Mini Solar Light Tower
by
Jennifer
5 Materials
$8
4 Hours
Easy
A friend gave me a bunch of scrap wood and this is the second solar light tower I made from that pile. It is also the sixth project I made from that pile, I have a few more I will post here on Hometalk soon!
Nice scrap wood! So many ideas!
The first solar light tower is 4 foot tall, this one is only 2 foot tall, that is why I call it a mini. These are my last 4x4's ! I can't believe how fast I went through that wood and how many different things I have made too!
I glued the posts together, tied a rope around the post to hold them together then sanded it down with a palm sander. Next...
The glue might have been enough to hold them but just to make sure it doesn't fall apart in a year or so I also screwed in two wood screws in a caddy corner way on the bottom. I should have drilled two holes first so the screws would sink into the wood easier but I was in a hurry. Not really a big deal just unscrew and rescrew in and they are now sunk into the bottom.
I love these lights! I already used five and only had three left. Perfect because I only have three posts left too! Maggift 8 Pcs Solar Powered LED Garden Lights, Automatic Led for Patio, Yard and Garden for $19.99
I really didn't want black so I painted them a metallic silver on the outside and then used some looking glass spray paint on the inside. Not sure if it makes them shine more or not . No need to paint the stakes because I won't be using them or the bottom of the light because you won't be able to see that part. Just the light cover and sensor.
I will need to take the lights apart so they can be painted. I will also need to cover the screen and sides, I don't want to paint those parts or the bulb.
the light sensors dried very quickly!
While I was waiting for the lights to dry, I painted the mini tower white. I was thinking about what to put on the front and really didn't have an idea expect to draw out my initial so I just started to draw. The first drawing I did was a graphic H ... Nope don't like that! I like the "H" part but really didn't like that first drawing. I painted right on over that and tried a new "H".
I came up with this one which I like a lot better! Alright now we are getting somewhere!
Silver, white and blue looks good together so I'll stick with this. Blue is my favorite color! I did the rough drawing with colored pencils. The wood had a lot of indentation and saw marks so painting fine lines would be difficult to achieve on this project. I really don't worry about things like that. To me perfect is what someone thinks is perfect to them! It is perfect for me!
This is a pic of all the paints I used on this project.
All finished!
I love the way these lights shine and cast shadows. I did try to get a picture of the shadows but it just wasn't happening.
This was an easy project to make in one night and only cost me $7.50 for the three solar lights, everything else I already had. If someone wants to make something like this you can get 4x4's at the local home improvement store and they might even cut it for you for free. I choose this style of light because I thought it would look better with the posts instead of the rounder styles. Now I have three solar lights outside and I love them all! Thanks for looking at my Mini Solar Light Tower! Any questions or comments are always welcomed!
Comments
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4 of 16 comments
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Beautiful!!! I like the simplicity.
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Thanks Kim! It was very easy to make!
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These are pretty and different lookin'......Great job......they are lighting up your area so nice.
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I do like different and simply stuff! ;-D Thanks so much!
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
iwhere did you get the lights with the screens. That you painted?
How did you secure the lights to the posts
How are the beautiful posts standing up? They don't tip over? I LOVE this idea and really want to try it! However, I live in Central Washington with snow, rain, and 100-degree days.