I Made It Mondays: DIY Valentine Lightbulb by Design*Sponge

Happy Monday my friends! I am dragging around today trying to get my day started.  I wish I could stay in bed all day or even better, go play outside!  After the frigid cold weather we got last week, the sun is shining through today and it's lovely - just lovely.  I realized that Valentine's Day is only one week away!  Yay!  Here's a SUPER CUTE DIY project I found on Design*Sponge for your sweetheart. 

What a perfect way to say "You Light Up My Life."

WHAT YOU NEED:
1. red thin gauge wire (available at craft stores)
2. light bulb (any standard incandescent bulb with a regular size base will do..no fluorescent or halogen bulbs)
3. pliers
4. screwdriver
5. safety goggles
6. scrap piece of wood or wood cube (craft stores usually sell wood for crafts and would have a small square or chunky piece that would work)
7. 2 pins
8. paper and pen (or type written message)
9. wire cutters
10. hammer and nail (optional- if you are using soft balsa or craft wood these are not necessary)
11. hot glue gun

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Prepare a surface on a work table for hollowing out the bulb. Make sure the area is large because little chunks might jump off the base when you crack the glass.
2. Follow these instructions on how to hollow out the light bulb from teamdroid.com. hese are easy to follow instructions that also give good tips on safety and procedure.

3. When you have your bulb ready, clean the outside carefully and put it to the side somewhere where it is protected from breaking.
4. Cut a ten inch piece of wire to make a heart “filament”. Fold the wire in half to create a sharp crease, then unfold. about an inch from the crease, take both loose wire ends and loop both wires around to create the heart halves. Then pull both wires back down, overlapping the center of the crease and extending beyond the heart shape. You may want to tweak the heart halves a little to get heart shape that you like. Your heart should be about 1/2″ wide so it will fit through the base of the bulb pretty easily.

5. If you want two or more heart filaments in your bulb, repeat step 5 one or more times.
6. Take your filaments to your bulb and hold them up to see how long the stems need to be to have the heart filaments positioned in roughly the center of the bulb. use your pliers to cut the extra wire off the ends. Also test that they fit int o your bulb without having to smush them or distort the shapes. if that is the case, make them smaller.
7. If your wood is soft, you should be able to poke the wire filaments down into the top of the wood and they will stay in position. If you are using a firmer wood, use a hammer and nail to create a small guide hole. Then remove the nail and push the wire down into the hole. You may want to secure these with glue as well.
8. Now fit your glass bulb over the filaments and glue the bulb down to the wood at the base.
9. Use the pins to attach your love note or message to the front of the piece of wood.

{Images via Design*Sponge}