How to Make Patio Lanterns
If you are looking to give your patio and backyard some type of mood inducing illumination, your first step is to put up patio lights. However, these forms of lighting can be a stress on your budget, especially if you are trying to get something that fits your sense of style as well as functionality. If you are having trouble obtaining inexpensive and attractive lighting options, here are some tips on how to make patio lanterns on your own.
Hanging Jar Lanterns: Fill cleaned glass jars with a variety of candles; the shapes and sizes of both of these can be varied by taste or just by what you happen to have on hand. Jars with a lip will work best, as you can then bend metal around the opening and hook it over to create a handle, much like an ornament. These can then be hung from wires or tree branches, and you can replace the candles whenever they run low.
Touch Light Lamps: Touch lights are inexpensive lighting options that you can purchase at an office supply store and are easy to turn on and off. Create shades out of decorative paper squares, rolling them and fastening them around the touch lights. You can even cut attractive shapes out of the paper to cast fun shadows onto your patio.
Concentrated Christmas Lights: Purchase strings of white (or colored, if you desire) lights during the Christmas season, when they are inexpensive. Wrap bunches of 10-15 little bulbs together and make a paper shade similar to the one mentioned above -- just make sure the paper won't touch the bulbs. Connect several strings together for more lights.
There are other ideas for how to make hanging patio lanterns across the Web -- if none of the above ideas suit your needs, you can probably find one elsewhere that does!
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