Beer Can Trophies....Not as easy to make as you would think

Recently the boyfriend was taking part of an Alumni Gold tournament and he came up with the brilliant idea to not only provide the winner with a trophy but to award the drunkest team there with the same honor. However, a trophy for the drunkest team can't just be any old boring trophy it has to stand out and be different.

Thus the John Belushi Memorial Trophy was created to honor these men who just can't help but go out and get crazy.

Now if you don't know who John Belushi is, crawl out from under that dark, cold, sad rock and rent Animal House immediately! Now that you are educated we can proceed.

This project went through many different drafts and variations in my head before anything was even created, but some things always remained the same:
1. beer cans needed to be incorporated into the design in some way
2. A bottle of Jack Daniels also needed to be included
3. The words "John Belushi Memorial Trophy" also needed to be included somewhere
4. I had to work on a short deadline
5. It had to look awesome! This was going to a fraternity alumni event and my name was going to be associated with it. I couldn't be sending them something trashy that I just threw together last minute and hoped it turned out ok. This was something the boys wanted to keep for years so whatever I came up with needed to rock.

Normally my first stop with these kinds of projects is Pinterest since there are lots of different craft ideas and how-to posted there. Unfortunately  this search was not very fruitful. I found a few that were posted but no descriptions on how to accomplish these majestic feats of beer glory.

Next stop Google. There I did find one amazing how to, however the person making this was obviously better set up for the job since they seemed to have tools that could create amazingness!
You can find their instructions here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Peacock-Making-of-a-Trophy/?ALLSTEPS

Not everyone is blessed with all their technological magic, but if you have some sort of saw, an electric drill and some ingenuity you too can make something that looks amazing. Maybe not as great as above but that was all I used and I don't think mine turned out too shabby.

Let me also make sure I mention that I in no way finished this trophy alone. My mother and boyfriend both helped with a lot of the technical aspects that I was not very knowledgeable with. So use your resources, ask friends, family members or websites about things you don't know cause it could help to make your project that much better.

Now that you are thoroughly bored with the backstory behind this project lets get to the how to.
I am very sorry that I did not take pictures of the process of creating my beer can trophy but most of the work was done late at night and I was more interested in getting it done on time than documentation this time around.

First make sure you have an idea of what you want to create and gather your supplies. In my case I wanted a two tier trophy, with beer cans as columns and the Jack bottle as the centerpiece on the top tier.

Now to gather supplies. I started at Hobby Lobby and bought some unfinished wood planks. The best part of these is that they come in all kinds of sizes and shapes so you can give your trophy some character. I choose 2 large ones for the bases of my tiers, a medium sized one to use as a pedestal for the Jack bottle and a small one to use as the plaque for the name of the trophy. Also if you don't have any felt it would be a great idea to pick some up. I had some on hand from a previous project so I didn't need to buy it, but you will need it for the bottom of the trophy. Also grab some beautification things. For mine, I got some white fabric, gold ropelike ribbon, a small piece of fake leaves. Photo paper and a printer are a plus for the letters, or you could always stencil them on. Finally some tough epoxy and a glue gun to attach some smaller parts.

Next head over to a hardware store and pick up some sort of hardening agent to fill up your empty cans. I choose a putty, but you could also use cement or anything else that you are comfortable working with. Also if you want to make columns I used white duct tape and pvc pipe and parts of those free paint stirrers they give you. Some white strap paint and wood stain are helpful as well. Lastly you will need to get 4 nuts and bolts. Choose your size by measuring the height of your cans plus the two bases. For mine I choose 10 inch bolts. These were about 4 inches longer than I needed but I wanted to use the height achieved for some extra customization.

Once you have all of your materials it is time to assemble! Start by cleaning your cans and bottle in some bleach water and allowing them to completely air dry. This will help to prevent mold or anything else growing in them.

Cut the tops off of your cans so that you now have a nice hole in which to pour your hardening agent.

Attach the cans to your base. This is the tricky part and one that is greatly helped with power tools. Place your cans (or measure them if you want to be exact) on the base and top of each of the four corners and mark the approximate center of each one. This will be your drill point. Drill a hole in the base and top at these points that are large enough for your bolt to get through. Repeat this for all four sides. Be sure to drill a hole through your can as well.

Next mix your hardening agent. The putty that I used just required me to add water and mix. So using an old plastic bowl and spoon that is what I did till it was the right consistency. Next I attached my can to my base by putting the bolt through the newly drilled holes in each. Now pour your hardening agent into each of the four cans. I filled each one to at least 3/4 and tried to coat the walls for the last quarter. This is bit tricky and messy so don't wear anything nice. You could also fill the cans more or less depending upon your preference. Personally I prefer more so that way they are solid if people grab them but depending upon what it is being used for you may not need to fill them as much.

Let them dry. I left them alone for 24 hours to make absolutely sure they were solid. Depending upon what hardening agent you used you may need more or less. Following the directions on the packaging for more specific instructions.

Now comes the fun part of making it look pretty, or you know manly. Whatever look you are going for. I wanted to do more of a classic trophy look. Start with the hardest part of staining and painting. I stained all the wood with a wax based stain from minwax. This dries quickly and is very easy to apply. You can also paint the wood or leave it unfinished depending upon what look you are going for. While you are painting/staining take your spray paint and give the washers and nuts a little white color. They will probably show so it is a good idea to make them not stand out quite as much.

Once everything is dry attach the top tier to the cans by placing it over the bolts and lining it up with the previously drilled holes. The basic construction of your trophy is now built! Using your painted washer and bolts attached the top tier firmly to the bolt.

Using your epoxy, attach the medium sized wood pedestal to your top tier. Place it as close to the center as you can get. Next, attach the bottle to your pedestal also using the epoxy. I used a gorilla glue epoxy for this and so far it is still holding strong. The one I used required you to mix the two tubes and apply with a popsicle still and allow it to dry. Follow the instructions on which one you use to ensure that it is used properly to get the best results.

While the bottle and pedestal are drying, start to work on your plaque. I used Microsoft word and Google image search for a bronze plate. I copied that image to Word and used word art to create the typing. This I printed on photo paper and modge podged onto the small wooden plaque. Using the epoxy again I attached the edge of this to the bottom tier between two of the beer cans. You may have to get creative on how to keep it up until it dries i.e. tape it down or something, but again when used right the epoxy works great to keep it in place.

Your bottom tier is now complete! Wait and little bit to allow all the epoxy to dry and harden, ensuring that everything is securely attached where you want it.

Once all that is complete it is till to create your top tier! I started with the bottle since that took the longest amount of time to get perfect. For this I would just recommend playing around with it. I tried several different folding and wrapping styles before I got it right. I would highly recommend using some scrap fabric or buying extra that you can but into different sizes to play around with until you get it right.

How I ended up completing mine is I started by taking a small long scrap and twisting it. I attached one end of the strap to the front right corner of the bottle and glued the other end to the left back corner of the bottle. For the fabric there is no need to use epoxy unless you really want to. Your glue gun should work just fine. next take a rectangle of fabric and glue one of the corners to the right front corner where your twisty piece is attached. Wrap this rectangle all the way around gluing the fabric to each corner of the bottle to ensure it is securely fastened. Adjust the draping and glue as needed until it looks the way you want. Take your gold robe and tie it around your bottle. I put a little hole in the draping for the rope to go through so that it would not tie it down but you do whatever you think looks good. Decorate the top of your bottle by hot gluing some more of the gold rope and little sprig of leaves around the rim. Your bottle is now complete.

The final step is the columns. Cut your pvc pipe to the desired height to cover the remainder of your bolt or really as high as you want them to go. Cut a small piece of your paint stirrer to create the top of the column. Cover both of these in white duct tape to create a more uniform look. Hot glue and/or epoxy this to the nut and washer and voila your trophy is complete!!

This is the completed trophy!! Again sorry I don't have step-by-step pictures but hopefully these written steps help you to make your own!

The only thing I think it is missing is some glitter but it was made for a bunch of boys and they didn't really like that idea. Maybe this means I will have to make my own and girl it up a little!