13 DIYs To Turn Your Garden Into An Illuminated, Enchanted Escape

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Adding creative lighting ideas to your garden is a surefire recipe for an enchanting evening landscape. Besides acting as cute decor pieces, they can also point attention toward magical little pockets in your garden, from your favorite bench to a beautiful tree, cozy seating area, or water feature. Standard solar walkway lights and wall-mounted fixtures are one place to start, but adding unique lighting options can really cement an enchanted theme.

Below are 13 DIY lighting ideas to help you turn your outdoor space into a magical oasis. These range from giant, illuminated mushrooms to make you feel like you've wandered into a fairytale, floating, glowing orbs you can hang overhead, and ideas for creating a twinkling tunnel. You can also bring the indoors outside with a garden chandelier to cast a romantic glow on your garden. And simply illuminating unique garden elements, like the cracks in walkways and backyard seating, can envelop your space with a warm glow. All of these ideas are relatively simple to pull off, some allow you to upcycle old items, and none require electrical knowledge — as they rely on solar, battery, and plug-in lighting products. 

Giant lighted mushrooms exude enchantment, and they're easy to make. A wide vase is perfect as the stem, and an upside-down glass bowl creates the perfect mushroom cap. Leave them plain, paint them, or add colorful gemstones to the cap for texture. Then, wind fairy lights in the stem or under the cap to make it glow. A garden mushroom is also a creative way to repurpose solar lights into beautiful decor — add a solar light inside the mushroom instead of fairy lights. "Plant" mushrooms of various sizes and designs throughout the garden, either solo or in clumps.

Of all the brilliant ways to repurpose an old watering can, this lighted version is perhaps the most enchanting. An old metal watering can that's sprung a leak (ideally with a detachable nozzle) creates the most whimsical look — scuff it up to make it look aged, or paint it for a crisp look. These Soltuus Multi-Strand Fairy String Lights work well for the lighting — they have nine strands connected in one spot. Pop the nozzle off the watering can, slide the end where the strands are connected up through the spout, and pull individual strands through the holes in the nozzle before putting it back on. 

These DIY hanging lanterns made from lampshades are so dreamy for your yard. To make this DIY hanging light, you'll need a sturdy metal lampshade frame with vertical supports connecting the top and bottom rings – bonus points for a shade with a unique shape and lots of vertical pieces. Then, wrap wire fairy lights around all of the sections of the frame, and hang it from a tree branch, shepherd's hook, or arbor. If you want more illumination, suspend an option like this Fooing Firework Light from the center of the shade. This DIY is perfect if you have an old lampshade that's torn or stained, but the frame is still in good shape. Alternatively, keep your eyes open at the thrift store for ones with discolored fabric. 

Repurposing an old chandelier into a solar-powered garden light is the DIY outdoor lighting project that elevates your yard with elegance. You'll need just the tops of the solar lights – Dollar Tree has a variety of options to make this DIY inexpensive. Then, glue the tops of the solar lights into the chandelier where the bulbs would go. You can leave the glass shades on or remove them. To customize the look, consider painting the chandelier first. For more light, wrap the arms of the fixture with fairy lights. 

Craft a rustic, whimsical lighting element by creating a tripod stand out of three sturdy, straight branches or old wooden handles. Wire or rope works well to tie the three posts together where they meet. Then, grab a clear jar and fill it with fairy lights or a battery-operated candle for a safe, easy illumination option. You can add a decorative lid to the jar, as well as natural accents, like pine boughs, pine cones, or moss. When you've finished personalizing the jar, suspend it in the middle of the tripod by tying it in place with rope.

Imagine a tree full of glowing orbs illuminating your backyard garden. You can make that image a reality by creating balls out of chicken wire for the framework of the orbs. Or, wrap grapevines into a ball shape if you want a more rustic look. Now you're ready to wrap the ball in string lights. If you have a nearby power source, traditional plug-in string lights work. But battery- or solar-powered string or fairy lights might be more practical for hanging in the yard. Suspend the lighted balls at different heights from a branch, pergola, or porch roof.

There are plenty of handy ways to repurpose planters inside and outside your home, including this hanging light feature. You can use any planting pot – the original project from @kleinebaummanufaktur uses a terracotta planter – but a lightweight plastic pot might be easier to hang. Paint the pot if you want to change the color. For the lighting portion, you can use an LED puck light (preferably with a warm light option) or fairy lights. If you want string lights to hang near the opening, attach a piece of curved chicken wire inside, and attach the lights to the wires.

Embrace a floral theme for your lighting by picking up several flower-shaped solar lights and positioning them in pots or on trays. Amazon offers various designs, like these Kooper Solar Lily Lights, but you can even find options at Dollar Tree. Next, choose a pot you want to use as the base. Floral foam or soil in the pot works well to secure the flower lights in the positions you want. You can add artificial greenery or moss around the flower lights as accents. Position the potted lights around your garden for a colorful, floral glow.

Wondering how to style a garden bench? One illuminating option is to install LED strip lights underneath the seat to create a glow from below. These MuliVid Outdoor LED Strip Lights come with a remote, so you can change colors and modes easily to adjust the mood. Install the lights so the bulbs can't be seen to give it a more magical look. You can add the underlighting to any benches you have in your garden. From a distance, the glow beckons you to come sit on the bench.

Instead of running lights along a walkway, run lighting through it. The inspiration project uses large flagstones to create a walkway and firepit area, but you can create a lighted garden pathway using this same method. Run outdoor LED strip lights through the gaps between the stones, using landscape staples to hold them flat. Then, cover them with clear fireglass with smooth edges, like Mr. Fireglass Diamond Fireglass Beads, to fill the gaps. The result is a beautiful, glowing walkway that looks magical and improves safety by showing people where to walk.

A lighted water feature adds the enchantment of illumination with the mesmerizing sound of running water. And that sound can help block out other noises, which can make your garden space more peaceful. There are many different ways to build your own fountain, but our inspiration uses stacked bricks with a taller back to house the waterfall portion to create a simple, rustic design. Or, turn a ceramic bowl into an affordable water feature and add floating battery- or solar-powered lights to illuminate the fountain.

String lights offer a warm, magical glow on their own, but creating a tunnel with them makes things all the more enchanting. You can buy ready-made arches, or DIY your own. Cattle panels work for a sturdy tunnel structure – factor in the height you want the tunnel to be to choose a large enough panel. You'll need to stabilize the sides with metal posts. Then, attach string lights to the tunnel. You can also let vining plants grow over the tunnel to make it even more enchanted. Set up the tunnel as an entrance into a garden or along a pathway. 

If you have an old tree with lots of branches that fork off near the ground, turn it into a magical centerpiece in your backyard. Start by stringing lights around the trunk and branches. Then, hang potted plants off of the different branches or attach them into the forks of the tree. Uplighting at the base of the tree adds another layer of lighting that makes the tree a centerpiece. You could also combine this idea with a lighted fairy garden by tucking little doors and houses around the base of the tree.