How to turn a light bulb into a vase

  • 07 May 2014

Once an old light bulb has expired, it needn't necessarily be destined for the bin. You can give it a stylish second life as an objet d'art, as David Hax, who makes lifehacking videos for his DaveHax channel on YouTube, demonstrates with this illuminating project. But beware: you should only hollow out incandescent bulbs.

A further warning: avoid using compact fluorescent bulbs -- they contain toxic mercury. And make sure you're wearing eye protection and safety gloves to protect yourself from shards of glass.

Remove the contact

You'll need to use a screw-fitting light bulb for this. Remove the metal contact at the end of the bulb using a pair of pliers. "The nice thing about screw-type bulbs is that the contact is right in the tip of the bulb," says Hax. "It protrudes like a nipple, making it easy to grip and remove."

Break the seal

Insert a screwdriver through the hole and smash the glass cap which surrounded it, so that the pieces fall into the bulb. Break the glass seal inside the bulb. Delicately open up the hole in the seal with the pliers so it is large enough for the contents (glass, support wires, tungsten filament) to fall through.

Find a light

Dismantle an LED key ring and remove the light and attached connectors. If the LED batteries are too big to fit inside the bulb, use three watch batteries taped together in a stack in a positive-to-negative configuration. When the LED wires touch either side of the stack and make a circuit, the LED light will glow.

Break the circuit

Bend the connectors to form a switch, with one resting closely to one side of the battery stack, and fix with tape. When you press a connector the LED will turn on; release it and the LED turns off again. Fix the light to the inside of the bulb screw connector with putty. Use a screwdriver to switch the light on and off.

Make a stand

Get a wire coat hanger, cut the hook off and throw it away, then mark out five equal sections on the remainder. Bend the first three sections into a triangle base, the fourth into a stand, and curl the fifth into an O shape which the bulb can screw into.

Remove your circuit before filling with water and flowers.