

    thank you!

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  • Maude  LaFountain Maude LaFountain on Oct 16, 2017

    I have a box that is 16 x 16 x 10 that is filled to the top with bottle caps ...my friends drink a lot of beer...lol....and they save me the caps ..anyway I was thinking about putting them on an old Singer sewing table but I kinda like this little table instead,,,it looks awesome ....and as for the tray I have a solid wood one that I got at a yard sale pretty cheap ..$1.00 and that would be just perfect for this project ...yep I have the fold up tray table also so I got all I need except the POLYMER...which I can get next time I go to town ...thanks for posting your awesome tray ....

    • Laurali M Laurali M on Oct 22, 2017
      Thank you for your kindness Maude, I know your table will be fantastic! I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did>
  • Maria Maria on May 27, 2022

    I did the same thing with a wood tray I picked up which was already painted. I used Mod Podge to secure my bottlecaps some of which were rusty. Like what happened with Susan's tray, the Mod Podge turned rust colored in part. I dabbed white paint where I could. Not was I was going for but live and learn.

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