How to make a light bulb vase, re-use a broken bulb and eventually help save the landfill. Sounds audacious? Trust me when I tell you, it’s the little right steps you take that matter. If you cannot go under the ocean and clear 50 quintals of plastic, you can at least re-use things in your home and for that, all you need is a little bit of creativity and the love for the planet we call home.
Plus I bought this Edison for 800 bucks and no way my toughened middle-class-ness was letting this go without squeezing the last bit purpose out of it. Never do. Never will.
So coming to the point- How to make a light bulb vase- it’s fairly simple. You need a plier, a pair of gloves for safety, a sharp metal object to break the glass fuse inside and a bit of patience. Pardon my old age, that I just cannot find the photos I took of the process but I am routing you to the original source from where I learned how to make a light bulb vase. You can find all instructions here
But if you are too lazy to migrate, here’s what you do!
Instructions on how to make a light bulb vase
Step 1: prepare the work surface by laying at least 2 layers of newspapers. Why? Because you’ll be working with glass. Small shards of glass are difficult to see and if you have children or pets at home, it’s dangerous if shards lying around. So work on top of a paper so you can wrap it all once done and throw it in your dry garbage. (Channeling my inner Shilpa Shetty here)
Step 2: Grip the solder point. The small metal round disc on top of the blackish area is the solder and that is what you should attack first.
Step 3: Twist and pull the metal till you see the brass attachment inside break off. By now you would have broken a couple of filaments attached to the head.
Step 3: Crack the glass insulator. Be careful here because the glass is super thick. Once broken, clean the interior of the bulb and the remaining pieces with tweezers.
Step 4: With a flat head screwdriver, break open the fill tube. You’ll hear the swoosh of gas, that’s because its filled with Argon. It’s quite fun to do this step. Carefully rotating the driver inside the bulb, break all the glass parts.
Step 5: Carefully remove the tube, clear th filaments and even ragged edges if any with a plier.
Step 6: You may or may not want to take the aluminium covering at the neck- I did. It’s simple, just twist and turn lightly and it’ll break.
Now swirl some soap water inside the bulb and wash it nicely. Let dry for about an hour.
Tie a macrame rope around it, add flours or plants and hang it on your wall or from the window! You can also add copper wires around its neck and create a hoop. I have seen wooden stands for these too and they look quite nice. And ofcourse if you are totally not in the mood for this, there are ready bulb vases for grabs everywhere these days. But the fun I tell you is in reusing. Hands down.
I hope you have enjoyed this, and if you do get around to make yours, do tag us with #trumatterstyle in instagram, facebook and twitter or just leave a message in here. It’s always so good to read you all!
Must rush, have soup, run a bath and have my antibiotics. I may have felt the most intense pain of my life today, early in the morning due to a tooth surgery and my dentist is very, very good. Even she couldn’t help this god forsaken tooth. Bloody pre-molar b***h.
Off now. Getting a littke wuzzy 😛
Rukmini