Ditch Boring Solar Lights: Upgrade Them With A Glamorous Dollar Tree DIY

Perhaps one of the least-inspiring spots in any home improvement store is the basic, outdoor solar stake light section. Sure, they're functional to illuminate pathways without electricity or wiring (if you can overlook the sneaky downside to using solar lights). But most stake lights aren't winning any design awards, especially the affordable ones. TikToker April P took matters into their own hands by glamming up some uninspiring, cylindrical solar stakes from Dollar Tree. The secret weapon? A bag of diamond-shaped gemstones, some smaller clear gemstones, and lots of hot glue. All you have to do is glue the gemstones over the clear portion of the lights and accent it with smaller gemstones.

All of the accessories for this project can be found at Dollar Tree and won't break the bank. April uses Floral Garden Acrylic Gems in blue, available for $1.75 per almost 4-ounce bag, to cover the solar lights, but the Dollar Tree craft section offers many faux gems and decorative rocks you could use for this project. You just need something with a relatively flat base to secure it to the light. If you want to add extra bling, the 9-foot Plastic Diamond Wrap Ribbon for $1.75 offers smaller gemstones attached together — that makes it easier to attach several small pieces at once.

The specific solar lights used in the inspiration project aren't currently available on the Dollar Tree website as of writing. Each store's inventory of solar lights may vary, so head to your local Dollar Tree to find something similar, many options costing as little as $1.50 apiece. This project works on any solar stake light with clear surfaces where the light shines through. Those areas just need to be large enough to accommodate your gemstones. From there, you're ready to customize the outdoor lighting idea with a touch of glam!

April ditches the stakes and only uses the top portions of the solar lights for the project. To start, glue the gemstones in rows to completely cover the clear portion of the lights. Since the gems are made of acrylic, the light will still illuminate through them, and beams can shine through the small gaps between the gemstones. If you want more light, space the colorful embellishments out more. You might make a single row of the gems or attach them randomly with spaces between them.

April glues two gem-covered lights together, with the solar panels facing outward, to create a double-sided light. The creator then adds rows of the tiny clear gems where the lights meet and along the top and bottom edges with a blue gemstone in the center. This configuration could prove tricky since one of the solar panels will be facing downward. You could flip the light halfway through the day to give both panels their time in the sun, but that's not always practical.

Or, keep the lights separate but create several of them. You can attach them to the stakes and line your walkway with the glam, sparkly lights like you normally would with this type of landscape lighting. Or, leave the stakes off and attach a row of them, with the solar panels all facing up, on a piece of scrap wood that's painted or stained. Place it in the center of a patio coffee table as a lighted centerpiece.