Last December, after much nagging from the children, I gave in and went shopping with them for a set of outdoor fairy lights for the front garden. Lots of our neighbours had put some up at the beginning of Advent and the boys had their hearts set on them.
While I loved the look of the ones our neighbours had, I was spending too much time thinking about where to plug them in to a socket, whether we would remember to switch them on or should we buy a timer, would our electricity bill be extortionate and all the boring problems that we adults find in things. The children just saw twinkly, sparkly lights and said “we want that too”.
A trip to the lighting department of our local DIY store was highly enlightening for me. Here we discovered solar powered fairy lights and all my doubts and problems – at least those related to Christmas lights – vanished. We snapped up a lovely long string of solar-powered lights, took them home, draped them over our rose arch in the front garden and marvelled at how pretty they were every evening.
When Spring arrived and I was spending more and more time in the back garden, getting it tidied up and Summer-ready, it struck me that it would be lovely to have some summery lighting around the pond for those long balmy evenings we’ll be having soon.
Off I popped to the DIY shop and came home with a bright, colourful string of paper lanterns, again solar-powered. The boys and I spent a sunny afternoon assembling the lanterns and hanging them between the fruit trees round the pond.
They brighten up the garden beautifully during the day and once the sun goes down, they light up automatically, making the garden much more inviting after dark. I am incredibly pleased I bought them.
In fact, I was so pleased with them that I had a bit of an upcycling brainwave. Last year I picked up a wonky, old coat stand that someone was throwing away – you know me and salvage, I can’t help myself – and brought it home to spruce up somehow. It has sat in the shed for over a year now, only coming out for part of last summer to use as a towel rack beside the paddling pool.
Struck by a light-inspired idea, I decided to scrap my plans for keeping the coat stand intact and instead to remove the top section and make a makeshift chandelier for our outdoor kitchen.
So this is what I was starting off with, a partly broken but nicely shaped top of an old coat stand. All I needed to upcycle this into a chandelier-type outdoor light was some newspaper, a can of spray paint (I chose to use white) and a string of solar powered outdoor fairy lights.
Step 1: Dust down the coat stand and set it onto a floor of newspaper.
Step 2: Spray paint the entire wooden frame, making sure to coat the undersides of the curved sections. Leave to dry then apply a second coat. Leave to dry again.
Step 3: Insert a screw-in hook into the stem of the coat stand. Fix a screw-in hook to the spot on the ceiling where you want the chandelier to hang.
Step 4: Unravel the fairy lights and set up the solar panel in a place where it will catch a lot of sun.
Step 5: Wrap the fairy lights around the wooden frame, leaving a length of lights to trail from the location of the chandelier to the solar panel.
Step 6: Hang up the chandelier by the hooks and wait for darkness to descend.
Wow, I love this! I do love a bit of outdoor lighting to set off the mood and that chandelier is so pretty! I love the paper lanterns too (silly question – can you leave them out if it rains, or do you have to make a mad dash to rescue them?)
Thanks Katy. Not a silly question at all – I wondered the same but bought them anyway. They are in fact made of a very light canvas, not paper at all. They have been up a few weeks now and have survived rain, sun, hail and a thunderstorm. There isn’t a bother on them yet 🙂
Thanks so much for replying – really good to know!
You are SO clever! It’s like a fab chandelier!! I bought some of those little globe lanterns last year from Primark — they were so ridiculously cheap and I WISH I’d bought more. They were definitely one of my favourite purchases from last year! Thanks so much for linking up with on #HomeEtc Fionnu! — Caro xx
Thank you! I love that it comes on by itself and I am even more pleased that I thought up a use for the coat stand.
So handy, aren’t they? You don’t have to remember to switch them on and they are lovely and summery.
Husband wired up our garden with solar lights as part of my Christmas gift, and they peek out from all the greenery in the most enchanting way. We only have a tiny patio garden in central London, but the lights make it pure magic!
Oh how lovely. Such a thoughtful present.
That is stunning! I love your garden, the lanterns are beautiful too.
Thanks Nicola. On a sunny day and with the lawn mowed, it looks well 🙂
Love this idea, going to look out for an item that I can do this to – thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Glad to have inspired you Sarah. Good luck on your search for something you can upcycle.
What a great idea. I will be on the lookout for something like this to dress up my backyard.
Thanks Debra. Good luck on your hunt for something similar.
I love soar lights, we have used them around pathways and in the fairy gardens. Making an outdoor chandelier out of a coat stand is really creative and such a lovely effect. I’d want to eat out every night with warm weather and this lighting. Thanks so much for sharing with me over on #Trash2Treasure
Thanks for hosting this Fiona. I was looking at your holidays homes yesterday – gorgeous. If I ever drag my lot to the UK on holiday, I’ll think of your place.
Great idea. A bit of glamour in the garden. Not seen solar fairy lights. I’ll have to keep an eye out for a set. #Trash2Treasure
Thanks Cheryl. I’ve only see them since December. I’m sure you’ll spot some somewhere. A DIY shop or garden centre would probably stock them.