DIY Solar-Powered Mason Jar Lanterns with Sea Glass
These diy solar powered mason jar lanterns have colorful glass inside and they are so pretty at night. Make them in just a few minutes and enjoy them for years.
This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. I may make a small commission on products purchased with my link, but your price does not change. For full disclosure go here: Disclosure and Policies. Thank you for supporting my site.
DIY Solar Powered Mason Jar Lanterns
Hey, friends! I’ve got a fun, sustainable, and simple project to share with you today and it’s perfect for summer. Today is the Thrifty Style Team’s monthly challenge where I join with some of my talented blogging friends.
We give you ideas for using freebies, thrift store items, hand-me-downs, or anything that’s budget-friendly. My friend Julie at Redhead Can Decorate hosts this challenge and there are always so many creative ideas. They’re all at the bottom of today’s post, so be sure to keep scrolling after you finish reading about my project and visit everyone.
Finding the glass
For this project, I visited a creek on some rural family property and did a little digging for creek glass. It’s pretty much the same thing as sea glass, but it comes from a creek. (You can make these lanterns with nothing inside the jar, but they look so pretty with the colored glass.)
Note: You can find pretty sea glass pieces for crafts here: Sea Glass; or make your own from broken glass using this machine: Rock Tumbler
Sadly, there are houses upstream that have dumped various things in the creek over the last several decades. It’s not toxic or gross, thank goodness. I really love this project because it cleaned up the creek bank as well as provide me with some pretty glass.
My trusty sidekicks of my mom and youngest daughter helped me with the dig. We spent an hour or so overturning rocks and finding small glass treasures on the bank. And by the way, I’m pretty sure they thought I was a little crazy for wanting to gather old pieces of glass covered with dirt, lol.
Our haul from the day included some pretty green, aquas, and blues as well as white, clear, and brown pieces. When I got home, I separated the pieces into color groups and gave them a good scrub with some soapy water with a little bleach added. (Please wear protective gloves, goggles, and old clothes if you do this).
Solar powered mason jar lanterns
This is how my favorite one turned out! I love the piece of the old blue Coca-Cola bottle.
They look pretty during the daytime with all of the various colors. I grouped together greens and aquas, greens and blues, and browns and blues.
And they’re so fun to see at night. I have them out on our deck and they stay lit for several hours if it’s been a sunny day and they’ve soaked up a lot of light.
The little vintage cola piece is so cute.
Even the old brown beer bottle pieces look pretty at night. I love mixing them with the blue pieces.
My favorite Coca-Cola piece looks pretty at night as well as during the day.
Here’s a quick tutorial for these fun solar powered sea glass mason jar lanterns.
DIY Solar Powered Mason Jar Lights with Sea Glass
Supplies
- Jars The jars I used for this project were various leftovers from spaghetti sauce, etc. so I spent nothing on those.
- Lights
- Sea Glass/Creek Glass The glass pieces cost nothing except the time it took to dig it up and clean it.
Instructions
- Gather your supplies.
- Add the sea glass to the jars.
- Attach the solar powered lids to the jars, placing the lights where they accentuate the sea glass. (The exact ones I used are discontinued).
- Place in an area that receives a little sunlight and enjoy the lantern all lit up for a few hours after dark.
Notes
Now be sure to visit all of my thrifty and creative friends to see the projects they’re sharing this month!
Redhead Can Decorate – Million Dollar Fresh Peony Centerpiece for $35
DIY Beautify – How to Make an Industrial Initial Sign
2 Bees In A Pod – Rope Wrapped Candle Holder
Postcards From The Ridge – Solar-Powered Sea Glass Mason Jar Lanterns
The Tattered Pew – World Market Potting Bench Makeover
Sweet Pea – DIY Patriotic Garland
What Meegan Makes – Using Unique Vintage Pieces for Home Decor
Salvaged Living – Watermelon Garland for Summer
Sharing this project here:
I can relate to digging for treasures in the dirt. I have been searching for artifacts by the beach seashore, where there were old ships docked years ago. Thanks for this post.
A very cool, clever and creative project!
Love these sea glass lanterns, Angie! Perfect for the summer and for any coastal style home! Pinned!
These are beautiful! I just love sea glass. Pinned.
What an incredible way to turn throw away bottles into something special. Love what you did Angie
Fun project! I love the greens! You could sell these!
Love this summer lighting idea, Angie!!! Thank you for sharing these cool solar powered lights in a jar. Really fun idea!
Hugs,
Barb 🙂
These are so pretty Angie! And what a great way to repurpose the glass you found in the creek! Fun project!
Thanks, Michelle! It was so much fun to find the pieces and then see the project come to life!
These would be so perch on my cottage back porch! I am amazed at all the gorgeous glass you found. The colors are stunning.
Thanks for sharing Angie.
Have a great weekend.
They would definitely look nice on your porch. I was pretty amazed at what we found too. Have a great day!
This is such a great summer project! I have lots of beach glass and jars, will have to give this a try!
It was so easy and fun! Old colored bits of glass are always so pretty!
I am in love with this idea! I have heard of sea glass but never creek glass…you are brilliant! I love all of the colors you found and they look so pretty in the jars all lit up. I can't wait to try this!
Thank you! I had found a piece or two once when I was there just visiting and went back specifically to look for more. It was a fun dig and project!
What a wonderful idea, Angie! You found some super neat pieces in your creek expedition. Reading your post reminded me of finding all sorts of glass bottles in the creek bank at my grandmother's house. My mom said that there used to be a hole in the ground beside the creek where they threw their trash. Over the years the creek slightly changed its path and what was in the old hole was exposed. It was so much fun to dig out those bottles! You've inspired me to look for some creek glass on my grandmother's old farm. My cousin lives there now and I think she might enjoy doing this as well.
Thanks, Paula! These pieces have probably accumulated over the past 50 or 60 years because the site is very isolated. Doing a dig at your grandmother's farm sounds like so much fun! I hope you do it!