Garden Lights DIY

Spring has arrived and the garden is calling.  We've had so much rain that it's been really difficult to get anything done, so we work between the raindrops.  If you remember from last year,  this house had absolutely no gardens.  Everything was overrun with weeds and as we dug, we found old steps, pavers, and coal.  Needless to say, I was anxious to get started this year.  
We have very large - 30 feet - arborvitaes that give us privacy at the back of our property.  I've always thought they'd look pretty with lights in them, so, naturally, I came up with a plan.   I had some Wine Cup Upcycles a few months ago and now I've got a new one!

So far, I've made two of them and they look so pretty at night!

Here's how I made them.....

You only need a few supplies:

Jute twine, a pair of scissors, solar light top (mine was a broken one), and a wine cup.  If you don't have a wine cup, any small jar should work.  

Start by cutting 4 pieces of jute, no smaller than 48 inches.  Believe me, I tried and I didn't have enough length to tie the final knot.

Fold the 4 pieces in half and tie a knot with a loop.  This will be the loop for hanging your light.  

Separate the twine into 4 pairs:

Tie each pair into a knot several inches below the loop you made. Try to keep the knots even.

This was a shorter hanger, so the knots weren't that far down.

Now, take a strand from adjoining pairs and tie them into a knot several inches down from the first one, again, keeping them even.

Here's the first one done.

Two done.

Three.

All four done.

Next you need to make the final knot for the cup to sit on.  Take all 8 pieces and form one knot.

Your hanger is complete, just add the cup:

I sat the broken solar light on the top and it was a perfect fit.  

If your solar lights aren't a perfect fit, you can glue them or use a bead of caulk to keep them in place.  The other thing I added was a handful of glass gems to give the cups weight.  Since the cups are plastic, I was worried the might 'take flight' in a good wind storm.  

Here they are as it was just getting dark:

Another shot in complete darkness:

I'm off to make some more since I want the trees full of them.  Can you think of a spot in your yard for these? 

I hope you'll pin, share, comment, and follow.  If you click on those 3 little lines at the top right of the blog, you'll see where to find me...or click on 'share'.



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