Looking for a whimsical DIY backyard project? Check out this fence with mason jar lighting.
Fence with Mason Jar Lighting
Need a nice DIY decor project to spruce up your backyard? Here's an easy upcycling project that uses an old fence and some mason jars. Have fun with this DIY mason lighting project from the crafty Ellen from Beechbaby. It makes great use of mason jar lights and looks gorgeous!
SEE ALSO: How to Make a DIY Mason Jar Chandelier
Backyard DIY: Fence with Mason Jar Lights
My husband says I have a problem with clutter… Maybe I do… but maybe I don't. This time he said he was wrong! 😉 I found this piece of picket fence in our “back forty” as we call part of our yard. I brushed it off and kept it on the porch for weeks while I tried to work out in my head exactly what I would use it for. Sometimes the ideas come right away and sometimes not…
Here's the materials I used for this DIY backyard project:
- old fence
- mason jars
- lamp oil
- wick
- zip ties
- charms
- drill
- pipe hangers
I found wicks and glass holders for the mason jar here. They have just about everything I could think of that I might want to upcycle any mason jars laying around the house. They even have conversion kits for wine bottles!
The fence section originally had six pickets, but I had only ordered five wicks and holders. Soooo…while the hubby was gone, I pulled out the circular saw and cut one of the pickets off. (First time using the saw and will definitely be doing it again! How come men don't tell you it's fun?) Then I measured the spaces for the jars. And my version of measuring is normally eyeballing it, laying a string (ok, I used my tablet cord to string across the boards) and marking dots with a Sharpie marker. Then I pulled out the power drill (first time for that too and just as much fun!) and drilled a hole in each picket.
Once the holes were wide enough for the zip ties I started on the jars. I bought five pipe hangers that were 3-1/2″ each to attach to each jar. I filled each jar with some children's play sand and some shells I had from the Charleston beaches. I added some glass beachy charms on wire around the neck of each jar. Once that part was finished, I attached the pipe hangers to the fence with zip ties, screwed the hangers to the lids of the jars making sure I tighten the screws so they stayed put. I added oil to each jar and then screwed the jars to the lids.
Here's the completed fence section lit with one of my coffee can lights. Start to finish, it really only took me about an afternoon. I love that it wasn't something that I had to stop and come back to because of time.
I'm trying to come up with a way to attach hangers on the back for “legs”. That way, I could move it out into the yard depending on the nights we in the yard versus on the porch. It would also make it a little safer for the porch. Right now it's just leaning against the wall. I was thinking about maybe those old fashioned drawer pulls that are coming back in style or maybe I could find some hinges that would work. Maybe I need to go wander the hardware store.
I think that it turned out very nicely for one of my “winging it” projects. And the hubby now understands a little better my obsession with “NO…don't throw that away yet!”
Did you enjoy our tutorial on this mason jar craft? Let us know in the comments section below what your thoughts are on this lighting project. Do you have any other cool DIY projects you’d like to share? Share it with us and we’ll give it a try. We love doing cool DIY projects by making craft projects, home decor projects, upcycling ideas, recipes, tutorials and anything you can do yourself. That’s why we created this site, we want people to be more in touch with their creative side and realize that there’s a lot of things that they can do themselves. We’d love to hear from you and create a community of DIY enthusiasts where any project is just a click away.
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