DIY Multicolor Christmas Lights

At the end of what became several months of research, I landed on alcohol ink as the most practical option, but that had its own set of gray areas. Mainly, does it work on glass?
I experimented with an old set of clear incandescent string lights that I had, and found that the ink was not permanent and would rub off. So next I had to find out how to seal alcohol ink on glass.

Sealing Alcohol Ink

What I found, mostly thanks to this video on sealing alcohol inked glass ornaments, is that there is ONE finishing spray that will preserve alcohol ink, and that is UV Archival spray. I did try to seal my test lights with a regular old clear coat spray paint that I happened to have, but it reactivated the ink, making it liquid again and leaving spray marks all over.

Applying Alcohol Ink

I then needed to research what to apply the ink to the glass with. I tried a paintbrush, which worked okay but was slow, causing the ink to dry before I’d painted the whole bulb. I also tried felt, but it was far too scratchy, leaving streaks all over. In the end I used foam, which was perfect. 

Blending Alcohol Ink

Alcohol ink dries extremely quickly, so it’s helpful to add something to it to keep it wet while its being applied. I experimented with 70% isopropyl alcohol for blending and alcohol ink blending solution. In the end, I went with the blending solution because it was thicker and didn’t dilute the ink’s color as much as the isopropyl.

• LED string lights with clear glass G40 bulbs
  • A set of string lights with glass bulbs was actually hard to find, many of them use plastic bulbs.
    Glass bulbs can also be purchased separately and screwed into any strand that takes G40 bulbs
• Alcohol inks
  • I got this variety pack. Keep in mind that colors can be blended to create additional hues!
• Alcohol ink blending solution or rubbing alcohol
  • I experimented with 70% isopropyl alcohol (though 99% is recommended), but in the end I went with the official blending solution because it’s thicker and doesn’t dilute the intensity of the color as much.
• Rubbing alcohol
  • Rubbing alcohol will remove alcohol inks from skin, tools, and many surfaces, so it’s nice to have around in case ink gets anywhere!
• Foam
  • I used some scraps of furniture cushion foam that I had lying around, but a magic eraser or foam brushes could also be used. Any kind of soft foam should work.
• Binder clip
  • I used a binder clip for holding the foam so the ink stayed off my fingers

• Archival Spray
  • This exact spray is a MUST for setting alcohol ink on glass. Without it, the dry ink will rub off.
    Other clear sprays can reactivate the ink (meaning it turns liquid again) or discolor it.
• Large Cardboard Box
  • This is for holding the bulbs while they dry and for spray painting

• Scissors
  • For putting holes in the cardboard box
• The styrofoam the bulbs came in
  • This will come in handy for the second coat of finishing spray
• Masking tape or painters tape
  • To mask off the screws of the bulbs.

First, I made holes in a cardboard box using a pair of scissors. I used the scissor blades (in the closed position) to punch into the cardboard, and then turned them to make the hole round-ish.

Use one big cardboard box or several small ones, leaving lots of room between holes for access while spraying the archival spray later.

I also did this on the backside of the styrofoam the bulbs came in. I recommend using only cardboard, it’s sturdier. 

Then, I used a bulb to pop into each hole. This was to ensure the holes were ready to receive the bulbs once they were wet with ink.

(Note: the glass bulbs are delicate, making them not ideal for this task. I happened to have a plastic G40 bulb that I used to do this since its more durable!)

I then cut up some scrap cushion foam I had into little squares. I ended up using a lot of these, about 1 for each color.

I used a binder clip to pinch the foam to make it less messy to hold.

Now the painting begins! I squirted some blending solution onto the foam.

Then, on top of the blending solution I squirted some ink.

I quickly rubbed and dabbed the foam all over the bulb to make an even coat, working while the ink was wet.

Note: Once the ink dries, touching it with the foam again will make a splotchy mark. The good news is, the foam can be rubbed all over the bulb as many times as needed.

To intensify the color, I dropped the ink directly onto the bulb, and then rubbed all over again. I did this on only the darker toned bulbs.

As the ink dried, it sometimes became foggy. I still don’t know why this it, but its fine with me!
I think it may be due to the large quantity of blending solution that I used.

I then popped the bulb into the cardboard hole to dry, lining it up to the hole by holding the bulb by the screw, and then popping it into place with a single finger tip on top to remove as little ink as possible.

Note: When the ink dries foggy like this, it’s like a dust, and will come off very easily even when dried until sprayed with the archival spray.
You can see the spot on the green bulb here where I touched it several times.

I let the bulbs dry like this for a few days (I got busy!), but I think the ink only takes about an hour to dry completely.

Next, sealing!
I took the bulbs outside (along with some bowls I inked), and shook the archival spray for 2 minutes as directed.

I sprayed the archival spray 10-12” from the bulbs in a sweeping motion from each side of the box. After 15 minutes, I repeated this a second time.

I then left the bulbs to dry for a few more days (I got busy again!), but I think they should only need 2 hours to dry completely.

(Note: this spray STINKS. Wear gloves and maybe leave the bulbs outside or in the garage for a day. The smell will fade.)

I flipped the bulbs over, and some of the ink was still dusty and rub-off-able near the screws of the bulbs, so I put them into the styrofoam they were shipped in and prepared to spray their bottoms.

I used 2” pieces of masking tape to wrap each of the screws. This extra step was annoying, but for the longevity of the bulbs’ color I think it was worth it.

Then I sprayed the bulbs with archival spray again! Just one coat this time, from every side.

The finished bulbs are gorgeous!
As you can see, the archival spray did make them a bit less foggy.

Some of the bulbs have a little foggy patterning on them, but I think this was mostly because I used the archival spray in 40F weather with 90% humidity, which is not recommended.

Last, I screwed my multicolor Christmas lights into my light strand.

Ta da!