When a light bulb burns out, what we usually do is throw it away, but have you never thought about all the things you can still do with it? In this article you can see some ways to give your light bulbs a new life:
The first thing we can do with a blown light bulb is decorate it. This is the best option if you like to paint and, in addition, it is the easiest since it is not necessary to empty the light bulb.
To decorate the light bulbs, all you have to do is buy special tempera paints in a paint store that can be used on any material, are waterproof and permanent. You can let your imagination run wild and create all kinds of designs. There are several options: you can paint the glass of the bulb all white and then, with colored pens or markers, draw pictures and color them; Another way to decorate them would be to paint the glass directly with different colors of paint, without using markers. Later, when the paint is dry, glue the metal base of the bulb and wrap it with string for a funnier look. An idea to place the already painted bulbs would be to hang them from the ceiling, for this you can buy suction cups at any store or hardware store, stick the suction cup on the top of the bulb (in the widest one), tie a little string to the suction cup and hang it from the ceiling.
Apart from decorating the light bulb with paint on the outside, there are many more options, such as making a vase or a fish tank with them. But for this the first step that must be taken is to empty them. This is not as difficult as it may seem, here is how:
What do you need to reuse light bulbs?
- a burnt out light bulb
- A knife
- Pliers
- some rags
Once all the necessary materials have been located, we proceed to empty the light bulb:
Instructions for reusing light bulbs
- First we put a rag on the table. We take the light bulb and put it on top of the cloth, we take the other cloth and hold the upper part of the glass of the light bulb (the widest part) with it. We use the rags so that the bulb is better attachedand does not slip when handling it.
- Next, we take the knife and prepare to cut the metal base of the bulb. We will make the cut more or less in the third line of the base, leaving the two lines attached to the light bulb. Stick the knife in the third line as we have said and cut it until it comes off.
- Now we take the pliers and cut the cable that joins the two piecesto separate it permanently. We have to be careful not to cut ourselves and not to overtighten the glass of the bulb so that it does not break.
- Once we have removed the stopper, we empty what is inside with our fingers, very carefully so that it does not break. And we already have the bulb ready to fill it!
Now that our bulb is empty, we need a support. If we have chosen to make a vase or fish tank, we have to fill it with water and the base of the bulb will be glass, so we can take a piece of wood or any other material, put strong glue on it and fix the bulb to the support. Once it is dry, we add water, without filling the entire bulb if we use it as a vase and place the flowers. If it is the case of a fish tank, we can add more water, but without reaching the edge and putting one or two little fish inside. And we already have our finished vase or fish tank.
Other ideas for recycling light bulbs is to use them, for example, for birthday invitations for a children’s party. To do this, we can empty the light bulbs, paint them in different ways and insert the birthday invitation inside. Or, if we want the light bulb itself to be the invitation, we can paint it a color and then write the date, place and time of the celebration with permanent markers. But, if this last option is chosen, it is convenient to empty the light bulbs anyway, since they will be handled by children and it is more appropriate that no remains are left inside.
Another utility that we can give them is to use them as a spice jar. To do this, we empty and clean them thoroughly, taking care that no remains are left inside and, once they are dry, fill them with different spices (pepper, oregano, basil, garlic powder…)
We can also decorate them as Christmas balls and hang them from our tree or make snowmen with them. This is a great opportunity to let your imagination run wild and create cool things with just a few blown light bulbs.
Finally, here are some tips that will be very useful:
Tips for reusing light bulbs
- The first thing to do when reusing a light bulb is to make sure that it is completely blown, especially when emptying it.
- Care must be taken when handling them, as the glass could break. This is another reason to use the rags when we are emptying the light bulbs, apart from providing us with a better grip.
- Not all paints or watercolors are useful for this type of craft, therefore, when you go to buy them, indicate that you are going to use them to paint on glass and so they can recommend the most appropriate ones.