Bottle Caps Prevent Soap Slime

There's a life pro-tip circulating around the Interweb that BottleMark just had to share.

Redditor "Pavement_ist_rad" recommended twisting a metal bottle cap into a bar of soap so that the bar rests on the cap, thereby preventing the accumulation of soap slime.

From bar to bar soap: the life cycle of a bottle cap.

And of course what would look better than a custom bottle cap on that bar of soap? Make your bathroom decor complete!

We're mostly kidding. Mostly...

This is a great way to reuse caps, custom or not. Remember to change out the bottle cap every once in a while before it begins to rust, and recycle when they've had it!
(Credit to awesome friend Nathan W. for pointing out this story.)

Gilmore Car Museum

I'm always on the look-out for creative uses for custom caps, and the Gilmore Car Museum came up with a truly unique idea.

Not fated for bottling.

The Gilmore Car Museum crew recently hosted their first annual "A Pint with the Past" fundraiser. 

Fresh beer and historic cars. (Credit to John A. Lacko, Kalamazoo Gazette)

Over 150 people flocked to the event to enjoy good beer and a taste of history in the newly completed Gilmore Heritage Center, designed in the style of a turn-of-the-century brick factory.

Of course, they couldn't give out unlimited pints, so they needed some form of drink token. What could speak more to the purpose and the theme than logo bottle caps?

The result was a huge success. Some guests even hoarded their allotted tokens as souvenirs instead of making the exchange for beer. Remaining bottle caps were shipped off to the gift shop to be sold as souvenir magnets. The caps also served as great centerpieces in photos promoting the event.

Cover page of the Battle Creek Enquirer's Weekend Entertainment

Publicity shot

If you're ever cruising around Michigan, check out the Gilmore Car Museum. You'll see over 200 historic vehicles, an 1899 locomobile, a recreated 1930s Shell gasoline station, a 1940s diner, and now bottle cap magnets in the gift shop!

Moondance Magic Brews

Phil Moore's brew story begins with a Welsh Corgi he and his wife adopted as a pet. But a dog who answers to "Barley" quickly became a top dog, officially known as "Champion Dalarno Moondance Magic Brew." Barley has won three 5-point majors and earned his championship at Pembroke Nationals in Portland, Oregon in 2002. And he's one well-traveled pooch. As his proud owner reports, "Barley swam in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the same month, walked Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, hiked part of the Appalachian Trail, and peed on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis." A chance few of us get in a lifetime!

With such a legend in the house, no wonder Phil named his brewery after Barley. When it came time to create a logo, Phil contacted his friend and famed Corgi Artist Art Smith (corgiart.com). Inspired by Barley's enjoyment of frogging by the pond, Art created this enchanting logo...

 ...now on a bottle cap!

Keeping with the theme, Phil pairs some other great Corgi labels with his logo.

Black Magic

German Alt

Palmetto Peach (a peach wheat beer)

While not quite as famous as Barley, Phil Moore is also a champion, having won several best in shows for his brews, and he was even one of four finalists in Sam Adams's Longshot Homebrew Competition in 2011. Apparently, a corgi and a brewer is a winning combination.

New Bulk Caps

For those of you without a custom-itch, we've added new plain caps to our shop: regular gold caps and gold caps with oxygen-absorbing liners. They're stupidly affordable.

Jackpot.

Shop bulk caps now.

B&C Brewery

B&C Brewery recently showed me some outstanding and totally original graphic talent.

 

Unlike many of us who went straight for the barley, Russ and wife Renie Gallant started their homebrewing careers with wine. They named their winery R&R Red Grin (after the effect great red wine has on your teeth). Russ decided to put his fine arts degree to work and design labels to crown their achievements. After some hard work painting, photographing, and Adobe illustrating, voilà!

That's one classy label.

When they turned to beer making, Russ and Renie wanted something more casual, more in the spirit of brewing and consuming beer, but still with a splash of personal flair. They found inspiration for their brand in their two playful, Jamaican-name-inspired cats: Bammy and Callaloo.

Bammy (a Jamaican bread made from cassava but also a gray tabby who really wants to catch his tail)

Callaloo can has beer? (Named after a Jamaican leafy green)

Russ set to work on a cartoonish design with retro graphics and strong colors that would really pop against the amber glass of a bottle. The labels include a generous banner space for notating their most recent concoction.

Totally a-mew-sing

Knowing as every good graphic designer does that a 1-inch bottle cap needs a more simplified look, Russ scaled this graphic back to feature just the cats and the name with a checkered background.

Compare the two and note the changes. B&C has provided a great example of how you can take a complex logo and make it into a successful bottle cap.

The complete package

While Russ and Renie may keg most of their brews, whenever one of these bottles shows up to a party, Banny and Callaloo are sure to make a splash! Brew on, B&C Brewery.

Gift Certificates for Valentine's Day!

Looking for a last-minute but perfect gift for Valentine's Day? Give the gift of 100% custom caps! The brewer in your love life will thank you for it.

Because nothing says I love you like a "POW IPA!"

BottleMark Gift Certificates

New Hops and Barley Caps

Just added two new, ready-to-order beer series to the BottleMark library of designs. A tribute to the key ingredients of beer: hops and barley!

Hop to it!

The wonderful flavors of barley need love, too!

BottleMark loves printing photographs, and these new caps really show off the awesome photo-quality printing we do every day.

Now I expect some caps will be more popular than others in this series, but it could inspire some really interesting, unexpected brews. Why not make a hopped-up stout?

If you do, you obviously need this cap.

Or my personal favorite, a hop scotch?

Too punny.

See the caps for yourself in our design library: http://www.bottlemark.com/shop/cap-library/design