"If you touch this, it will explode, and all the tiny shards of glass will fly into your eyes, blinding you forever."
This was how I introduced the small Pink House Dwellers to our pink neon sign, which spells out 'play' in my handwriting, is made of glass, and is fixed above the extremely child-unfriendly velvet armchair, on the strictly-no-sticky-hands grasscloth walls in our fancy grown-up den.
OK, so I may have exaggerated a teeny bit, but the fact is that our amazing sign is made of actual glass, and won't stand up to being used as a basketball net, boxing ring, or football goal by two small, boisterous boys. The sign may say 'play', but in reality it's not for playing with. At all.
Given that our sign is positioned in a grown-ups-only room with a lock on the door, the fact that it's breakable shouldn't be a problem. But how about if I wanted some neon for, say, the kitchen? Or the kids' playroom? Or just to snuggle up with on the sofa? Not an option, you might think. Totally unsafe, you may say. Completely crazy, you might shout!
Neon for breakfast, lunch and supper/Photo: Bag & Bones
Neon swallows (never spits)/Photo: Bag & Bones
Enter new, kid- and planet-friendly neon brand Bag & Bones, making the neon impossible, possible.
Like most excellent, beautiful things, we first came across Bag & Bones on Instagram. Just one glance at their feed, full of funky neon shapes (flamingos, lips, skulls) and slogans ('I woke up like this', 'bow down bitches', and - our favourite - 'fuck'), and we were sold. But Bag & Bones are about way more than a pretty Insta feed.
Bag & Bones on Instagram
The idea for Bag & Bones arose when founder Gigi Foyle spotted a gap in the market for beautiful neon lighting, without using glass or neon gas, which is banned in a variety of venues (not ideal when you want to declare your love in lights at a neon gas-unfriendly wedding location).
Instead, the B&B signs use a combo of flexible neon tubing and light-emitting diodes (just had a weird flash-back to my physics classroom, circa 1995). This means the neon emits very little heat, is eco-friendly, durable (the indoor football game can go on), and doesn't need to be hardwired by an electrician - you just plug them into your wall and voila! Instant cool.
Photo: Bag & Bones
Photo: Bag & Bones
Photo: Bag & Bones
When Bag & Bones launches on 30 June (keep an eye on their Instagram and website), as well as offering customised neon signs, they will also have a debut collection of eight designs, including a pink flamingo and David Bowie lyrics, with prices starting from £195.
So now you can finally have a hot pink 'fuck' on the sofa. Phew!
