The Easy Jar DIY That Makes A Portable Light Anywhere In Your Home

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For the practical, a flashlight is the go-to tool that illuminates the way to the bathroom when the power's out or the path to the shed when a home improvement project runs late into the night. For the practical decorator, a Mason jar filled with fireflies — or the closest thing to that: fairy lights — doesn't just illuminate the dark, it fills it with wonder. To create this fairy light lamp, you'll need just a few items, some of which you may already have.

If you're going the budget route, stop by the Dollar Tree to get a string of Spring Bee Fairy Lights to fill the jar. These have tiny plastic bees attached to each light, which gives off the impression that you've captured some fireflies in a jar. There are 10 lights to a string, so if you'd like more illumination, you may want to get a couple of packages. The project also requires AA batteries and a roll of Scotch tape.

The bee lights are yellow, so if you'd prefer plain white fairy lights, you may need to check online for a 12-pack of Battery-operated White Lights from the Brightown Store. These come 20 lights to a string, so you'll need fewer packages than you would with the Dollar Tree lights. This project is also a logical way to repurpose string lights instead. Finally, whatever lights you choose, you'll need something to house them in. A plain jar would work, though many Mason jars have decorative writing on the front, so if you'd like more flare, go with that instead.

To get the ball rolling on this, affix the battery pack from the string lights to the lid of the jar. This prevents the string of lights from settling in the bottom of the container. Once the lights are securely attached to the lid, carefully drop the fairy lights into the Mason jar. Be mindful of how they fall into the jar. You may get clusters of lights in one section but not another because a few lights get clumped together. Screw the lid onto the jar once you're done adjusting the arrangement of the lights.

Given how inexpensive this DIY is, it's a project that's a natural for your occasion-specific lighting needs. For example, a couple of Mason jars filled with white lights is a practical lighting solution for a backyard wedding. If it's Halloween, substitute the regular fairy lights for some of the Dollar Tree's String Halloween-themed Lights. Fill several jars with them and place them on the front steps to create holiday mood lighting. Or if you're extending the lantern light to the path leading up to the front porch, place the lights six to eight feet apart so trick-or-treaters don't trip. 

This lighting DIY works on the inside of the house, too. For example, if you're having guests over for dinner, light the dark hallway to the bathroom with a few of these. This allows you to keep the harsh overhead lights off while still allowing your guests to see clearly as they head into more unfamiliar parts of the house.

Fairy lights are associated with soft lighting. This effect is created thanks to how small the lights are and how far apart they are from one another on the string. However, the appearance of light will look brighter once the fairy lights are in the jars due to the fact that the lights are concentrated into one small spot — the inside of the jar — as opposed to being spread out on a long string across a window or around a door. As such, you may want to take some steps to make the lighting less harsh if you're going for soft lights on this one.

Glass paint does the trick here. Use Frosted Glass Spray Paint from Rust-Oleum to give the glass a frosted look. The frosted paint acts as a light diffuser, which spreads the light out, making it softer and easier on the eyes. In effect, you're creating a frosted lampshade for the lights when you paint the Mason jar with the frosted glass paint. The paint costs around $7 a can and is an easy way to DIY frosted glass. 

The other option you have is Rust-Oleum's Sea Glass Paint, which will set you back around $17. This turns the glass green-blue like the old-fashioned glass sea floats. If you're not familiar with this type of glass, it was a colored glass that was formed into balls and woven into fishermen's nets to make them float. If you've chosen a nautical theme, you can mimic the look of sea glass by covering the fairy light jars with the paint.