Do-It-Yourself Homestead Solar Lanterns

A lack of outdoor lighting and a link posted by a friend on Facebook to these DIY Mason Jar Solar Lights at The Hand Me Down House blog gave me the bright idea to make these easy, inexpensive solar lanterns out of one of my favorite versatile things that I always have in abundance, Mason jars.

I had plenty of wide mouthed Mason jars in the cellar, and some wire left from a chicken fencing project to wrap around for a handle. I managed to find these solar lights for $2.50 each at our local Harbor Freight, and the tops, once screwed off from the plastic bases, were just the right size to set on top of the widemouthed jars. I tacked them on with hot glue to prevent them rattling around or getting knocked off. The tutorial on the Hand Me Down House blog suggested painting the
inside of the jars with paint tinted Mod Podge, but I  was happy with
the look of plain, clear Mason jars on their own, and left them as they
were. 

The next part I had a tricky time with, which was hanging them. The tutorial suggested these inexpensive flower stakes, and at about 75 cents apiece, I gave them a try. My first lanterns were made with quart jars, which were too heavy and bent the stakes over. Then I switched to the pint jars like the tutorial, and these seemed to be the right weight for the stakes.

I ended up hanging one of the quarts from a flag pole bracket and branch over the front steps.

I was having so much fun with the project, I picked up a couple of antique glassware pieces from a thrift store and put some smaller solar light tops on them with hot glue. I think it came out rather nicely, and now I’ve got my eye out for other glass objects to illuminate. It seems like most solar lights have about 3-4 hours in them after sundown, which works well for lighting our front walk and cellar steps in the evening, but if you come home really late at night, you just have to find your way. I have a feeling I’m not done playing around with these yet, and might just have to make some little ones with half-pint quilted jelly jars. Don’t worry, I won’t keep you in the dark!