Creative and Easy DIY Outdoor Lighting Ideas

If you’re looking for creative and easy DIY outdoor lighting ideas, then we’ve got you covered with this collection of gorgeous landscape lights. Whether you prefer solar or wired, you’re sure to find something to light your desire!

Summer is our favorite season here at The Navage Patch. Oh, we’re not beach-goers nor boaters nor vacationers. Nope. In fact, we tend to work like dogs on landscape and gardening projects all summer long. And given my aversion to back-breaking labor and excessive heat, you’d think that I, at least, would hate the season. But summer is the one season when Handan and I can slip outside at night to enjoy our new deck and our landscaping all lit up by our DIY outdoor lighting.

But enjoyment is fleeting, and progress never sleeps. My lovely wife, Progress Handan, has even more landscaping ideas for us this summer which will require even more landscape lighting. I guess the only blessing is that we don’t work after dark, so I’ll have my martini, and she’ll have her spiced rum, and we’ll both be outside every night under the stars listening to the frogs and crickets sing their summer songs under the warm glow of our landscape lights.

Since we’ve been scouring the web looking for the absolute best ideas for our DIY outdoor lighting, we figured we’d round ’em up and share ’em with you!

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Oh my, would you look at that! Our first DIY outdoor lighting idea comes from my wife! Now, what are the odds….

Even though we already have two of these beauties in our yard, her post deserves a spot on this list, because there is nothing like them, anywhere. There’s a lot of borrowing and influencing and outright stealing of ideas in this competitive world of blogging, but Handan’s Waterdrop Solar Lights are 100% original. That’s why they went viral, and that’s why they’re on this list. They are among the most beautiful additions to any garden, and they’re pure magic at night!

Moving on from the “wow” to the “practical and pretty,” we have a great solution for all those broken ground spikes that plague the inexpensive solar path lights sold in big box stores. Oh, hey, wow, this one is ours, too. Hey, wait a minute…is this list rigged? Two in a row from The Navage Patch? Yeesh, talk about “fair and balanced!” But seriously, we have tons of awesome lights that aren’t from us, I swear, so stick with me. Anyway, back to these awesome Cedar Cube Solar Landscape Lights – Handan made me make these a while back, and they’ve been a fantastic solution for us. Bonus: I show you an easy little trick to clear up those hazy and degraded old solar panels!

Okay, enough of me tooting our own horn (though I may try to sneak another one of ours in later), let’s move on to our next easy outdoor lighting idea, courtesy of Karen at The Art of Doing Stuff. She’s taken a couple of old glass shades and turned them into glowing garden orbs.

Handan hit upon that same idea a couple of years ago, but with color-changing solar lights.

For a simple but dramatic lighting solution, rope lights are perfect for illuminating long stretches of landscaping or a deck with beautiful soft light.

It’s like a line of fire through your yard! All you need to create this stunning look is a rope light and some landscape staples.

Let’s move from lights in a rope to lights on a string. It’s amazing the magic you can create with a set of simple string lights, especially when they’re strung between two wooden poles. They give any outdoor space a rustic, old-timey feel.

When hung under a pergola, string lights create a cozy and inviting environment that is perfect for entertaining.

If you shrink the bulbs way way down, you get starry string lights. These little guys are perfect for smaller landscape lighting needs. Handan used them to create her Spilling Solar Lights, and they look great in the garden.

For another awesome project using starry string lights, check out the Anthropologie hurricane knock-off that Sarah of Sadie Seasongoods made using an old brass ‘n’ glass hanging chandelier!

If you have wild grapevines growing in your area, Lynne Knowlton shows you how you can make lighted grapevine balls for your yard. No grapes growing nearby? No problem! You can buy grapevine ball here, and make these beautiful tree-hangers.

Or you can pick up two metal planters from Lowe’s and DIY these outdoor globe lights.

If you have trees in your yard, you can simply wrap lights around them. I love this look – especially in the tropics when palm trees are wrapped this way!

For the ambitious DIYer who wants to add some serious Rustic Farmhouse class to their backyard, this Mason jar chandelier is the belle of the ball! Using solar Mason jar lid lights, this beauty will keep your deck party bumping all night long. We love it so much, that we’re planning to make one this summer! 🙂

Okay, I know, that chandelier takes a bit of work. But there’s an easier solution that still looks great. Check out what Robin from All Things Heart and Home with a bunch of Mason jars, some burlap ribbon and Christmas lights! You can also go wireless by using these solar Mason jar lid lights.

This colorful bottle tree looks just as good during the day as it does at night! The solar-powered bottle lights will brighten up any yard or garden, and trees come in two sizes, prefect for a small garden or an open yard.

If you’ve spent more than 3 seconds on Pinterest, you’ve likely come across this image. It is one of the most pinned pictures among the garden and landscape DIY projects. Most of the pins claim that this look was achieved with glow-in-the-dark paint.

We disagree. It’s a fantastic look, but we think it was done using illuminated planters such as the ones below.

They’re a great way to light up the night and show off your blooms long after the sun has set!

It’s so simple, your kids could do it, but we love the look of these solar Tiki torches in a planter! You can easily DIY this with Dollar Store Tiki torches – just pull out the canisters and replace them with cheap solar path lights. Of course, if you can’t find the torches at the Dollar Store, you can just use the ready-made solar Tiki torches.

If you like Tiki torches, then you’ll also like these next two ideas. Diane from In My Own Style made some awesome hurricane torches from tuna cans and thrift store glass.

This glass bottle Tiki torch is another Pinterest darling that has been shared around the world and back. You can find the step-by-step tutorial for this DIY Tiki torch here.

Robin from Redo it Yourself turned some ordinary table lamps into awesome solar garden lights. She has tons of great DIY light projects over at her page, so be sure to check it out!

For those who know their way around a saw, Jenn from Build-Basic shows you how to make a beautiful and stylish solar cedar path light.

And finally – for those who just can’t be bothered – I present A Tangle of Starry Lights on a Pile of Logs. Seriously though – I love it! This may be the best-looking no-effort DIY of all time! This one is one my summer to-do list, for sure 🙂

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