DIY Glow in the Dark Stepping Stones From Birds and Blooms

In the winter I dream of next years garden.  While dreaming I was thinking of easy ways to use solar to illuminate our yard and garden.  This time of year it gets dark at 4:30, and it's so much nicer coming home to a glowing yard.  I can only imagine it helps in terms of security too since the police seminar on preventing burglaries said that lighting and a well maintained yard deters crime.

My criteria is it must be easy and solar so it doesn't increase our electric bills.  My solution?  Solar lights and glow in the dark paints.

Solar Lights
I am so glad solar lights are finally easily accessible.  I plan to use solar string lights (I plan to buy a bunch in after Christmas sales), path way lights, some garden stakes and sculptures that are solar.  I also plan to play with using parts from a path light into our non functioning old gas lantern street lights if that doesn't work I plan to play with glow in the dark paint (we have on in our front and back yard).  I also plan to try to make an outdoor mat with solar string lights.  My inspiration is below.  I plan to try this in spring since due to snow I never leave mats out in the winter.

tutorial from Topstail I plan to try with solar string lights instead

 Glow In The Dark Paint

glow in the dark spray paint

How did I never think of this before?!  Glow in the dark paint in the garden.  OMG the uses are endless.  My DIY mind was spinning when the gravity of this dawned on me.  You mean I can turn anything I want in the yard and garden glow in the dark.  Ohhhh....this could be dangerous.   I honestly am amazed there is not more on this on the web (I searched but didn't find much).  It makes me want to make cool stuff for my yard and garden just so I can paint it with glow in the dark paint.  I have a feeling I will go crazy this spin.

Krylon, Martha Stewart Crafts, and Rustoleum both have glow in the dark spray paint.  I have not tried it myself yet.  Based on reviews of Krylon on Amazon most were not happy with the results.  It seems as though the amount of glow glow in the dark produces no matter what the brand is will be minimal.  So I would only use glow in the dark paint if you have something you made or have that you want to make glow, and don't have high expectations on how much it will glow.  tint to it.  The paint will have a light green One review on Amazon suggested painting it white first to enhance the glow.  I would suggest testing on a small portion of the object you plan to paint first before painting the whole thing.  Especially if you plan to use several cans, that way if the glow doesn't produce like you expected then you won't waste money on a lot of cans.  It would also be wise to try test out how many coats you need.  Do you need a lot of coats to get your desired glow or would only 2  produce the same results, saving you time and money?

I think the only thing to keep in mind is to not make sure the paint doesn't touch the ground nearby anything that you grow and eat, also make sure the paint you choose is for outdoors.

Here's What I Found For Inspiration:

Purple allium sculptures at Karl Gercens a Chaumont Sur Loir in France via Paradis Express

Check out this French garden karl gercens chaumont a sur loir, featured on Paradis Express.  While there are many beautiful ideas in this garden, my favorite is the garden artwork, (pictured above and below), in particular the purple allium sculptures.  How cool would this be with glow in the dark paint?  Jules Pieri tried to duplicate this with from very fine gauge chicken wire, a stake, and flourist wire.  Check out the comments on her post about it for more info on how to make them.
 

Purple allium sculptures at Karl Gercens a Chaumont Sur Loir in France via Paradis Express

Karl gercens chaumont a sur loir also has some really cool hanging sculptures that would be a great way to create a room effect in the garden along with some whimsy.  And just think if you added glow in the dark paint to it.

These hanging  sculptures at Karl Gercens a Chaumont Sur Loir would be so cool with glow in the dark paint!  via

Hanging  sculptures at Karl Gercens a Chaumont Sur Loir  via Paradis Express

spray paint rocks with glow in the dark paint

Vintage floor grates could be painted with glow in the dark as stepping stones

paint whimsical garden art and statues

or paint cool stuff like dinosaur bones

Maybe make a room divider out of plastic bottles painted glow in the dark?

If you have any ideas about how to light up the night I'd love to hear about it.

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