Light Bulb Cages as Christmas Luminaries

Light bulb cages have been pretty popular- both authentically vintage and modern reproductions- for a few years now. Designed to protect factory or ship workers from exploding glass bulbs, they are found in funky antique shops, but in fewer and fewer numbers.  I’ve been lucky enough to find a few of them in my day, and I had this idea to upcycle them into Christmas luminaries .

Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve upcycled one of these cages. Remember this bird cage that I made with one during Springtime?

But from a rustic Christmas decor standpoint, these antique light cages are a great size for tabletop displays. Plus they add a little height to whatever you set them on.

With the holidays looming around the corner, I decided to pair my collection of light bulb cages with some vintage sheet music that I had picked up on one of my junkin’ adventures.

My hope was that they would work well together as Christmas luminaries (using LED candles, of course).

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Light Bulb Cages and Vintage Sheet Music

The first thing I did was gather the vintage sheet music that I already had. And before anyone gets too bristled by this, much of this old sheet music was incomplete or already damaged/torn.

After selecting a single page from my vintage sheet music, I carefully coiled it and placed it inside a light bulb cage. (FYI, you can also find these vintage light cages on Etsy from time to time.)

I needed to determine how much of the page I would need to create my Christmas lantern.

Next, I marked the vintage sheet music at the bottom of the light bulb cage. I pulled the coil out, folded the sheet at my mark, and carefully tore along the fold. 

For rustic Christmas decor, I liked the idea of a fuzzy tear line instead of a clean cut with scissors.

Then, I coiled it back up and slipped it in the light cage. I carefully taped it together with Scotch tape once it was comfortably in the cage, and that was it!

The first of the Christmas luminaries was done.

Christmas Luminaries with Light Bulb Cages

In a couple of minutes, I had an entire set of Christmas luminaries with the light bulb cages. And the best part was that none of my changes were permanent.

But now the grand finale: illuminating the Christmas luminaries!

Because of the vintage sheet music, real candles were out of the question, of course. So, I placed an LED votive or small pillar candle under each light bulb cage.

And when it was dark out, I had stunningly gorgeous Christmas lanterns!

Not too shabby, eh? I think a cluster of these Christmas luminaries would look lovely on a holiday table for the perfect touch of rustic Christmas decor. They are, in a word, breathtaking when they’re lit up at night.

For another Christmas lantern idea, make sure you also check out this Christmas lantern idea with a camper jack, too!

Plus, don’t forget that my book, “Crafting with Flannel”, has an entire chapter dedicated to Christmas crafts! It’s available for purchase online from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart.

Craft on!

S

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