How to Make Tiki Mask Lights for Your Patio

7 Materials
$10
1 Hour
Medium

I love having some fun decor in the patio and these tiki mask lights are the perfect addition. And if you know me, you know I LOVE making things out of PVC pipe!


You can see even more of my PVC pipe art here.


Let's get started.


I always use 4" pvc pipe for all of my PVC pipe art. It's much easier than always having different sized pipes laying around and all of my patterns are made for a 4" pipe. 4" is a great size for these tiki mask lights too, giving you enough room to make a face and fit a light inside.

Start by cutting your pipe to size. I have my tiki masks cut to about 17". You will want to make sure you have some blank space on the bottom of your pipe to make sure you can "hide" the light from peeking through the mouth opening.


To give my pvc pipe more of a "wood" look, I used a utility knife to sort of "rough up" the pipe by scraping lines into it. I just went up and down the pipe in no particular order until I had it full of lines.

Then you will need to draw out a pattern onto your pvc pipe. I created my pattern first on paper and then traced it onto my pipe.


Then take a drill and small drill bit and make holes inside each section that you plan to cut out. Once you have all your holes predrilled, use a jig saw to cut out each shape.


Take some sandpaper to the edges and the entire pipe to make it nice and smooth and remove all those rough edges left behind from the jig saw.


To paint you can use a spray paint. For this one, I used a brown acrylic paint and a very stiff dry brush and sort of wiped on the paint to give it a more distressed look. This made it look more like it was wood. If you do not use a spray paint, make sure you do use a clear acrylic spray sealer to protect the paint from the outdoor elements. I used 2 coats of a sealer just to be safe.

Then to light it up, I just use a little push on light that I found at the dollar store. You can use any type of light you want, just be sure you do not use a real candle or flame!

Don't they look awesome sitting outside in the yard?! They are perfect for little backyard parties for some fun lighting since they look great day and night!

And here's a few more of my PVC pipe art pieces that I've made. I've made so many different types of birds, animals, sweet little kids and a variety of holiday decor. All of my PVC pipe art is made with a 4" PVC pipe so you don't need to buy all different sized PVC pipe.


Want to see all of my PVC pipe art? I've got over 30 different printable patterns that you can use to make your own PVC pipe art. Check it out here!

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Jennifer | CrazyDiyMom
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  • Maybe I'm not familiar with the way things work here but when I went to look at the other art, I was shocked to learn that the downloads were FOR SALE. I thought this site was to share projects not to try to sell things. I'm very disappointed. Not because I was planning on doing any of these but to be subjected to the old "bait and switch." Is this site for selling or sharing? Thanks for letting me vent.

  • Corey Corey on Jun 26, 2019

    As far as you painting your projects to make them look like wood have you ever tried to use a bright yellow and after drying use a varnish with a small amount of red or brown paint to cover it,if so you only paint one way instead of back and forth with easy strokes to make it look like wood grain. Used this system in the navy and it worked very well.

  • Carmela Carmela on Jun 20, 2020

    Is the jigsaw hard to handle/use on the PVC pipe? I assume you put the pipe in a vice to hold it still?

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