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That LA:AT home-made Sun Jar link is broken, here's the correct one: http://la.apartmenttherapy.com/la/how-to/homemade-sun-jar-014980

I made one and just sprayed an ikea jar with glass frosting. works fine. got the solar lights from the dollar store. It's cute.

I guess that one really was a "surreptitious" link!

I hate to be negative but I loved the idea of this product- ordered one and it worked for about 5 minutes. The company I ordered it from sent me another, and the same thing happened. Great idea, clearly still needs some work.

I have to say that my sun jars have been a complete disaster, just like IAS's. I bought two, they worked for a couple of days. I replaced the batteries and they worked for a couple more days. I emailed to complain, and the Charles and Marie people promptly sent me two more sun jars. They lasted a couple of days, I replaced the batteries and they lasted a couple more days. Now I have four dead sun jars; I haven't had the time/energy to ask for replacements.

It's too bad, because when they worked, they were lovely.

This is worse than NOT GREEN, this is PSEUDO-GREEN.

Hi there! I'm with C&M and we sell the Sun Jar. I am sorry for the bad experience with the Sun Jar, we have a bunch in the office that work like a charm, but I know from Sam @ SuckUK who make the product, that they have changed some details with the technology inside.

There are a couple things to remember though. For starters, it only works when its dark, not somewhat dim, but pretty much dark. It can be tested easily be covering the lid with the hand, if it has been in the sun all day AND is turned on, then it should immediately turn on. If it doesn't, check the on and off button, it is hard to see if it's pressed or not. And if that doesn't make it work, try it with a normal battery. If you then put your hand over the lid, it should definitely go on.

If it does, replace the rechargeable battery - it's dead. If it doesn't, send me an email, the Jar is broken and we'll exchange it asap...

Once it's working, you never need to touch it again, after a day in the sun it'll automatically go on in the dark, until the sun doesn't provide enough energy anymore. Or is hiding behind clouds and rain...

The product is a really nice idea and ours work wonderfully, it is just a little tricky to get to work at first...

@ IAS and Jaze, ping me and I'll send you replacements so you can enjoy them while there is plenty of sun!

I have one and haven't had any particular problems with it. It looks great on my front bistro table, but the charge doesn't last all that long. At the price I doubt I'll order any more, but I'm pleased with the one.

I followed the instructions on the instructables website and made one today. I bought SLOM jars from Ikea at $4/jar. I bought the outdoor solar lights for $29 for 8 and glass frost spray for $4.17 at Home Depot. It took ten minutes to frost the glass. A simple prop with a screwdriver got me the solar panel, battery and LED light. The LED light was mounted to the circuit board and made the source appear from right below the lid, instead of the center of the jar. I wanted the source to be at the center so I unsoldered the LED and added some wires inbetween. The LED isn't omni-directional; it mostly shines downward, so in the end, having it source from the lid is probably fine and saves on soldering efforts. Anyway, it's about $8.15 in parts and about 1/2 hour in time to assemble. Oh yeah, I had to trim down the battery compartment with a pair of sissors - real easy.