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We love the Sun Jars, but they are a bit too expensive for what they are worth. Urban Outfitters is selling them for $45. We've been told that you can get these from resellers for $20 each, but that is still quite expensive when you want to light up your garden or a few rooms. One of our readers pointed out that he made a lamp like this a few years ago and everyone liked it. After searching around on Instructables, we found this guide to make your Sun Jars a whole lot cheaper than the $45 list price.

You'll need the following to get started:
Components:
1. Ikea Slom glass jar or Mason Jar
2. Solar garden light ($5 each)
3. rechargeable battery (AA size)
4. Blu-tack
5. Tracing paper or glass frosting spray

You'll need a screwdriver, a utility knife, and some glass-frosting paper to make your sun jar complete. You're going to take the solar light apart and put what you find inside the glass jar. You can use some Blu-tack to keep it all together. It's important to use a glass frosting spray so that the light generated by the lamp is diffuse. As an alternative, you can also use tracing paper. That's it! We've calculated that by recycling some of your Mason Jars and buying the solar lamps in packets of 6, it won't cost you more than $6 per lamp. That's a whole lot better than $45. Basically, you're just repackaging the solar lamps into a more usable and friendly form. You can fiddle around with this idea, but this is quite straightforward and simple. It's important to use a transparent lid. If you use a metal lid, that usually comes with a Mason Jar, the solar panel won't be able to recharge the battery. [via Mister R, photos by cre8tor]

MORE SOLAR LIGHTING
The Original Sun Jar
Solar Lampion: A Green Lantern