Light Bulb Pears

Last year, I was probably perusing Pinterest looking for some fun fall ideas and I probably stumbled upon a way to make old light bulbs into fall decor. I say probably because I can't remember. I just know I made some, and I love them. Last week I took one of those odd shaped bulbs for can lights into Ace Hardware to buy a replacement because it had burned out. The man who helped me said, "I can take the old one for you". I said okay, and handed it over. As I drove away I thought "oh, no! That  would have been a perfect gourd". It was so tempting to turn around and go back, but I didn't. I'll just wait for another to burn out. But seriously, these pears are some of my favorites and not all that difficult to make.

I made one this morning really quick since I never took pictures of how I made the originals. Let's just say, I don't do things well when I try to do them "fast". So, the pictures didn't turn out and the pear didn't turn out. So you will just have to trust my non-visual instructions and if all else fails, just head to Pinterest and search Light Bulb Pears. You'll find lots of tutorials, probably with pictures. In fact I'll save you time. This post is a great one! This was exactly how I did it last year.

I love finding ways to use things I have around the house to add to my decor, especially when I know how much it would cost me if I bought it at a home decor store. I don't know about you, but I do not have a home decor budget.

Next on my list is to figure out how to make those popular cotton stems. I've been looking around for tutorials and just need to grab some paint from the store. We'll see how that goes. For now, add these pears to your decorating list.

Needed:

old light bulbs
glue gun
twine (I find it pretty cheap at walmart in their home section)
twigs (cut or broken to about 1-2" pieces...try and keep the top of twig intact)

Instructions:

1. place a good size dollop of glue on the end of the narrow part of light bulb. Place twig in it and hold til it is set.

2. Beginning at that same end, create a line, or dots of glue around the base. You don't want a frayed end so if you let a little of the twine hang down that will work best. Begin working your way around the light bulb, adding dots of glue as you go and being careful to keep the twine snug against itself. You don't want the light bulb to show through.

3. It gets a little tricky as you go simply because of the roundness of the bulb, but just keep going, adding glue as you go. When you get to the bottom, add one final dot of glue and secure end of twine.

Ta Da! Now you have some awesome new decor that can be used year round or seasonally and you've found a better use for those burned out bulbs then the garbage.


With Joy Unquenchable,