I can't tell you how many magazine and online articles I have come across that should really be titled "11 Crafty Ways To Set Off Your Fire Alarm" or "7 DIY Fire Hazards" instead. Any time you are working with a light bulb, you are working with heat. Sometimes dangerous levels of it, Particularly when you are doing something boneheaded like making a lamp shade out of decoupaged moth wings or whatever.
I get particularly twitchy when the subject of lamp shades come up, because a lamp is something that people are likely to turn on and then leave the room. Unlike a decorative lightbulb thing, a lamp can be on for hours without anyone noticing.
You know that faux-sexy thing people do, where they drape a silk scarf over a lampshade to make the room sexy for sexytimes? My college roommate did that, and after about an hour, the scarf caught on fire. Whole dorm had to be evacuated. Luckily the fire didn't spread far before someone rushed in with a fire extinguisher. But I learned a valuable lesson that day: just because it looks awesome in the movies or a magazine photo spread, that doesn't mean it's going to be safe in real life.
Then there was the time about 10 years ago when my best friend performed a Martha Stewart craft for Halloween. Martha had you scoop out a pumpkin, cut holes, and poke Christmas lights through them. Bundle all the wires inside the pumpkin, plug it in, and set it on the doorstep.
Festive, right? Too bad the heat from the Christmas lights accelerated the decay of the pumpkin to such an extent that the whole thing basically liquefied itself on her doorstep 12 hours later. (At least it didn't catch fire.)
When it comes to crafts involving lightbulbs or electricity, before starting, ask yourself, "Does this seem sensible?" Or at least ask yourself, "Have I paid my renter's insurance policy this month?"
Image courtesy Flickr/Armadillo Commander
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