10 Outdoor Lighting Ideas

Candles, hanging lanterns, chandeliers, and string lights add magic to evenings outside.

Candlelit Glow

• Get the glow: Campania birdbath available from Potted ($89; 323/665-3801)

Float tea candles in a water-filled birdbath to create a mini firepit. On windy days, set tea lights in clear glass votive holders in a dry birdbath so they won’t wobble.

Electric Wreath

Illuminate your garden with a globe-light Christmas wreath. To give some of the bulbs a frosty look, as pictured, apply frosted-glass spray before you begin. Then tightly group a strand of lights to cover a section of a wire wreath frame, attaching the strands with zip ties on the back side. Add as many strands as you need to cover the wreath form; we used three strands of 25-count lights to cover a 12-inch frame. Plug your wreath into an extension cord. Lights: $12 strand; target.com. Ashland wire wreath frame: $3; michaels.com. Frosted-glass spray: $5; onlinefabricstore.net.

Outdoor Chandelier Made of Branches

If your gardening to-do list includes pruning deciduous shrubs and trees, recycling some of the clippings to make a twinkling natural chandelier.

Light Box

String light strands along the roof perimeter of an outdoor room to accent party space. Here, lights glow against the redwood slats of an outdoor bar in a backyard retreat.

Soothing Pendant

Under the arbor, round string lights and a vintage pendant on a dimmer illuminate the soothing dining space.

Hacienda Tile Sconce

Turn old hacienda tile into a gorgeous sconce for your entry or backyard with this easy project.

Basket Pendant Lamps

The pendant lamps are hung on tension wires, one high and one low, to achieve a random pattern above the redwood table. The lamps are outfitted with halogen bulbs outdoors that will last for years, even outside.

Starlit Globes

Create outdoor chandeliers by wrapping lights around old wine-barrel hoops, then suspending them from the branches of
a large tree. Even easier: Rest one globe each atop two large planters flanking the front door. Hoops: From $49/3-hoop orb; etsy.com/shop/PurpleThumbNotions. Battery-powered LED copper-wire lights: $10 each (use 2/globe); amazon.com.

9 of 21 Thomas J. Story

Cloth-Wrapped Lantern

The Polynesian-style bark-cloth-wrapped lantern that hangs from the ceiling inside the pavilion is a custom piece from Oceanic Arts Tropical Decor (oceanicarts.net).

Glow Drops

Each tiny teardrop terrarium decking this tree contains a cluster of battery-powered LED copper wire lights. Gently stuff a light string into the terrarium through the hole in the back, then use twine and small s-hooks to secure the mini lanterns to the branches. Conserve battery life by turning them off in the day, and turning them on as dusk falls. Terrarium, $9; amazon.com. LED copper wire lights, $10; amazon.com.