How to Hollow a G40 Lightbulb (photograph tutorial)

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen.  Today we explore the mechanics of hollowing out a G40 lightbulb.  First you get your tools.  My favorite three are a small screwdriver, pliers, and a pocket knife. You will need sandpaper or steel wool for the last steps.
It is also advised you use gloves.  I forgot to use them for most of the pictures.  Don't follow my bad example.

 Since I do this all the time, I have used a plastic bin for all the lightbulb guts and broken glass.  The towel is to help decrease the spread of glass, should it spill onto the floor.

The first thing you do is peel that copper plating off with the pliers.  Simple enough.

I forgot to take a picture of the black glass underneath the plating being broken, but it's quite all right.  This is what the lightbulb looks like minus the copper plating and black glass (it is actually kind of purple...)

I use my pliers to bend the metal edge on the inside back against the inside of the base so it will not cut anyone (especially if this is to be used for a fish!)

This is the part where I break the glass tube you saw two pictures ago with the wire.  It releases the pressure and argon gas (harmless, no worries) and makes the lightbulb a lot less likely to break from here on out.  After the tube is broken, I disconnect the two wires on the inside and poke the glass where the tube was.  Eventually I have broken most of the glass and it looks something like this:

Looks pretty rough, eh?

 Poke it some more, then start smoothing it with the knife.  Can't have any sharp edges!

 Maybe you shouldn't do this part... But I have to be positive that the inside is not going to cut a fish or you, so I feel around the inside where I just smoothed the glass to make sure it's all good.

Looks pretty good!

Introducing... lightbulb guts!  These are shaken out of the lightbulb into my plastic bin.

 See that?  That's solder.  Someone did a terrible looking job, too.  Well, this has the chance of having lead in it, so it's gotta go.

I remembered my gloves at this point.. 
Basically, pry the solder off.  Be careful with that knife, though.  If it slips, you might not have a finger anymore.  USE GLOVES.

 Time for the steel wool!  It looks nasty where the solder was if you don't use it.  Kind of a burnt look.

 This has got to go too.  Use the steel wool, but gently.  Don't be scared of a few hardly visible scratches.  It looks better than this stamp, I think.

 You should be done now!  Congratulations!  A hollow lightbulb.  Great for a number of uses.

 Yeah, sometimes they break.  It's all right.  It happens.  (this was the second lightbulb I hollowed that day)

I often turn these into fishbowls.  They're a perfect size for a female betta (a small male betta works too!)  If it becomes one of my fish's homes, I usually will stick a bit of bamboo or rooted plant in there as well.  The fishes like to swim about in the root systems, and it keeps the lightbulb clean so I don't have to change the water as often.  Plants love ammonia, interestingly, and will thrive on the waste of the fish, including any uneaten food.  Works out great!  Kind of like a mini ecosystem...

If you are interested in seeing this fishbowl actually being used as such, I have some for sale here.

Skirt-Pants

So the neat thing about this idea is you get to see the beginning stages.

The idea: Pants created from skirts (whether second hand, vintage, or otherwise).

My inspiration was from The King and I. The men in the movie wore awesome pants, so while watching it, my mind went to work on how they were made.
I concluded that they are basically skirts. The front hem tucked into the back waistband.
Like so:


If you notice, they look like your traditional style of harem pants from the front.
I think he may have pulled some of the fabric up to the front waistband to create that flow look.


Pay close attention to the bottom hem in these two pictures.

See how it is wrapped between the legs and is tucked in the waistband? The hem certainly suggests so.

After the movie was over, I immediately went to my cedar wardrobe and took out any skirts with potential. One worked perfectly. Of course, I did not achieve the exact same look. I would need a skirt with a wider bottom hem. But I can definitely see that it works from my experiments. Here are a few pictures:



I've worn these pants twice and got compliments both times!
I am finding, though, that something to hold the hems in place (the one inside and the one tucked into the waistband) would be nice. I have to periodically adjust them so that the pant legs are even.
But other than that, they're great! I love them!

What do you guys think? :)

The Process of Creating: Feather Pens

So the other day, I had a new idea. An improvement on feather pens. You know the kind of feather pens you see nowadays that are basically an ink pen with a feather attached. Those are all fine and dandy, but the majority of them just look too girly... Too many pastel colors and ribbons. Yeah. Not for me.

I had a length of wire sitting around on my desk next to my sewing machine that I had saved because I didn't want to waste it. Then the idea clicked... Wire wrap the feathers onto the pen!
I tried it. And it looked pretty classy, I must say. My mom liked the idea when I showed her the ostrich feather pen I had created. She wanted to buy it from me, even. Interestingly, she didn't like the peacock feather pen I made next. She thought it looked too unique. But when I put the feather pens on Etsy, the first one to sell was my peacock feather pen!

I also have made an inkwell made out of a small lightbulb that's just perfect with these pens. I made it the same way I make the lightbulb vases here.

Lately, I've added a touch of super glue to these pens to insure the feathers stay exactly where I want them.

Also, one of the great things about my feather pens is that they're easily refillable if they run out of ink! I use Pilot G-2 07 pens and you can buy ink refills at Walmart. So they're eco-friendly as well as classy!

I guess I'll start calling these posts "blog features"

Say! Another blog feature!! It's so exciting when people do this. :)

This one was by a woman in Brazil named Renata. She also featured my lightbulb vase along with two other nifty recycling ideas.

Here's the link:
http://dicasgreen.blogspot.com/2010/03/reutilize-e-decore.html

And here's a screenshot! :D

WARNING: It is written in Portuguese. I was able to more or less understand it from my knowledge of Spanish, but for anyone who can't, the description sentence reads (more or less)
"Some creative ideas for reusing that can give your house renewed decor."

WoW again!!

So I get home today and look at my email to see that a nice lady named Jodi Reeves has featured my lightbulb vase in her blog. She didn't write but a sentence about it, but hey, it's something!

Here's the link to it, if you're interested:

http://www.thecreativejar.com/2010/03/what-great-idea.html

And if you're not, here's a screenshot. ;)

The Process of Creating: Lightbulb Vases

My favorite redesigning idea is my Lightbulb Vase from the Clear Thinking series I've started which is comprised of ideas for recycling lightbulbs.

I started with a burnt out lightbulb. It was the soft white type. I had found an article online that showed a detailed process of how to hollow and clean an incandescent lightbulb and used it to help me with my first lightbulb.

I carefully hollowed it out with my pliers and a small screwdriver, then cleaned it by swishing some sand around the inside of the bulb. After rinsing it thoroughly, I let it dry as I brain hurricaned a way to make it stand upside down freely. I did not really ever like the wire idea (though some look pretty neat-o), so I was thinking more along the lines of something glued on the bottom..
I used a nickel the first time. Hot glued it to the center of the top (now bottom) of the lightbulb.
After a little thought, I realized if I planned to make several of these, a nickel may not be the best idea...
So I went to my Dad's toolbox and found a washer when I made my second vase. It worked marvelously! When I showed him my creation, he said he had some larger washers at the shop that I could use, and those worked even more wonderfully!

So after critiquing my design, I made a listing on my Etsy and have sold three since January! My vase also has over 300 views and has been hearted over 20 times! It excites me that it has received so much attention.

I will experiment with different lightbulb sizes for different uses. I have a smaller lightbulb I made into an ink well of sorts (well, it's more of a pen rest, or pen home). I really like it and hope it becomes equally popular as the vase.
I recently chanced upon two burnt out frosted glass lightbulbs that are the same size as my standard lightbulb vases... I'll have to put up a listing for them.

Have any ideas, tips, or tricks for recycling or redesigning lightbulbs?

And incidentally... If you attempt to hollow out a lightbulb yourself, please, PLEASE wear eye protection and wrap the lightbulb in a towel while you're working with it to make sure you don't cut your hands (or make a huge mess) if the lightbulb breaks.

A beginning:

Well, I'm starting this blog to share my process of redesigning and creating items that I either use to my own advantage, or share with the world via Etsy.
I also may share bits of diet-related ramble or just life philosophies.
It's a journey and an adventure; we'll see how it goes!
Feel free to share your own experiences and ideas along the way. I love hearing from people!

Here's to the adventure,
Star