Draw on a Lightbulb with a Sharpie

"draw on a light bulb, and you can have really cute designs shine on your wall at night." 

Yes, another sharpie pin. I've been meaning to test this one out for some time, but most of my light bulbs are CFLs so I've been waiting until I remembered to pick up some old fashion light bulbs. This week was the week. I've been unable to find the original source of the image so I can't tell you for sure if this is what the image is really telling us, or if there is some other craft that has been lost in translation. Often times you find images on pinterest saying one thing, but the source is for something entirely different (like the coffee for hair loss, the brown sugar straightener, the spray painted lightbulb and coffee beans).

Simple enough to test out, I spent about 10 minutes this evening doodling on a light bulb with a Sharpie. 

Here's the finish product:

And here it is, plugged into my table lamp, casting... light. No shapes, no patterns, just bright white light.

 I knew this wasn't going to work, because if you've ever looked at a light bulb, they usually have markings printed on the top of the bulb listing the make, manufacturer and wattage of the bulb. If drawing on them worked well enough to cast shapes, then you'd see the marks from any light bulb being cast on to your ceilings as well. 

Lace Light Bulbs

"Cover a standard light bulb with a dollies, spray paint with silver paint. Instantly dress up a light bulb!" 

How pretty are these? And with such simple instructions it seems like it would be a fun weekend project that would add instant class to your room. However... it's not true. At least that's not what this is an image of. These are actually lamps designed to look like light bulbs - they are metal, and cut to look like lace. Originally for sale at plumo.com but no longer listed or for sale. 

But CAN you take a light bulb, cover it with lace and spray paint it to get the same effect? Maybe. But you wouldn't want to use silver spray paint, because anyone who has tried to use 'metallic' spray paint can tell you - it never ever turns out looking metallic.

Looking glass on the left, Chrome on the right

Over at April Moffat Design she did a great write up on chrome spray paint vs looking glass spray paint. Price wise there is a big difference - one will cost you around $5 a can, the other one is in a much smaller can and costs over twice that much.  When looking at spray paint I know I'd be tempted to reach for the cheaper one.. but here's why you shouldn't.

Anyone who has played around with the looking glass spray paint knows just how awesome it can be, but also how fickle it is. Spray painting glass is very hard to do, which is why to use the looking glass paint they recommend you paint the INSIDE of the vase or jar. I've tried it myself and found that it rubs off very easily so keep that in mind when using it.

Another problem that could come up is that it is really hard to get lace or dollies to spray paint right. It's not impossible but it can be tricky. More times than not it can come out looked blurred, the lines smudged and the pattern lacking in areas. Taking in account that you are trying to spray paint glass and a very curved surface at that, you stand a good chance of messing this project up.

Another option that would be fun to try is to use a metallic pen designed to write on glass. It probably won't give you that true 'metal' look, but short of real metal its honestly hard to acquire such a look at home, especially on glass.