Take any old glass jar and turn it into a pretty tealight holder for outdoor entertaining with just a paint marker pen and a few minutes of your time.

Today I’m joining with some of my creative blogger friends to bring you a selection of easy craft ideas for outdoor decor and entertaining. As the weather improves in the northern hemisphere (hopefully!) we start thinking about eating outside more. Whether or not we’ll be entertaining friends and extended family this summer or not is still an unknown in much of the world but we can still take steps to make an evening meal outside nice even if it’s just for those who live with us.

In the summer it’s nice to stay outside as late as possible, and once it gets dark twinkly fairy lights and outdoor candles and tealights just make everything look so pretty. Keeping your candles in a nice tall jar protects it from any gusts of wind and helps them last a little longer too. Old glass jars that you save from the kitchen are perfect. The jars I used used to have pasta sauce, jam and honey in them.

What I have done here is made something which is THE MOST difficult thing to photograph well! So apologies in advance for the photos. Shiny, see through things are not easy to show well apparently!

What you need to upcycle your own glass jars into tealight holders for outdoor entertaining:

• Clean glass jars

• A permanent paint marker pen - mine was a Pentel Fine Permanent White Marker

Before you start, your jars do need to be clean and dry. I usually just soak my jars in hot soapy water to remove any labels but you can try something like Sticky Stuff Remover or Goo Gone if you have stubborn labels. I’ve even heard that something oily like peanut butter can work although I’ve never tried it myself.

Now take your jar and start drawing! You don’t need to be any great artist, we are talking simple doodles here. A flower, a heart, a leaf or two. Copy my ideas or make up your own.

Keep it simple and have fun!

For my second jar I drew the simplest of flowers and stems. Start with a few tall ones, then fill in the gaps with some shorter ones.

I added some leaves and a butterfly or two. Just build it up gradually and fill in any gaps when you spot them.

You can see what simple flowers we are talking about here, nothing difficult, just the kind of flowers you would have drawn as a kid!

For my third jar I added the word ‘Enjoy’ in a fancy font.

If you like calligraphy and hand lettering you can just write straight onto your jar. If you are less confident then just print out the word in a fancy font from your computer, cut it out and then slip it inside the jar.

Then just trace over the letters with your paint marker. I gave the letters a ‘faux calligraphy’ look by outlining the wider parts and then colouring them in.

The pen is permanent and so the jars are hand washable once it’s dry but I think it would come off in a dishwasher. If you really mess up your design half way through you can scrub it off with a kitchen scourer but it didn’t just wipe off with a cloth.

When you are happy just pop a tea light or candle in each jar and place them on your table or around your garden.

You could add a wire handle and hang them from a tree or fence out side too maybe. I show you how to add a handle to a jar in this beaded glass jar upcycle idea.

You can’t really see here in these photos but the design casts a pretty shadow in the dark when the tea light is lit.

You can use your jars to hold cutlery instead if you prefer. You could write knives, forks and spoons on jars maybe, that would be cute.

You might also like these outdoor entertaining and glass jar upcycle ideas:

Now check out all the Outdoor Decor and Entertaining ideas from my creative blogging friends.