apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I was starting to think what I'll get everyone for Xmas, and handmade gifts are always appreciated. Unless they suck.

Cute idea if you truly desire one, but I'd like it if AT would start encouraging people to throw out their trash instead of making tacky little tchotchkes. It's not "re-use" if you're not using the thing.

remind me to make this when i'm in my seventies...

The negative comments here should surprise me, but they don't. I've noticed that any ideas which are creative that are accessible by people of lesser means generally get a bad response. I'm not sure where homemade and tacky begin, end or intersect, but I think it's pretty rude to call someone's work like this "tacky."

This is really a clever concept and not a bad little handicraft. It's like a miniature ship in a bottle idea. I bet a themed collection of them on a shelf would look pretty cool, particularly as a way of adding life to an office or workspace. I'd suggest painting the socket portion as well for a uniform look or color.

I wonder if these could be done as sort of snow globe if one could seal off the bottom well enough.

Um, Orchid, some of your fellow posters here (sadly) are not especially known for their cheery outlook or sunny dispositions, regardless of price range.

And on the whole incandescent/CFL issue, I hope people are converting to CFLs WHEN their incandescents burn out...

I am a person "of lesser means" and the first thing that I did when I moved to my current home was to replace all the incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs. The cost was offset pretty darn quickly. (I can't wait for LED lights to become affordable)

But I have noticed a definite "economic snobbery" among both some fellow posters and also among some of the individual city correspondents. (Not everyone, of course)

I'm sure that I'm not the only avid reader of AT that will probably never have a budget for original designer furniture; I'd love to have original Eames furniture and the like, but must instead be creative in combining DIY with thrifted finds and purchases from the "demon" big blue and yellow box.

this is so cute! if only it was as easy to make as the video made it seem... i'm sure if i tried it, it would go wrong a dozen ways.

No one likes it when poor people whine.

Cute, and definitely creative. I don't think it's something I would give as a gift. I'm all for giving home made gifts, but you just can't use these for anything.

I love this *because* it's tacky!

Ok, maybe the ship doesn t look great.

You could put small semi-precious rocks, crystals, dried flowers/fruits or something; I would stick to 1-2 items per bulb. Then hang the bulb up using fishline if you want or set it on the coffee table as decoration.

As a gift you can try finding something personal, a trinket, to put inside.

if the bulb is big enough, you could even try planting a miniture cactus, and poke some holes on the metal for air and maintanence (water using a dropper). :) I'm not quite sure if this'll work.

What does he use to cut the bulb in the beginning? Is the glass thin enough to be cut with a regular blade?

I decided to make several of these for my kitchen. A walnut in one bulb and a small pepper in another.

I love it too! But I don´t know what would I do with that... It´s not something I would like to have at home, so it´s also not something I would give to someone. It´s just too useless. But a great idea anyway!

some comments are harsh...

but, really, who, beside artists and creative types who have a lot of time on their hands, collects blown bulbs anyway?

Contrary to what Patrick said, folks shouldn't be waiting until their incandescent bulbs burn out to replace them with CFLs -- the embedded energy "lost" by trashing a working incandescent is less than the additional energy used during the life of the incandescent (including the mercury put into the air by coal-burning power plants).

wow, Orchid and Patrick, you take some comments way too seriously. maybe you would have gathered i was being sarcastic if i had put a smiley face at the end of my sentence. or maybe the one with the little tongue sticking out: :-P

i actually think the bulb is cute.

and, Patrick, it's not like you're a bowl of happy daffodils in all your comments either. at least i don't make a snide personal remark about you when you're not. no christmas card or holiday hug for you!

Having burned out bulbs around kind of freaks me out - the glass is so thin and easily broken. I'd thought of doing something like this with slightly larger bulbs and very small succulent plants (leaving the socket end open, of course), but there's too much potential for broken glass with the cat prowling around.

ChristopherB - wrap a wire around the screwy end and hang it out of kitty's reach. I have a bulb vase that's actually quite sturdy - I don't think all lightbulbs are created equal, but, you can find ones that aren't like tissue paper.

And hope your visitors are not as snarky as many AT posters.

I love it. But then, I have a nautical-theme guest nook.

It can be a good craft project for elementary school kids.

I'll have to try this for the sand/shells/beach glass Christmas ornaments I make - the light bulbs are larger than the small glass ornaments I've been using so I could get bigger shells and beach glass pieces into them, and they'd be more visible on a larger tree.

Great post - thanks!

*heather leaf*--

Darn, now my Christmas is RUINED.

CJL--

You make a good point, but isn't using what is still functional (and not replacing it with a new purchase) also at the heart of the whole Green ideal? (NOT arguing, just an interesting topic to me)

And speaking of mercury, no doubt we will have Mercury Problem, Part 2, when everyone dumps their CFLs after widespread adoption...

I almost never buy new, complain about the high-end tacky junk promoted here, and I think these are a great craft for a kids' project, except that the bulbs break really easily. But I don't want one, don't want to make one, and wish the taste level here would magically elevate itself.

Cheap kitsch, expensive kitsch--all more clutter to throw up in the next round of The Cure.

Yay for Orchid64.
- Although I'd also like to add that ofen things are given bad responses on this site because readers that can't think creatively themselves fail to see the broarder application of ideas and content.

Lightbulb piñata time!