LED Garden Path Lights

We found 5 old path lights which had quit working and decided to use them to light the path leading up to our house, which is bordered by a beautiful garden.  These soft, color changing LED path lights create an other-worldly type feel, and if they weren't shaped like lanterns they could be something straight out of Pandora!



 

Step 1 Materials

We used 5 old path lights which had quit working a few years ago (and were thus in a box in our garage).  Other neat ideas might be:

• Old canning jars
• Old bottles (wine, beer, oil, vinegar, etc.)
• Old insulators

I'm sure there are many more as well...just look around and think about what might look neat!

Other materials which we used:

• 5 RGB LED modules $3 ea (they can change color or be set on a solid color like white)**
• 22-4 Security/Control Cable $.25/ft to run between each light and to the power source.**
• 3M Scotchlok Waterproof Butt Connectors $.25 ea (4 for each light)
• 12V 12 Watt Power Supply $15 (Could also be Solar or a transformer)
• RGB LED Controller $20-$35  or none if you are just going to use white or single color modules/LEDs.**

Tools needed:

• Wire strippers/cutters
• Pliers
• Hot Glue Stick + Lighter (or hot glue gun)
• Paper/Pen to Draw Schematics
• Tape Measure
• Drill (if you need to make a bigger hole for cable to go through light fixture)

**For this project, I chose to use color changing RGB LED modules because I wanted to create a fairytale like aura along the path. However, you could also do this project and use white or single color LED modules (which you could hook up to solar/battery instead of running wire between each light. However, for the RGB LEDs, running wire is necessary in order to control the changing colors through the use of one controller).**

Comments

[ramblinduck]

oh and sweet instructable!

[ramblinduck]

Probably not a helpful comment, but was I the only person waiting for something scary to jump out while watching the video?

[drakesword]

Hmm. I saw some rgb led "floating candles" at big lots for $2 for 2. They use a standard 3v coin cell. was planning on picking up some tomorrow to modify a solar garden light. I will post results here