These DIY Outdoor Lights Are Made with 3 Surprising Thrift Store Staples
Everyone could use a bit more whimsy in their life, and sometimes playfulness comes in the form of solar light mushrooms made from finds from the thrift store. Erin from the Lil Urban Farm Instagram account shared how she makes her garden lights from thrifted glassware and Dollar Store solar lights, and once you see just how cute and whimsical they are, you’re going to want to make your own ASAP.
“Just a fun little project,” Erin said in her video. “Cheap, inexpensive, [and] utilizes stuff that sits around at the thrift store. They make me giggle for some reason. They’re just mini glass mushrooms that light up at night.”
Mushroom Lights Look So Whimsical in Summer Gardens
To make these mushrooms, you’ll first want to find a handful of glass vases and bowls from your local thrift store. Erin likes to use bowls with a lot of texture to make her mushrooms a bit more interesting, but you can choose whichever kind of glassware you like best.
When shopping for vases, choose ones that are wide and tall enough to fit a solar light stake. Erin notes that you can also remove the solar light from the stake for smaller mushroom stems and place the light portion directly into the vase — she provides an example using a beer pint glass she has.
You can also pick up a set of 12 solar lights from Amazon if your Dollar Store or local thrift store doesn’t have them. These ones are small enough to work with a bunch of different vases and glasses.
“You can use glue to adhere them together, but I’ve always found they come apart over time so I don’t bother,” Erin wrote in the caption of her video. People were quick to compliment Erin’s idea. “Adorable,” one commenter said to describe the mushroom lights. “That’s brilliant. I’m going to the thrift store right now,” someone else said.
These mushrooms are as fun to make as they are to watch glow in the garden. You might also want to experiment with colorful glassware or painting the inside of your existing thrifted glass with light-colored paint. As long as the sun’s rays are able to penetrate and charge the light, you should be good to go! However, depending on where you live, there were some people who were concerned about the lights overheating and causing a fire in the garden. It’s important to regularly check on these lights and make sure they’re kept in shaded areas as much as possible.
Turn your garden into a fairy’s paradise with these whimsical, thrifted glass mushrooms. They’re the perfect inexpensive way to add more whimsy into your life in an instant.