Light bulb snow globes

If you are looking for another project to do with an old incandescent light bulb here is a snow globe you can make.

I made a couple of versions; one, I made with the light bulb lying on it's side, the second style is standing upright with an led candle as a stand.

Step 1 Materials

• incandescent light bulbs
• small toys/figurines that can fit in light bulbs
• glitter and/or crushed egg shells*
• glycerine
• distilled water/ or just boiled and cooled tap water
• led candle
• cork
• bottle cap that can fit the neck of the light bulb
• clear silicone (aquarium) sealant, or waterproof glue (see step 8 with regards to glue)

Tools

• pliers
• screwdriver or knife
• tweezers
• steel wool or a kitchen scrubby
• old sock (to protect hands when dismantling light bulb)
• egg carton -this makes a great stand while you are working on the light bulb

*Snow
For snow I used egg shells. Just hard boil an egg. Remove shell (peel off that thin membrane and discard, it will stick to the glass, not good), and crush into small pieces with a spoon.

Comments

[djhusi]

Nice one. I'm building one as a present.
I also had some issues with taking apart the lightbulb. Apparently they are a built for eternity around here. After removing the metal parts I got a fully enclosed odd shaped glass blob.
I managed to cut off the end with the string and nailpolish method. Worked like charm. http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-cut-beer-bottle-half-without-knife-162830/

[ChrysN]

Wow, that's a cool trick.

[BlindLove]

why do we add glycerine?

[ChrysN]

Adding glycerin make the snow/glitter fall slower.

[kcls]

Tee hee... I made a light bulb inside a light bulb :)

[salyza]

hi there it looks amazing can i have its instructions plz?

thanks

[kcls]

Sure!
I hollowed out the lightbulb like they did in here, and to make the lightbulb inside, I used silver and yellow polymer clay, which when you bake becomes waterproof. For the base, we had some other snowglobe bases and rubber stoppers lying around from fixing someone elses snow globe so i used those and I attached the clay lightbulb up there by putting it on top of a screw. Any questions?

[ChrysN]

That looks really cool!

[kcls]

Btw, since I live on a boat, this is a smaller lightbulb from one of our lamps. The base is leftover from some make your own snowglobe kits, and the light on the inside is made of polymer clay.

[Squash]

This is a cool project.  I'm going to have to go to instructables ANON because I have about 60 projects I want to do now...yikes.  Thanks for the ideas!

[ChrysN]

Thanks, I know what you mean, there are a lot of projects I want to do too!

[DELETED_rockstarmike000]

(removed by author or community request)

[Squash]

d.  I saw someone use salt once to remove the white coating.  :-)

[ChrysN]

Yeah, you have to be very liberal with the glue to prevent leakage, sorry to hear, that you had so much trouble.

[Don Cattaree]

Is it necessary to take off the metal base?

[ChrysN]

You could try just removing the black glass and contact point and breaking the filament leaving the base on.  But the opening will be smaller for fitting stuff inside.

[Don Cattaree]

Thanks

[Patented]

wow very creative !! well done!

[ChrysN]

Thanks!

[Pyrotechnic-Robot]

THis is so sweet. it is green and it is snow! ingenious

[ChrysN]

Ya, rather then tossing a light bulb when it burns out, why not make something from it. Thanks.

[comodore]

That is so beautiful! I love it! :')

[ChrysN]

Thanks!

[comodore]

The best part is, that you put a light in in, that is what I love most! :)

[me_myselfandi]

Try using baby oil instead of water. It is clear, but thicker so the glitter/snow won't setting as quickly!

[ChrysN]

I was thinking about that, but wasn't sure how the oil would work with the glue. The snow would definitely fall more gently.

[me_myselfandi]

That's true... The snow globes i had made were in mason jars...

[ChrysN]

Mason jars, that sound really cool.

[F-zero]

Wow that's really neat! Now put a little ship in there >:)

[ChrysN]

Ya, the ship in a little bulb is really cool!
Recycle Old Light Bulb

[Gjdj3]

Congrats on winning! Nice job.

[ChrysN]

Thanks!

[alex-sharetskiy]

Well I know one Instructable that is going to get the author a dremel...

[ChrysN]

Thanks!

[gamemasterful]

This is so cute! And it also gives me something to do with all of the little plexiglass bits that are all over the floor from my latest project. Go recycling!

[ChrysN]

Thanks!

[chinchymork]

Good idea but I would be worried about the glass breaking :o

[ChrysN]

Yes, light bulb glass is quite delicate, I went through a few light bulbs when making these.

[chinchymork]

Oh well Good Idea though!

[Gjdj3]

I can't believe I never noticed this Instructable before. It must have been posted when my computer went down. Anyway, nice job! This is really cool.