Key Takeaways

  • Get creative with DIY glow-in-the-dark solutions for pathways and stones.
  • Transform string lights with ping pong balls or cupcake liners for a custom look.
  • Turn old lamps, tin cans, or jars into unique outdoor lighting fixtures.

Ever come home later than expected and have to feel your way to the door from your vehicle? Or maybe you have a great yard for entertaining, but the lighting is anything but! It's time to step out of the darkness and light up your backyard, garden, and landscaping areas.

Get creative and crafty with simple DIY lighting solutions that will easily illuminate your outdoor spaces.

Make Walkways Glow

A little paint goes a long way with outdoor lighting

Whether you have an existing walkway, or want to make your own, add glow-in-the-dark pigments using a paintbrush and create a self-charging walkway that lights the way night after night. Don’t want the entire walkway to glow? Paint only the grout between the stones, or paint only the areas you prefer to light the way!

Glow Stone Variation

Glow stones are versatile and easy to add to your yard and garden. Little stones look like standard pebbles or gravel by day. But at night, these glow-in-the-dark stones give off fluorescent light. Glow stones are available to purchase ready-made, but you can also make your own using glow-in-the-dark paint. The paint absorbs light and reflects that back in times of darkness, so you may not see stones glowing very well after a few cloudy days.

Stepping Stone Variation

Paint footsteps on stepping stones to highlight the right spots when it's dark at night. Use this trick to light up any garden pathway simply, without all the trouble of running wires and having more sophisticated lighting installed.

Create Custom String Lights

Easy and affordable outdoor lighting

Bucket of ping pong balls
Image credits: nikkytok via Shutterstock

Transform a set of simple twinkle lights with a bunch of ping pong balls. Standard holiday lights become something special when you use a drill to put small holes in hollow ping pong balls. Fit the lights into the holes to create glowing balls that you can string up in your outdoor areas to illuminate the night.

Use colored ping pong balls to bring color, as well as shine, to your outdoor spaces.

Cupcake Paper Variation

Instead of ping pong balls, try cupcake liners. These little papers come in a huge variety of colors and patterns and they're already made to withstand high levels of heat, so they are safe to use with LED twinkle lights. Punch small holes in the bottom of each liner and fit this over the lights, so that the cupcake liners become little lampshades.

Transform a Secondhand Lamp

Hack a used lamp to become a new garden light

Different lamps on a table
Image credits: WichitS via Shutterstock

Try an easy DIY to create an awesome outdoor lamp you don’t need to plug in!

  • Find an old lamp at a yard sale or thrift store, or re-purpose a lamp you already own.
  • Remove the bulb and cut off the cord of the lamp. Make sure it is not plugged in first!
  • Cover the cut cord with waterproof electrical tape.
  • Place a small solar lamp from any garden store in the old socket. Secure this with tape if needed.
  • Your DIY solar lamp will charge up during the day and at night, light up your outdoor space.

Place lamps in covered areas to avoid rain damage to the lampshades.

Illuminate a Backyard Tree Easily

You don't need a holiday to light up a tree!

Garden tree with string lights wrapped around it
Image credits: Olichel via Pixabay

Wrapping your trees with lights isn't just a holiday tradition. Any backyard party will benefit from the beauty of the lighting given off by soft bulbs and create an atmosphere to remember. Even without any extra embellishment, holiday twinkle lights are an excellent way to light up any outdoor space.

Be sure to choose lights made for outdoor use so they will be weather- and water-resistant.

Recycle and Reuse Old Tin Cans

Give cans a second life as garden lamps

All your canned goods are waiting eagerly for you to reincarnate them as fabulous lighting creations! All you need is a little wire, a hammer and a nail to repurpose a common pantry item into something sure to get your guests talking about just how crafty you are! Use the hammer and nail to make small holes in tin cats. Create a pattern if you want or just go wild, but place plenty of holes so the light will shine through.

Create two additional holes near the top of the can, opposite each other, and string wire through here to make a loop. Twist the wire around the holes to secure it and now, it can be hung anywhere outside. Place solar-powered or battery-operated tea lights inside and you'll end up with pretty, rustic lights that are sure to get noticed.

Use String Lights Anywhere

A quick lighting solution for dark places

String lights hanging over a table at night
Image credits: Askar Abayev via Pexels

String lights are made in many different variations, not all of which are made to be tiny and twinkling. Look for string lights with larger bulbs to create a great garden atmosphere and illuminate backyard areas. With extension cords and ingenuity, it's possible to string up lights just about anywhere.

Give lights additional support when needed with trellises, always a great garden solution!

Make Your Own Moon

Use string lights to create a full moon any time

Glowing ball of string lights hanging from a tree
Image credits: Cee via Unsplash

Add an outdoor lighting element that will be a focal point. A bright, glowing moon is just the thing you need to really enhance your outside living spaces. The light looks complicated but it's actually a simple DIY. To make it, you need at least one string of twinkle lights, two matching plastic bowls, and glue.

Step 1

Find two clear plastic bowls in the same size. Choose deep bowls, rather than a shallow design.

Step 2

Ball up a set of holiday lights (or two) and place in one of the bowls. Ideally, the lights will be overstuffed in there.

Step 3

Working carefully, use a utility knife to score a small semicircle in the rim of the bowl and gently chip away the plastic until you create a small notch.

Step 4

Place the end of the cord in the notch so that the plug is outside the bowl.

Step 5

Put a line of strong glue around the rim of the other bowl and fit the two together to create a globe, ensuring that the end of the cord with the plug is in its notch and the plug is outside the globe.

Step 6

With an extension cord, you end up with a bright, glowing moon that can be hung up high to illuminate any nighttime landscape.

Other Variations

Gluing two plastic bowls together is an easy way to create a round shape that resembles a full moon when it's all lit up, but there are many other ways to play with this idea. Many different types of clear plastic containers can be stuffed with lights to create glowing, brightly-lit shapes in the night.

Edge Garden Beds With Rope Lights

Rope lighting is a perfect way to brighten landscaping

Simple rope lights are an easy solution for your outdoor lighting. Use rope lights to edge garden beds and at night, these areas will be illuminated. The lights define garden beds to give them a neater look and at night, they highlight the hard work you've done here so you can enjoy these areas even in darkness!

DIY Variation

Make your own custom rope lights with simple plastic tubing. With tubing and regular string lights, you can make rope lights in just about any diameter you like.

Solar Lights Are Always Easy to Install

Forget about cords and electricity and use solar lights

Rather than running wires or collecting extension cords, get simple solar lights from any home and garden store. Place them anywhere outside that needs a little brightening. Lighting is particularly useful around pathways and around the edges of seating areas.

Look for solar lights that can be sunk directly into the ground to make installation a breeze.

Cast a Soft Glow With Paper Lanterns

Create ambiance anywhere with simple paper lanterns

Hanging lantern lights
Image credits: bierchen via Shutterstock

Paper lanterns are affordable and beautiful. You can purchase lanterns easily online or in home goods stores, or get creative and make your own using various types of paper. Place solar-powered or battery-powered tea lights inside each lantern and they will create a soft, enchanting glow.

Hang lanterns using twine or small rope and you can place them anywhere to create romance and beauty in your garden areas.

Add Elegance With a Simple DIY

Jars and tea lights add elegance to outdoor spaces

DIY mason jar lights with tea lights hanging outside
Image credits: Vladeep via Shutterstock

Save jars and later, they become simple DIY lights. Place the lids of the jars aside for a future DIY project and after the jars are clean and dry, place flameless tea lights inside the open jars. Because jars are already threaded around the rim, it is easy to wrap twine around them. Use more twine to create long loops, and these little lights can be hung from tree branches to create a mystical, magical space.

Try this DIY project with jars in all shapes and sizes!

Recycled Vase Variation

Instead of jars, try this same DIY lighting project with vases. Glass vases come in all different shapes and even in different colors. Look for vases at thrift stores and you might get lots of creative lighting ideas!

Create a Fire Pit

Brighten the night the old-fashioned way

Ancient humans did not have electricity. They didn't have solar power, or glow-in-the-dark paint. And back then, everything was DIY! When you want to create bright light, you can always do it the truly old-fashioned way: with fire!

Fire pits are nothing new. In fact, they are positively prehistoric. There are tons of different options for creating DIY firepit designs of all shapes and sizes, so there are plenty of solutions when you want to use this as your outdoor lighting solution.

Check with your local homeowners' or neighborhood association and with your local fire department to find out about any regulations regarding open flames where you live.

Temporary Variation

The firepit is really just a fancier version of the good old campfire, which might be an option in some areas. If you haven't got a committed fire pit and you know how to be safe, you can always create a small campfire to illuminate a night where you may be hosting friends or spending time outside on your own. Always keep a bucket of water handy and have a fire safety plan in mind when you are using an open flame!

Built In Light Variation

An outdoor fireplace is another great option for lighting. Outdoor fireplaces have a different design than fire pits but they also provide a lot of illumination.

Recycle Your Way to Lovely Lighting

Save your tin cans to create whimsical outside lights

Turn trash into treasure and save your tin cans. If you have a sturdy saw, taller tin cans can be cut in half. Otherwise, completely remove the lid on tin cans and wash them thoroughly inside and out. Remove the labels and replace them with colored tape or ribbon. Use a drill or a nail to punch a small hole in the side of the can. Place string through the hole, tying several knots at the end of the string to secure the can at the bottom of the string.

With flameless tea lights placed inside, these little lights can be hung up anywhere you need to bring a little extra light. Cover the front of the cans with clear plastic wrap to keep the candles more securely inside. The clear plastic will keep the candles inside during gentle breezes, but won't stand up to stiff winds and rough weather.

If you don't want to put a hole in the cans, simply tape the end of the string to the can using waterproof tape.

Change Your Outdoor Space

Backyard lighting can change the atmosphere of your outdoor space to be both inviting and artistic (not to mention how many stubbed toes you’ll avoid). Whether you are planning a social gathering, or just for your own pleasure, lighting up your backyard will be sure to create an area that gets more use and is personalized to your taste.

Brighten up your backyard, garden, and landscaping areas, and illuminate the night with easy DIY solutions.