Glass Globe Solar Lights

Looking to add a little charm and glow to your outdoor space without spending a fortune? These DIY glass globe solar lights are the perfect solution! Using inexpensive solar lights and secondhand glass globes—like the kind from old ceiling fans—you can create beautiful hanging lanterns that light up your evenings in style. It’s a quick, budget-friendly project that brings new life to unwanted items.

Using an old ceiling fan glass globe to make a new solar light is so easy that you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it years ago—or maybe you did and didn’t tell me.

It’s time for our Thrift Store Décor Team’s monthly challenge. This month, I’m using glass globes from old ceiling fans to update some solar lighting in my yard. We make over junk we find for cheap each month, and this project doesn’t disappoint.

I got a great deal on glass globes at my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. They were marked $1, but lighting was 50% off the day I went. I picked up three sets of matching globes. Had I known they were on sale, I probably would have selected at least two more sets.

If you have a solar light and a moss basket (from the dollar store), you will love this wire basket solar light feature.

Supplies and Tools:

• Glass Globes
• Wire (I used Floral Wire)
• Inexpensive Solar Lights
• Brackets or Shepherd hooks for hanging
• Needle-Nosed Pliers (for snipping and or bending wire)
• Glue such as E6000 (I chose not to secure the lights, but you may want to do so)

There is a $$ Tree store in the same shopping center, so I hopped over there to see what I could find in the way of wire. In the craft section, I found these colorful floral craft wire items.

Solar lights were readily available at the front of the store. I liked the hammered finish on the rims. Can you believe you can get these lights for about a dollar each? Amazing!

Note: I had one of these solar lights in the kitchen, which stayed lit on a single charge for over 24 hours. Bonus: They charge in the shade these days—not like they did 20 years ago.

On the way home, I stopped at the Dollar General Store and picked up some brackets and small shepherd hooks. The brackets were $1; the shepherd hooks were $2 each.

How to Make a Glass Globe Solar Light

1.  Uncoil wire
2.  Place wire around the neck of the glass globe, leaving wire for securing.
3.  Before clamping the collar wire, decide how long you want your handle, snip that wire, and curl up the ends to secure around the collar wire
4. Slip the handle into the collar
5. Secure the collar by twisting the wire
6. Secure and snip collar and handle wires
7. Remove the battery tab and stake from the solar light. Place light on top of the globe
8. Make adjustments to the wire so it sits securely and is centered on the neck of the globe
9. Repeat!

In case you need a visual, here’s a video showing you how to make hanging solar lanterns:

See how easy it is? Seriously, these lights have so many uses. They could light the path for a party or wedding using small shepherd hooks and hang by brackets around your pool deck—the ideas are endless!

How to make hanging solar lanterns:

Three different sets, which do you like better? Scroll down to see how they look lit up.

The small globes look great on the hooks and/or the brackets.

Here are the others I made. While choosing the globes, I wasn’t sure which style I wanted or which would project the most light. I ended up liking the ones with the red wire the best.

See more Repurposed Glass Projects Here

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Cost breakdown . . .

• Globes .50 each
• Wire $1.00
• Solar lights $1.00 each
• Brackets $1.00 each

For one set of two, $7.00

I’ve also used solar lights on chandeliers and lamps.

Be sure to visit my friends to see their awesome projects this month! They always inspire me.

Ceiling Fan Glass Globe Solar Lights My Repurposed Life (you are here)

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