What if I made a Light Bulb Aquarium?

*crafting intensifies*

This What if Wednesday my fantastic younger sister, Casey, chose the two pins, from Pinterest, for me to try: a Marimo Moss Ball DIY Light Bulb Aquarium and a DIY Knot Pillow.

My lovely Instagram followers voted and the light bulb aquarium was the favorite. (sorry, but "easy marimo moss ball light bulb aquarium" takes too much time to say)

Supplies

Wednesday evening, I went to find the supplies for my project. My amazing roommate, Marianne, came with me and it made it 10x more fun. According to the original blog post from Soap Deli News, I needed:

• marimo moss balls

• light bulb shaped bottle

• pebbles

• other stuff to put in the aquarium

It didn't seem like a lot of supplies, which made my wallet happy. But, it was extremely hard to find any of the things I needed. We went to the only craft store in Cedar, Joanns, but they didn't have the light bulb bottle. Who out there thinks, 'hmm, you know what would be a good idea? Making a bottle that looks like a light bulb.' I mean it does look really cool but I just thought it was weird. We risked it and didn't buy any aquarium rocks at Joanns and headed to the trusty Walmart.

Marianne and I were racking our brains trying to think of alternatives to the supplies needed, especially that light bulb bottle. A jar? Salt shakers? An urn? A lot of searching and improvising later, I had some supplies that would have to suffice: some reindeer moss, real light bulbs, aquarium rocks, a chain and a rock I found on the floor. Real crafty, I know *wink*

Using a Real Lightbulb

Back at the homestead, I unloaded my supplies and got to work. Except, I wasn't sure if I could use a real light bulb. Naturally, I Googled "how to take off the top of a light bulb" and WikiHow came in for the win. I followed this tutorial but I was pretty unsure about it at first. Mostly because of this phrase:

"You'll be breaking glass during this step and during many of the other steps in this process, so it might be best to work over a box or several sheets of newspaper. You

should also wear goggles and gloves"

Excuse me, what?? I wasn't prepared for this. I borrowed some pliers and tried to remove the very top of the bulb, over a pizza box, (for safety, of course). The first one was difficult, but then I got the hang of it, and it wasn't too bad. I do suggest going outside though, glass shards aren't fun to clean up.

Aquarium Rocks, Chains, and Whatever Else I Could Find

Next, I poured in some of my little bag of blue pebbles. It was not quite a 1/3rd full of these.

Then, I took some of the chain and spooled it in a little pile. I wanted to put more trinkets in the bulb. So, I searched the abyss underneath my bed (organized in containers, obviously), and found some little flowers, confetti, stars, and a chunk of glass from the tip of the light bulb.

I liked how it all looked before I put the water in. It was a cute little assortment of whose its and what nots.

Moss, Moss, Moss

I did not find any marimo moss balls, or any type of moss ball for that matter. I thought, eh, regular moss will work, right? So, I put in a little baby tuft of moss. In the first light bulb, I put way too much moss in, and it took over the empire.

Put the Aqua in Aquarium

Time to put in some water! I very carefully filled up the light bulb with water. Use just a tiny stream, like when my grandma's cat would drink from the tap.

So, everything except the rocks and chain floated to the top. I know physics...duh...

But it turned out really well!! I plugged the top with more moss, which surprisingly looked great.

The Grand Finale

This was a fun DIY project, though it took some creative improvising. I think it'd be cool to hang up my little aquarium babies from the ceiling, but I'm hesitant about the idea of glass and water and pebbles crashing all over my floor. Please, let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions!

Moss takeover on my first bulb (above)

Up close and personal view (below)

I just thought I'd add this little gem to the end of my post. The magic of Photoshop and procrastination at work here.

Please leave a comment, subscribe and check out my social media accounts! Oh, and please comment ideas for how to make the light bulbs stand up, or how to hang them up.

See you all next week!

#lightbulbaquarium #DIY #crafts