Spring is just around the corner and if you are like me you are ready for warm summer nights spent outside on the porch. My screened porch room is hands down one of my favorite rooms for our house. During the warm months I spend more than half my day outside in this room and am very thankful for the screens to keep the bugs out. However, the current ceiling fan light fixture gives off a harsh light, so I am always looking for ways to add light to the room so I can enjoy it more in the evenings. One of the ways I have added light to this room is by installing some painted mason jars hanging lanterns.
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Our family enjoys having meals in the evening in our screened porch room. On a good day I may even eat all three meals out there and even work at the table so I can enjoy the sunshine as much as possible. It is easy to guess that it is our favorite room in the house during the warmer months.
Last year I added a string of decorative lights above since the lights from the ceiling fan are just too harsh for casual dining and sitting. This year I wanted to add even more decorative lights that I could move around the room to change the mood of the space as needed.
Painted Mason Jar Hanging Lanterns
For this project you will need:
- Pint Sized Mason Jars
- Tacky Glue
- Tubes of Food Coloring
- Craft Paint Brushes
- Assorted Acrylic Paints
- Coiled Floral Wire
- Battery Operated String Lights
I wanted the mason jar lanterns to look like stained glass so I first painted the outside of them with a mixture of the tacky glue and food coloring. This can be a messy job so definitely allow it to dry overnight.
The next day you will have these beautiful colorful jars that are great for letting the lights shine through and they look like stained glass. At this point you can add the coiled floral wire around the top to create a hanger and call it done – OR – you can paint any decorative artwork on it to give it more personality and charm. Even better if you have a Cricut machine of any kind and can custom print the graphics on vinyl.
I decided to give mine some one of a kind painted flowers, ladybugs, and even dog paws (I am very much a dog person). Each of these I painted free-hand, with maybe a few little mistakes, but you can opt for stencils or any other way to add the designs you like. I think even sayings or quotes would be fun, but I didn’t think about that when I was working on them. Maybe next time…
Mason jar lanterns are so adorable and inexpensive.
When I priced string lights at other stores, the prices ranged from $5 – $9 for just one strand. Instead, I found these adorable mini solo cup lights for only $1 at The Dollar Tree. They may only have five lights on each strand but I was able to get a strand for all eight jars for less than what it would have cost me to purchase one strand at any other store. I like that price tag much better. Which was important to keep the entire project cost very low when I first made these outdoor lanterns. Since then, the investment in more expensive and brighter LED lights has been well worth the extra cost.
The hangers were easy to make out of the coiled floral wire by twisting one length of wire around the ring of the jar, and then looping a second length of wire through the first one.
Don’t have any mason jars available? Rescue any glass jar from the trash bin and make your own version of these lanterns. They are such a fun an purposeful way to reuse any type of jar in the house.
A few of them I didn’t hang up but just let them sit on the window sills. I think these will become one of my favorite mason jar crafts so far because I just love how they look all lit up.
There is just something I have always loved about a mason jar and using it in my home decor and any new way possible and these hand painted mason jar lanterns are one of my favorite projects I have tried. They are fun, useful, and so whimsical. I hope you find this inspiring to go out and try to make your own version for your outdoor spaces.
My new version of mason jar lanterns this year will be made with my new Cricut Joy machine so I can test to see how well the vinyl holds up outdoors. Wish me luck!
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 1 Timothy 4:7
These are super super cute!!! Mason Jars make the perfect palette, but you turned them into a masterpiece! Always good to party with you at the #homemattersparty 🙂
Thanks so much Kristen.
These are so cute. We’re hoping to add a screened in porch to our house this year or next. Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
Hey Emily. We LOVE our screened porch but are actually thinking of closing it in to make it an all-weather room and place for the dogs to stay during the day while I’m working at home. It will still have large windows though. Good luck with your own project.
These are beautiful! I love mason jars and the paintings are fabolous. #HomeMattersParty .
This is a great idea, but I could not bring myself to use my mason jars for a craft project as I do A LOT of canning of my garden vegetables and fruits. Therefore, I used peanut butter jars (and good heavens there are a plethora of options one could use; pickle jars, jelly jars, pasta sauce jars….you name it!) One could create such an appealing and eclectic combination of different shapes/styles of jars, so think twice before you throw that Marie’s bleu cheese dressing jar in the recycling bin! 😉
Great suggestions. Thanks Marcia.
Very creative!! I live in the desert where it gets pretty hot. Would the glue and food coloring last in the heat?
Thanks for visiting. That is a very good question and one I’m afraid I can’t answer from experience. I will look in to this though because I am also curious about the answer.
These are so cute! 🙂
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
I love this! I’m looking to add some lights outside this summer, this is a great idea. #HomeMattersPArty
Thanks Emily. We are really enjoying them.
Love your painted mason jars. Thanks for sharing at Over The Moon Party.
Hugs,
Bev
Thanks Beverly
So cute and colorful. #HomeMattersParty
Your mason jars are so cute. I wish I could paint so well!
Thanks Leslie. That means a lot to hear that.
What a fun and practical idea! 🙂
Thanks for visiting.
Donna, very cute idea! I may have to try this someday when I get my dream house with a screened in back porch or deck. 🙂 Have you tried using the battery-operated LED T-lights in these? That might be another good alternative over the strand. BTW, you may want to consider changing the font color in your comment box. It appears while I”m typing it is a very light gray and it’s hard to read what I’m typing, so if I make a mistake I can’t tell. I just thought you may want to know. 😉 Thanks for sharing and have a good week. I’m visiting from “Inspire Me Monday”.
~Curious as a Cathy
Art Sketching Through the Alphabet “N” (Nightingale)
Thanks Kathy. I hope you get your dream house soon.
This is such a good idea! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Natalie
The painted mason jars look so pretty by day and lit up at night. I need to add some string lighting to our back patio this summer. #HomeMattersParty
Thanks Nicole. We definitely will enjoy them all summer.
How cute!! This looks like a fun project to do with kids, too! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Ashley