I thought I’d reach out to you, with your infinite craft resources, for advice on what to do with my strings of Christmas lights. Last year I made a cute pendant lamp from a tutorial I found online but I wanted to try something new this year. Any suggestions for something not Christmasy (is that a word?) that can be done with leftover lights? I always figure, why save them when I can CRAFT! Plus, I get them from dollar stores anyway so it just fits.
Thanks in advance,
Cheryl
Christmas Light Crafts on Dollar Store Crafts:
Readers, your turn. What are your great ideas for using Christmas lights?
8 Comments
jen neitzel
Really cool lights! Thanks for sharing!
Qwetty
Both those links go to the egg carton lamp – what’s the link for that pretty ruffly light??
Leighann
You could use them to make a pretty light from a mason jar! Or well, any jar really would work…I’ve seen them with potpourri in them, although I think they’re pretty without it. I also had a friend make a similar type light from a lightly colored wine bottle she had laying around; the label and the lights were all the embellishment it really needed! :)
heather
@Qwetty, here’s the link, and I’m fixing the link in the post – thanks for the comment & the head’s up!! https://dollarstorecrafts.com/2010/01/pom-pom-lamp/
Crystal
I don’t really have an idea for you – for crafting – but rather home decor (?) =( I use them around the house. You can put them in glass jars/vases/containers around the top of the kitchen, around the house. Wrap the backs of old chairs that may sit in corners for nothing but decorative purposes. Use them to light up your outdoor deck or patio for the coming spring/summer. Even colored lights can be used for all of those. You can also wrap them around headboards that are wrought-iron-type. If you have those big/jumbo lights you can remove the bulbs & make Christmas decorations (reindeer) for next year as favors, gifts, & yourself!
cindy
I saw on some blog that they put a cheap water gun over each white light and I though how cute that would be for a little boy’s birthday party!
Or how about slipping some sort of translucent heart over each light to make a valentine light string. ( I just recently saw a container of pink or red hearts for sale somewhere….target? Dollar tree???)
Tack them up in straight lines to the ceiling of your back porch to have on when you sit ouside in the evenings. My experience is that they don’t draw the bugs like a real lightbulb.
Donate them to a school or church that might be looking for lights for their own decor. (our first grade teacher just mentioned that her tree at home was naked this Christmas because all her ornaments were on the classroom tree! I remedied that for next year with an $11 trip to Dollar General that includes a nativity and star for the top of the tree and enough ornaments for a 6 ft. tree!)
Use shorter strands inside those ex large paper lanterns that are sold for summer decor. Hang those on sticks in your flower garden for some cool summer evening light. Just wad the lights up into a tangle mess that hangs down inside the paper lantern without touching the paper. (Should be pretty easy since light strands tangle all the time on their own!)
Tack then to the underside of your kitchen cabinets if you don’t have under cabinet lights already.
HAVE FUN!
KarenMO
We just save our lights for next Christmas!
Malorie
I took the white lights with the green cord and some silk flowers (foxglove type) from walmart ($2 per stem about 15-20 blooms per stem). Take the blooms off of the stems and cut a small slit in the bottom hole of the bloom (just big enough to fit over the light) and slide one bloom over each light. thats pretty much it. i saw a website selling lights like this with the flowers on them for about $30 for one strand and i paid about $10.00.