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DIY Christmas Light Bulb Garland

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Create a DIY Christmas light bulb garland by reusing old, burnt out light bulbs destined for the trash.

I’ve finally caught up on all of my Christmas decorating and I’m so excited to share a favorite Christmas craft, a DIY Christmas garland with light bulbs.

diy Christmas lightbulb banner on wood shelf

Huh???

Yup.

I used old Christmas tree light bulbs to make a banner for my guest bedroom.

I love how it turned out, plus it was so easy to do. Who doesn’t love that?

I had a few Christmas crafts that I wanted to do this year and a Christmas garland with light bulbs wasn’t one of them.

When I found a few dead bulbs floating around in our Christmas boxes though, I decided to try to make a banner for the guest bedroom.

old Christmas light bulbs

The idea was to spray them with vinegar water and Rust-Oleum Mirror Glass Spray Paint, to make them look like mercury glass, and then string them up with red and white baker’s twine.

Sounds reasonable right? I certainly thought so. 😉

Supplies

How to make a light bulb banner

First, I stuck the base of each bulb into a piece of insulation we had leftover, to make them easier to work with, and then I sprayed one coat of the Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect Spray.

Christmas light bulbs in rigid insulation

I let the paint set up for a minute and then I lightly spritzed the bulbs with a vinegar and water solution (just like I did when I made a mason jar lamp and turned an old window into a mirror).

The spray actually dries very quickly but I waited until the next day to string them with the baker’s twine.

To do that I made a simple knot and put the bulb in the loop.

tying a light bulb with baker's twine

I tied a loop on each end to hold the banner up, and we were in business. (No, I don’t have hairy man hands, they belong to the hubs…because he refuses to touch my camera. 😉 )

DIY light bulb banner hanging on wood shelf

See…super easy and I really love how it looks on the DIY barn wood shelves in the guest bedroom!

I love the aged silver look but you could totally skip the spray paint step and go for a colorful look or paint them to match your decor.

So many possibilities!

bedroom decorated in red for Christmas

More fun and easy Christmas crafts to check out

 

Yield: 1 Christmas light bulb garland

DIY Christmas Light Bulb Garland

diy Christmas lightbulb banner on wood shelf
Active Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Difficulty Easy/beginner
Estimated Cost free!

Materials

  • old Christmas light bulbs
  • something to hold light bulbs (I used a scrap piece of rigid insulation)
  • Mirror Effect spray paint
  • vinegar and water solution in a spray bottle
  • paper towel
  • baker's twine
  • scissors

Instructions

  1. Place base of each light bulb in insulation
  2. Spray one coat of Mirror Effect spray paint
  3. Let paint set up for a minute
  4. Lightly spritz bulbs with vinegar and water solution
  5. Dab very lightly with dry paper towel
  6. Let bulbs dry
  7. Cut baker's twine
  8. Start to make a knot in twine and stick end of bulb in looptying a light bulb with baker's twine
  9. Tighten twine around bulb
  10. Repeat with all light bulbs
  11. Tie loop on each end of twine (for hanging)
  12. Hang and enjoy!

Did you make this project?

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