Thread: Solar lights on props

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I was think of using my solar yard lights in my plastic jack o lanterns. Maybe cutting a hole in the bottom of the JOL then sitting it on top if the light spike. Has anyone done this? Is it a hassle to remove the JOL during the day to charge the light? I'm in Cali so I'm sure there is enough sun. I figure this is better than battery operated tea lights or the kind you have to plug in.

I actually did this, sort of. I took some of the more cylindrical shaped yard lights and pulled them off their stakes. Then I bored a hole in the back sides of my foam pumpkin the size of the diameter of the cylindrical yard lights, and shoved them in. That way the solar portion of the light was sticking out of the back of the pumpkin, but the LED elements were inside so they came on at night. I used the solar lights they sell at Dollar Tree for this, come to think of it. They suck for actual yard lighting, but they work really well in the pumpkins and scarecrows...

Great! I pick up a dollar tree stake light today. I will try putting it in the back w the panel out. Sounds easier than moving the pumpkin every day. Thx for responding.

@ Sipesh got pics?

Surprisingly, the DollarTree solar LED ($1) was still shining @ 6am!
The Portfolio solar LED from Lowes ($4) is brighter but light goes off some time during the night. interesting...

We got some from Walmart that last through the night, the ones that are upside-down bell-shaped. You can sort of tell how bright they'll be by looking at the phosphor surface of the LED. The mini $1.50 patriotic ones have a tiny dot, the cylindrical plastic ones have about half of the width of the "bulb" as phosphor, and the larger plastic bell shaped ones have the entire LED as phosphor. They seem to dim to half-brightness if they run down too much so they have a warning if you're using them for safety. The ones with multiple bulbs tend not to last all night. BJs sold a big pack of "tap light shaped ones" - 9 bulbs on a "disc" on a swivel holder. They instantly go out when the battery drains too much, and since they're super bright bulbs they barely last 3-4 hours. Walmart was selling singles of these over the summer but I haven't seen them lately. We brought them all back.

You will quickly get sick of taking the pumpkins off of them in the morning!

Originally Posted by Sychoclown

@ Sipesh got pics?

Since they've been sitting in my garage all summer and winter, they aren't charged up right now to show you what they look like lit up, but here are a few pics of one of them to show how I sank the light into them. When they light up, the lights I use are a white light which gives the pumpkins rather ghostly grayish light within, but one can alter the color of the light by scribbling on the tiny LED itself with a Sharpie pen of whichever color you like, though some yard lights have those amber color LEDs. From the front, you can't see the solar light inside too well unless you look straight down one of the eye sockets, as can be seen in the pictures. I just use the Dollar Tree yard lights for them, they work pretty well and stay lit up all night well enough after a bright day.

Don't do a whole lot with solar up in limited sunshine northwest, but have had good luck with the battery powered candles that are for Christmas. You turn them on when you want at the beginning of the season and a timer automatically controls them for the rest of the month at least. They are also easily hackable to other colors and look great flickering in lanterns or as glowing eyes in places that you don't want to have to get to each day to turn on and off.