If you have been following along with my blog this spring you know I am all about the patio remodeling project. I have an entire series planned (if I ever get finished) on how to redo the patio “from drab to fab” without breaking the bank. Unfortunately for me, that meant doing a lot of the work myself (or with unwilling children “volunteers.”) I’ve been scouring thrift stores and cleaning my closets to find items to upcycle. While spending an evening trying to find inspiration on pinterest, I came across solar lights. Naturally, I started making solar lights out of everything in sight. I wanted to make one to sit on a side table beside my patio furniture, so back through the closets I went and came up with the easiest solar light ever.
I started with an old glass fish bowl and an old metal candlestick, I also used some mulitcolored glass beads, a cute plastic bird designed for outdoor decor and a multicolored blinking solar light. I found the glass beads and the plastic bird at the dollar store and snatched up the solar light on sale at the hardware store.
I started by removing the plastic spike that anchors the solar light into the ground. Then, I used glass adhesive glue (found at the dollar store) to attache the solar light to the bottom of the fish bowl. Note: It is very important to work quickly on these steps! I glued the plastic bird into place beside the solar light and immediately added the glass beads around the light and bird to keep them in place. Allow this to dry completely before attempting the next step.
Once the glue is dry, use the adhesive to attach the fish bowl to the candle stick. You can paint the candlestick with rustoleum if you like, but I happened to like the silver color and decided not to change it.
I like the lamp, but my cats love it! They sit at the back door at night, gazing out onto the patio, watching the blinking lights. For less than $5, I’ve got a cat toy and a practical light for outdoors. Score! What DIY projects are you making this summer?
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Love this!!! I have lots of solar lights in my walkway and would love to have one for my table. Totally trying this!
What a cute and useful idea! I would love to do this for my front porch and my back patio.
Never thought of making a lamp out of a solar light. Cool idea. Funny that your cat’s love it too.
Such a cute idea! I bet my cat would want to attack that.
Oh gosh that is so awesome! Coolest thing is that I pretty much have all these pieces out in my barn.
This is such a great idea! I will have to try making one of these for my deck. I like to do DIY projects.
I love this idea. I’m going to have to try it.
You are so creative and this is budget friendly. I can’t wait to make a solar table light
What a neat addition to your patio already full of fun upcycled projects! Bet you’ll have a great summer staring at your creation
That turned out really nice! I’d love to make a few of these for my deck this year!
It’s incredible that you could make something that looks this good for so cheap! If you hadn’t told me that this was upcycled, I would have thought you bought it!
This looks absolutely amazing! I could totally see doing this for our back deck at night.
We practically live outdoors during the summer, so I would love to make this DIY. The kids are home and ready to help with any projects. I know they’d love this one.
It turned out great! I’ve been looking for a table light for my patio table so I guess I will be upcycling real soon!
Such a neat little craft, and looks easy to make, too!
This turned out to be quite beautiful. I love the little bird you added.
So neat. I love how easy this was.
This is a wonderful idea for the back patio. I think it turned out great!
This is such a fun idea! I love how cute it is and easy too.
What an adorable idea. This turned out great!
A great project. I enjoy recycling, reusing and re-purposing so this project would be something great for our yard!
I love this idea!!! I am going to make it. I have plenty for the summer but nothing like this
This is awesome! Very pretty! My kids would love this at our house!
That is so pretty. I wish I had the talent to do something like this.
That’s cool! My daughter would love to make something like this, it’ll look neat
Wow now this is a really cool idea! I think I’ll try this at my own house!
Oh my gosh that looks so awesome! I Would love to make one of these for my mom!
That is a great idea! This would make a great gift.
I can see something like this making a great centerpiece for an outdoor seating area. I really love the bird inclusion!
It looks really nice, I would love to make a few these! Sound easy to make.
This is just so pretty! I love the little bird! This is such an awesome outdoor decoration.
I want to see a pic of your cats staring at it! That’s such a great idea, a fun way to upcycle, and the fact that it keeps the cats entertained too? SCORE!
This is so interesting. I am not this creative. I love seeing what people can come up with by up cycling.
You did an amazing job! I think it’s so adorable, and the little bird is a nice touch.
WHAT! This is fabulous. I love this idea, and is perfect for our backyard table at night when I like to enjoy my tea. This is brilliant, so creative!
I love this. You’ve got to take a picture of this at night and post it. I’d love to see what it looks like lit up.
That is so pretty! Upcycled projects are my favorite, especially when they look this amazing. Thanks for sharing this.
This is such a neat idea and it came out great. I need to get on the ball and start a summer project.
I wish I had more creativity so I could upcycle more of our old things. This solar table light is a great idea!
I an not creative like this either. If someone else gives me the idea, maybe, but I have trouble coming up with them on my own.
What a cool project! I love the idea of upcycling old items into something different and new!
No way! I never would have thought to do this, but I Love this idea. LOVE!