DIY Mason Jar Hanging Lanterns
Light your driveway or pathway with these simple and beautiful mason jar hanging lanterns. Perfect for summertime, Halloween, Christmas, parties, weddings, and more.
Every Halloween we throw a Pumpkin Party, and it’s one of our favorite events of the year. Yummy soups and bread, kids playing football, carving pumpkins, and homemade hot chocolate, followed by a bonfire and s’mores. It’s a highlight of the fall season! We live in the country where it’s very dark, and I love to line our driveway with hanging mason jar lanterns. It adds light, and a very charming and cozy atmosphere.
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Entertaining outside iso much fun–not just in the summer, but the fall and even winter too, depending on where you live. Here at Old Salt Farm we love to host parties, BBQs, and gatherings as often as we can. Whether it’s a summer BBQ and ice cream float bar, a Mexican Fiesta for a birthday party or Cinco de Mayo, or our annual pumpkin party (and everything in between), it’s the loveliest time when we have family and friends over.
To add some charm and fill a practical need, I really wanted to add some hanging lanterns to our driveway. It’s pretty dark out here in the country, so it helps our guests find their way up the drive. I love when it’s dark outside, and everything is lit by either solar outdoor string lights or hanging lights. They add the best ambiance! They’re perfect for any entertaining you’re doing through the summer, at Halloween, Christmastime, wedding or bridal parties. Even if it’s not a specific event, and you want to light your driveway or pathway, this is a darling way to do it.
Best of all, they’re easy to make! You can make as few or as many as you need. I line our driveway with them, but surrounding a patio or going along a sidewalk would work just as easily. Even outlining an area in a backyard would be a great way to utilize these fun lanterns.
Table of contents
Supplies
- Mason jars
- Battery-operated fairy lights (one per jar)
- 1x2x8 lumber
- 1-inch staple gun
- OR Hammer and nails
- Wire
- Needle-nosed pliers
How to make
We made the posts and left them the natural wood color, but you can certainly paint them any color you like. Once the posts are made, you can store them easily in a garage, basement, or barn. I store the lanterns in the mason jar cardboard containers that I bought them in, which makes it so easy!
Lantern posts
- Cut the wood to length, to meet the measurements above. You can certainly adjust for your specific needs–shorter or taller.
- Use a 1-inch staple gun to adhere the pieces of wood together.
- Cut a notch at the end of the 14-inch piece to hang the lantern.
- Cut a 60-degree angle at the bottom of the post so you can put it into the ground.
lanterns
- The easiest way for me to add the wire was to cut two separate pieces–one to go around the top of the jar, and the other for the handle. The length of the wire depends on how tall you want your handle to be, and how wide your jar is–regular and wide mouth will differ in size. The one for the top of the jar just needs to be long enough to go around the jar, and to twist closed. The length of the handle needs to be long enough for the handle itself, but also to twist around the wire going around the top of the jar.
- Bend the handle wire in the shape you want it to be. Hold it in place so the sides hang below the top of the jar. Wrap the piece around the top of the jar, going on top of the handle pieces. Twist the wire shut to secure it in place. Using needle-nosed pliers is the easiest way to do that. After that’s secure, you can wrap the ends of the handle pieces up and around itself toward the top of the wire, as you can see in the picture above.
- Place a strand of battery-operated fairy lights inside each jar.
- Place posts in the ground, then hang your lanterns!
Now you’re ready to enjoy your hanging mason jar lanterns!
FAQ
Absolutely. If you’d like them closer to the ground, or need to fit a certain space, you can easily change the height of the post.
It really depends on the brand and type of lights you use, and what is listed on their product. I’ve found that I can use them for at least 4-5 events (sometimes more), depending on how long the event is.
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