Everyone Will Be Saving Glass Jars For This Easy Outdoor Project

If you've imagined having a lighted pathway to your front door or a touch of luminescence in your flower garden but didn't want to electrify your yard, turning your dreams into reality shouldn't take more than a few hours, at most. All it takes to complete this easy outdoor project is a few jars, some fun finds at the dollar or craft store, and inexpensive solar lights. Filling the jars with fake greenery or decorative rocks and adding a solar light to each gives you one-of-a-kind yard decor that adds a little bit of light and a lot of whimsy to your evening landscape. It's a budget-friendly solar light garden hack that makes your space stand out. 

Save your used glass jars and their threaded lids or buy Mason jars with lids. Keep in mind that the bulb of the solar light needs to be able to fit through the mouth of the jar, so choose wide mouth containers like those that hold pickles or peanut butter. Glass is a better choice than plastic for this outdoor application, as it looks better and is more weather-resistant.

You've probably seen the solar lights on a black plastic stake that you push into the ground, but there are many different designs that will work equally well, including models with different colored lights. Choose the right solar light by making sure that the solar panel attached to the light is smaller than the lid of your jar. It will need to fit inside an opening in the top of the lid. 

If you're using the popular solar lights that have a stake you stick in the ground, set the stakes aside, as you won't need them. Cut a hole in the lid of the jar large enough to hold the solar panel snugly. Paint the lid a garden-friendly color, and drop the light into the jar with the bulb hanging down and the panel firmly set in the lid. Screw the lid on tight. You'll have a basic solar light that doesn't look like every other store-bought option lining the walkways in your neighborhood. Your light stands out more if you decorate the inside of the jar with colored rocks, faux flowers, or greenery before you put the lid on.

What you put inside the jar is only limited by your imagination, the size of the jar, and the space you need for the light itself. Play into the garden motif by creating a vignette with miniature wildlife or butterflies fluttering in a tiny forest. Paint the jar to change the color of the light streaming through the glass, or use jars with textured glass to create prisms of light. These solar jars are also perfect as an alternative to luminaria, the holiday light displays that are traditionally made from a candle inside of a paper bag. Use solar lights that look like real fire without the safety hazard to create the look.