When the words mason jar & solar lamp come together in the same sentence, I don’t care who you are — you get excited.
When the words mason jar & solar lamp come together in the same sentence, I don’t care who you are — you get excited.Because this jar is awesome. And adorable. And did I mention you’re saving the planet too? So get excited, yo. This is a great project for people with minimal crafty skills, (like me). Once you wrap wire around it and hang it in your yard, you don’t have to think about it ever again. Evening light = powered by the sun = awesome.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
Things you’ll need:
- A quart mason jar like this one. (places like Ace Hardware or Target should have them too.)
- 16 gauge baling wire like this stuff here. or you have find this at your local hardware store.
- A solar powered mason lid. (I made mine about a year ago and found my solar lids at Big Lots, but now I can only find them online. I’ve searched around and this is the best price I could find)
Step 1 — Cut a piece of wire to 12 1/2 inches. Wrap around the lip of the mason jar and loop together — but leave it loose.
Step 2 – Cut another piece of wire to 14 inches and loop the ends around the first wire.
After you’ve tightened both sides of your handle, you can go back and tighten the front loops on the first ring of wire.
Now all you need to do is put a battery in your led solar light lid and screw that puppy on! I have found that the solar lights need at least 6 hours of full sun to light up well at night. So as long as you hang them in a place where they can get recharged for half of the day, you’ll always have light in the evenings!
After your initial investment in the supplies, it really is the gift that keeps giving. I’m thinking of placing these all around my outside table — can’t you just picture the amazing summer evenings with these to light our conversations with family & friends?
Very cool:o)
Ummm…. I guess I’m the only one who would like to know WHY you need a battery if you have a solar panel. So… ??? This seems a more than a little at odds with the concept of natural lighting.
Hi Dee, I don’t say to use a battery in the post. All you need is the solar panel:)
The solar panels come with a rechargeable battery built into them. The solar panel needs to store the electricity somewhere (the battery) while the sun is shining, then when the sun goes down and the lights come on, the battery powers the light. 🙂
You said put a “put a battery in your led solar light lid”…it threw me off too but Ken’s explanation cleared things up….I too am unfamiliar with these lids but I look forward to trying this project–thank you!!
I just bought a lid for $4.99 at Michael’s. I’ll see how it works. I used a straight jelly jar because my blue mason jar opening was a little tight and the battery got stuck. I had to dig it out and reglue to the lid.
Long, long before solar lights I use to take my kids camping. Since we didn’t have a lot of disposable income I had to get creative. I used mason jars for our camp lights by punching two holes opposite each other in the lid. Then I would wire the lid to the jar, but leave about a 5″ gap between the jar lip and the lid and add a handle on top of the lid. I then wrapped a pretty piece of fabric around the wire handle on top to make carrying it comfortable and put a few small stitches to keep it in place. The lid protected our hands from over heating if we were carrying the lamp a long distance such as to the bathroom at night. I’d round up tea lights and/or ugly candles that had burned low and brought those in a bag. When we set up camp we’d put an inch or so of dirt in the bottom to stabilize the candle so it didn’t slide around and place a candle in each one. When we lit our candles there was plenty of safe light that the kids could use without fear of burning themselves or others. Our camping neighbors thought I was genius; not really, just resourceful!
The links are for reg. mouth mason jar solar lids- not wide mouth.
add some water with citronella and it may keep bugs away
This is a great idea. But I’d either have to grab some jars from my canning stores or go buy more jars. And if I buy more jars I’d end up getting what I need to make some soup, or stew or jam, and end up canning in the jars I wanted to make the lights in. So, then I’d have to go back to the store to get more jars….
The same goes for the Mason Jar lamps I keep seeing. I’d end up taking the jars off the light fixtures, just to fill them with homemade goodness. 😉
Karen, I understand (I do the same thing). However, if you’re like me you sometimes end up with a jar, two or three that you run across that has an imperfection (chip, etc.) on the mouth of the jar making it useless for canning. Use THOSE jars for the solar light. Problem solved and you’ll know better than to grab them for canning as you already know they’re damage.
Sounds like the next book in the series… “If You Give a Moose a Mason Jar…” ; )
Always random canning jars at thrift stores. Buy in the late fall or winter when stores have canning sales. Ace Hardware is a good source online or in store. Also Fillmore Jars online.
Yes. solar lights/panels do work well in the winter. I also have a few solar lights in the front yard. ..it is winter n they work…but the bottoms seem to break off easily. Was wondering another use for them! Great idea…have everything else in the pantry-collecting dust. So kudos!!
So is the light connected to the mason jar lid?
Yes, the light is in the mason jar lid.
I was wondering if these would work in cold winter weather. I know you can’t leave anything battery powered in the car, or the cold will kill the battery. This is a different type of battery, but do you know if it would still be affected or not. I am thinking that these would also be neat on long winter nights. And do you have to have good sunlight for it (cloudy days wouldn’t work?)? Thanks.
We’ll see this winter! I’ll let you know!
I live in British Columbia, Canada. I have store bought solar lights that I leave out all year long. It has been minus 18 celcius this winter so far.. Have left lights up like this for years and batteries usually last 3 to 5 years, they are rechargeable batteries so if they get week just recharge. Great idea about the jars will try this soon
I live on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mtn’s. We get down to – 12 in January and my Lowe’s solar lights have lasted 3 winters so far and we’re entering into our 3rd summer with them. It gets way over 100 in the summers here and they’ve lasted very well. I just went to Walmart and bought their cheapo’s for a buck ($1) Woo! I got 10 of them. I’ve got them in a large vase on my patio table presently, but I bought some pretty paper lanterns from Michael’s (2 for $1) Woo again! I’m going to try and fit a solar light inside after I take the stake off. They’re hanging from the spines of my umbrella so the sun doesn’t bleach out their soft pastel colors – I’m hoping they’ll get enough sun light reflection to light up at night – we’ll see ; )
I see that some people aren’t quite grasping the idea of re-purposing old jars you already have ( or can find at yard sales & flea markets for next to nothing!) Sure you could buy lights at the store…the store that gets all that “stuff” from China. Once the light craps out, then it ends up in the landfill. This way, you’re only buying the solar panel / battery case & re-purposing those old jars. It’s also about the feeling of being self-sufficient any way we can & the satisfaction of knowing you made something creative & useful! I’m thinking of the plastic wide-mouth jars I have saved & how much safer (and FUN!) those would be for little campers 😉
Not only that but sometimes (unfortunately), for those of us who do can, some jars get chipped around the mouth and are then not any good for canning… Great use for THOSE jars!
Great point!
Great job its nice to go out and camp and explore the wilderness but you have to be careful, have a great day bye
Add clear glass beads/balls from Michaels in the bottom of the jar, and they sparkle and give off / deflect a ton of light!
That’s a great idea!!! Thank u!
Oh I want to make these, I’ve seen them but didn’t have a clue as to how to get the solar lights, thanks for sharing
my daughter’s neighbor has done this with blue bottles and it looks amazing. they are hanging from a tree in his yard. color is great.
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The link for buying the lids is in the list of “Things You Need”. I bought the lids and put them on some mason jars that I already had. Didn’t need any wire for stringing them up. I just set them on a patio table. I filled one jar with food coloring tinted water. They work great!
DUDE, this is so cool! Totally making these!!
I beleive something was left out. Everything was explained except where do you get the solar cell for the cap. It seems like a waste of time to me. When there are so many motion detection lighing systems that hook directly into your home electric grid. I supposed this is good if you lived in a trailor park and you’re a dealer with no phone to let people know you’re open for business.
The link to the solar lids is in the post. It’s https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXMWCZK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BXMWCZK&linkCode=as2&tag=weemre-20 .
And, there’s no need to be snarky in referring to being a “dealer”.
that is great! how long will they last?
Wonderful article. I love this solar light. It is a great way to light up your garden in the evenings.
You realize you just posted a “How-To” detailing putting a jar lid on a jar….
This is too cool! What would be fun is to do some tinted jars 🙂
https://ohsoverypretty.com/2013/04/26/diy-tinted-blue-mason-jars/
I’ve seen electric lights in a store just like these. They are about $200 each!!
no one seemed to answer the question already asked if you could use other panels off other lights, like lawn lights, some of my stakes broke, so can’t use for that, etc….IS THIS POSSIBLE to do ??!!!!
I would try it, tell us if it works!
Don’t know until you try…
Yes You can. I use these solar tops (as you said, when the stakes break) all of the time for projects like these.
Yeah Roberta you could do that. But creating something is so much more fun than just buying something.
So true… Plus I come out of Walmart feeling kind of stinky anyways… MUCH rather be creative and make my own… Like the previous comment about putting colored tissue paper inside there maybe,,, Or a few colored transparent pebble things??? 🙂
Yeah, you can buy a jar of pickles at WalMart too, but if you have ever had homemade pickles, some things are just worth the effort…
I have some antique blue canning jars that will be great for this project. Love the idea and Christmas is right around the corner ~ great gift idea ~
Honestly, unless you really like to look of Mason Jars, by the time you add up the expense of the parts, you could go buy them at Walmart, without the work and get the same result.
I think the Mason Jar part is the point of the discussion. A lot of people like them.
Would be fun to put a little tinted tissue paper in these, maybe some pastel pinks, blues, lavender and a warm white like a cream color. Would dull the light a bit, and create some ambiance while hanging the lanterns from trees. Thanks so much for this! 🙂
Try this: Paint the outside of the jars with a mixture of white school glue, water & food coloring… it dries opaque! How much & what shade coloring you use will dictate how opaque. It will diffuse light, for sure, but would be nice for hanging in trees / ambiance!
About putting colored paper in the jar….. You have to be careful you don’t start a fire, as your “glass jar” is a conductor of the sun. Girls in our apt complex put a mason jar on their patio as a cigarette butt disposal and it got sooooooo hot it started a fire on the wood patio… Just saying….
We made candle holders from odd glasses by using pieces of tissue paper. Tear the pieces or cut them about 1″ square. Then Elmers glue (watered down a little) or Modpodge, paint the jars as you stick on the tissue. Two to three colors each work well. When it dries, it’s “stained glass”. Bet these would be pretty lighted on the patio.
Amazind idea!!! Thank you for such great information!!!Can’t wait to try it!!!
Question…..so if it takes a battery is it really solar powered?? Does the light keep the battery charged? Or do you have to replace the battery from time to time? Just curious how long the battery lasts or if it just uses less battery so the battery lasts longer than normal.
Tara, all solar powered lights have rechargeable batteries to hold the solar charge. Otherwise these would only work during the day when the sun is powering it
Cool idea! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome post…thank you for sharing! I wonder if you could use the tops of the cheap solar lights they sell at dollar tree. What are your thoughts on that? =)
Found you via Pinterest!
Maybe that would work, I’m all for re-purposing. Go for it!
Sure can …
https://www.instructables.com/id/Create-Your-Own-Solar-Powered-Mason-Jar-Nightlight/
So crazy! Never knew you could do this, but it’s totally awesome. 🙂