With some high-temperature clear caulk and a little sand, you can put an interesting finish on clear light bulbs. A nice addition to your bar strip-light bathroom fixture or Potted Light Bulb Lamp perhaps?
What You Need
Clear light bulb (I’d stick with lower wattage. The bulb in the example was 40 watt.)
Hight temperature clear caulk (I found this at Menards for about $6.50 in the heating department.)
Caulking gun
Sand (Any kind will do, but finer sand seems to work better.)
Paper towel or throw-away sponge brush
Newspaper
What You Do
Dispense caulk on bulb and spread with paper towel. On later projects, I discovered that sponge brushes work better than a paper towel in that they will help you spread the caulk more evenly. You don’t want to spread the caulk too thin here. Think more like cream cheese on a bagel, rather than butter on toast.
Sift sand on to your sticky bulb. Also, for better adhesion, roll your bulb in your mound of sand. This will force the sand into the caulk.
Wait 24 hours for caulk to cure. When cured, you may want to brush the bulb with a soft brush to remove any loose sand. There will be some, but if you put on enough caulk, you’ll be surprised how little you lose. If you do end up with any bald spots, just patch them with a bit of caulk and sand.
Light bulb too weird? This same process makes beautiful luminescent candle holders.
And vases.
Bonus hint: This is a great way to recycle dishwasher-etched glasses and empty jars. Just cover them with sand and turn them into candle holders and vases.
