Pumpkin Jack-o-Lantern Solar Light Craft

This pumpkin solar light craft is an easy DIY Hallowen outdoor decor item! The cute jack-o-lantern face glows in the dark, making it the perfect Halloween craft.

Hey y’all! It’s Sara here with a super easy Halloween craft to add some fun festive flair to your yard with your other outdoor Halloween decor. This pumpkin solar light craft is simple, inexpensive, and so cute! Covering your driveway solar lights with these jack-o-lanterns adds the perfect amount of spooky-yet-cute ambience to your front yard. They’re adorable during the day and light up spectacularly at night!

Materials Needed:

LED solar powered pathway lights
open top plastic orange jack-o-lanterns
black Sharpie marker
drill and 1″ drill bit (or box cutter)
rubber bands (optional)

With luck you’ll already have most of the items needed for your pumpkin solar light craft at home already. I just used the solar power pathway lights we use along our driveway year round. If you don’t currently have some, we really love these ones by GTX (you can also get them at Costco)! Make sure the lights you’re using have the solar plate on top of the light. Also, make sure they are bright! Otherwise the jack-o-lantern effect at night won’t be as spectacular.

You’ll also need the open top plastic jack-o-lanterns that will go over the lights. They’re the ones you see tons of kids using for trick-or-treating each Halloween. You can usually get some from the dollar store, but ours was out of stock. I was able to find some at Walmart for not very expensive, though, so shop around if you can’t find them at first! You want the ones with the open top so the pumpkins don’t cover the solar plate on the top of you pathway lights.

Lastly, you’ll need a drill and a thick drill bit to make the holes in the bottom of pumpkins. Alternatively you could use a really sharp box cutter to cut the holes, but I found the drill to be fast and efficient. You’ll want the drill bit to be about as thick as the stick for the lights or a little smaller for a snug fit. I used a 1″ drill bit for ours and it worked perfectly!

Making your Pumpkin Solar Lights

Prepping the Pumpkin

First, mark where you need to drill the hole on each of the pumpkins. Flip the pumpkin upside down and locate the exact middle of the flat part. Ours had a small bump to indicate the middle. Our solar lights can come apart, so it was really simple to detach the pole from the head of the light. Then I used it to trace a circle where I wanted the hole to go.

Drilling the Hole

Next, using the 1″ drill bit, drill a hole where you marked with the black marker. This will create lots of little plastic shavings so make sure to do this somewhere where you can make a bit of a mess! Also, please be careful! It’s very easy to slip while using the drill and cut your finger. I speak from experience here.

Putting it All Together

Lastly, after putting your lights back together, put the pole of your solar light into the hole you just drilled. Slide your pumpkin up the pole until it covers the light bulb. The goal is for hole to be just large enough for the pumpkin to slide up the pole easily but just tight enough that the pumpkin won’t slide back down on it’s own. If the hole is too small, you’ll need to use the drill to widen it just a touch. If the hole is too large, you can use rubber bands to help keep the pumpkin in place. Just slide the pumpkin up to where you want it and then tightly wrap a thick rubber band directly under the pumpkin on the pole. Now the pumpkin can’t slide back down!

And voila! That’s it! All together I think this craft took me less than 45 minutes, and it only took me that long because I had to stop for a band aid partway through. If you’re looking for a cute, simple way to add some Halloween flair to your yard, this pumpkin solar light craft is definitely the way to go. And if you want to add even more spooky festivity to your life, check out these Indoor Halloween Decor Ideas and these Free Halloween Games for Kids!