The Dollar Tree DIY That Will Give Your Patio A Gorgeous Glow On Summer Nights

Summer is the perfect season to get creative with your patio decor ideas. You likely spend more time outside to enjoy the warm weather during these months. This means that you have a greater opportunity to impress family and friends by upgrading your outdoor space. Fun lighting is a great way to do this. Decorative outdoor lights can get expensive, so consider making your own with a few items from Dollar Tree. Believe it or not, you can create a stunning paper mache patio light with a balloon, decals, glue, tissue paper, and an LED candle -– all of which you can snag from Dollar Tree for only $1.25 for each item.

All of the supplies you need for this DIY are so affordable that you might want to create multiple lights to place all around your patio. This will make the area look warm and inviting at night as you and family or friends gather around to enjoy summer. Feel free to get creative when placing these decorative lights around your space. You could use them to line the entry to your patio, or set them near your outdoor furniture to make it easier to navigate your way around at night.

Take a look at the TikTok video posted by Hometalk for a step-by-step guide on how to create this DIY light for your own backyard or patio. As you can see, you will need to start out by positioning your balloon in a vase for stability, and then covering it in layers of paper dipped in a glue and water mixture. You can purchase Dollar Tree's Colorful Latex Balloons, Classic White Tissue Paper, and Elmer's School Glue to use to complete these steps.

Do not forget to apply your decals in between your paper mache layers. Dollar Tree sells a variety of decals, so you can easily select an option that fits your desired patio aesthetic. The Main Street Wall Creations Acrylic Mirrored Wall Art pieces are a great choice for those who like silver. Alternatively, the Main Street Wall Creations Gold Butterflies Decals are stunning as well. After your paper mache has dried, pop your balloon and place one of Dollar Tree's Luminessence Battery-Operated Ivory Wax LED Pillar Candles inside. When you turn your candle on, you will have a beautiful glowing paper mache lighting piece just like the finished product shown in the TikTok video.

To really get the most out of this DIY that will light up your backyard patio, you may want to take some time to customize it to your liking. For example, rather than using plain white paper, you could use tissue paper in any other color of your choice. This should also change the light color emitted, and you can use this method to illuminate your patio with a fun shade. Dollar Tree's Bright Colored Rainbow Tissue Paper comes in a variety of colors that could be used for this purpose.

Along with making customizations, you should also care for these decorative lights properly to get the most out of them. Keep in mind that paper mache is not very durable. As a result, you will need to exercise caution when displaying this DIY item. Bring your lights indoors on rainy days and do not leave them outside when you are expecting harsh weather. These lighting pieces are super lightweight, so they may need to be brought indoors on windy days as well.