How to Make DIY SunJars for $11 (and In Different Colors!)

by Jeffrey

lighting, reusing / repurposing

What could be better than cheap solar powered lights?

CheapER solar powered lights made by you… like these beautiful homemade SunJars!

diy-sunjar.jpg
 

Here’s how to make ’em…

 

SunJar Coolness

You may well be familiar with the original SunJar.

Sure, we all know of and bow to its awesomeness, but $34.99 + shipping is pretty steep eh?

Maybe it isn’t too pricey for you, but my pockets sure aren’t that deep!

For that very reason I decided to share 4 DIY SunJar alternatives that you can make for under $10 with you a while back.

Well we’ve come back around to that same topic, and this time with THE mac-daddy of all SunJar DIY’s!

The plans for this project come from LifeHacker and show you how to create 4 SunJars for $44… or $11 per light (for the mathematically challenged).

 

How To Make SunJars Yourself

It’s pretty easy really.

Basically you just…

  • Snag some flip-top canning jars (mason jars won’t work).
  • Buy the cheapest solar-powered garden lights you can find.
  • Rip the solar lights apart.
  • Insert the solar panel and attached LED light from the garden light you just destroyed into the lid of the jar.
  • Spray the outside of the jar with glass frosting.
  • Use colored translucent labels from some bottles of water in your recycling bin to “filter” the light into different colors (as seen in the pic).
  • Enjoy your new DIY SunJars!

 

Yeah, so that’s pretty much an over-simplified version of the plans (but actually not really all that over-simplified at all). You can see the FULL details and pictures of each step at LifeHacker.

So who’s slating this as their next DIY project? I am!

If you tackle this awesome project please leave a link to a picture of it in the comments below.

Happy DIYing (and money saving)!