DIY Garden Lighting That'll Add Elegant Charm To Any Pathway

When designing a whimsical, charming garden, many folks plant colorful flowers and ornamental hedges to cultivate a gorgeous space that feels like an escape. But there are various other ways to create a fairy book aesthetic where you could easily imagine gnomes popping out from under logs and fairies dancing around the water features. You can put up statues that harken back to the Greco-Roman tradition or lay winding brick pathways, but you can also level up your presentation with the right lighting. Good lighting is an affordable way to transform your backyard space once the sun sets. Imagine lanterns illuminating your flower beds and lighting pathways through your garden that also look stunning.

You can DIY backyard lanterns with items from Dollar Tree, and it will take less than five minutes to assemble them. The process is one of the easiest ways to create a low-maintenance oasis in your backyard. You'll simply attach flowers to the outside of lanterns, then hang them near your path. For this project, you'll need a Garden Collection Metal Plant Hanger for $1.25, a Garden Collection Pillar Candle Solar Lantern with Switch for $5, pressed flowers, and clear glue. These solar lights will charge all day and should stay on all night, lighting up backyard dinner parties and providing an added feeling of security.

To complete this lighting DIY, take your clear liquid glue and coat the outside of the lantern, covering all of the glass. It's best to use a paintbrush to spread the glue. Before the glue can dry, place your pressed flowers on the glass and press them down so that they will stick, then allow them to dry. Stick your metal hangers into the ground along your pathway, and hang your lanterns from them. Keep in mind that rain could wash off the glue or give the lanterns a dirty appearance, so you may want to bring them inside before bad weather or place them under a covered area. A simple step that will allow these solar lights to last longer is to replace the rechargeable batteries once they start to dim. 

If you still need more lighting, there are plenty of other decorative ways to brighten up your backyard space. For example, light-up logs will add a rustic whimsy and provide a nice place to sit. This process involves a little more work and craftsmanship, but once they are complete, these luminescent logs will add a magical presence to your backyard. Fairy lights are another great way to transform your backyard into a storybook setting. You can hang them along porch railings or fill the trees with them to light a path through the woods. For those interested in more arts and crafts projects, there's also another Dollar Tree lighting hack that uses solar stake lights.