Here’s a quick tutorial for making beautiful solar mason jar lights out of the cheap dollar solar path lights you can find at Walmart.
DIY Solar Mason Jar Lights in 5 Easy Steps
The solar mason jar light project is really simple:
- take the cheap 97 cent plastic solar path lights you find at Walmart (Westinghouse brand)
- take them apart (we will just use the solar cell, cap, and the bulb)
- drill a hole in the mason jar lid
- customize the jar, lid, and cap pieces
- assemble the pieces of the path light into the mason jar
These westinghouse solar path lights are less than a buck at Walmart
Materials for Solar Mason Jar Light Project
- Westinghouse Turbo Rocket Solar Path Light, Black
- Mason Jars (I used the 4-oz quilted pattern)
- Drill
- 5/16″ drill bit
- Superglue (or any glue of your choice)
Assembly of your solar mason jar light
This is one of the easiest projects ever!
Step 1: Drill a hole in the center of your mason jar lid using a 5/16″ drill bit.
Take your time and be careful not to push too hard and break the glass. The 5/16″ bit will give you the perfect size to fit the LED light inside the jar. If you think you want the hole a little bit bigger or smaller, here is a handy chart for drill bit hole diameters.
Step 2: Disassemble the Solar Path Light
The next step is to take the solar path light apart. Just pull the top off the plastic. We only need the top black plastic piece (circled in red above) to make our solar mason jar lights. Make sure you pull the tab next to the LED light to activate your solar light.
Step 3: Insert the light into the mason jar lid
You’ll want to now carefully insert the light into your mason jar lid. If your drilled hole is not perfect, now is the time to add a dab of glue along the mason jar lid. Be sure not to get any onto the light or near the actual hole.
Step 4: Twist the light until it’s all the way onto the mason jar lid
It may be a tight fit, so slowly and carefully twist the black plastic until it is snugly up against the lid of the mason jar.
Step 5: Enjoy!
That’s it, you’re done. Here you can see the solar mason jar light at night. In the background you can see one of the dollar path lights. Look at how much brighter my solar mason jar light is. And the quilted mason jar really gives off some cool patterns.
Customizing your Solar Mason Jar Light
My next post will show you some ways you can customize the solar mason jar light. I’ll show you ways you can stain the mason jars to add color, paint the mason jar lids to match the plastic top, add wire and hang the mason jars, and maybe even create an outdoor mason jar chandelier!
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