Spooky Silhouettes: Backlighting Cutouts With Solar Spot Lights
Backlighting is light aimed at a subject from behind, so the subject itself goes dark while the space around it…
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Are Solar Lights Safe for Trick-or-Treaters? A Cord-Free Checklist
Are solar lights safe for the hundred or so kids who will march up your walk on October 31? Safer…
Why Solar Lights Start Dying in October (and the Season Reset That Fixes Them)
If this October is following the usual script, your solar lights are not working the way they did in summer,…
Fall Porch Refresh: Warm Lanterns, Mums, and One String of Lights
Two porches on my street, three houses apart, both decorated for fall within the same week last October. The first…
How Many Path Lights? Spacing Without Guesswork
Nine on a Tuesday night in June, and I was standing at the end of a neighbor’s newly planted walkway…
Backyard Halloween Party Lighting That Doesn’t Trip Breakers
There is a particular kind of October Saturday, usually the one two weekends before Halloween, when the air finally smells…
A $50 Solar Halloween Porch: Budget Spooky Lighting
A warning before you open a single tab: it is remarkably easy to spend $200 on a Halloween porch without…
Halloween String Light Setups: Orange Overlays on Warm White
Every first week of October, the boxwoods next door start glowing orange. It took me two years to figure out…
Halloween Special Effects With Mandala Projection Lights
The myth about projection lights is that they are the giving-up option, the inflatable-snowman tier of Halloween decor you grab…
Halloween Pathways: Torch-Style Solar Lights for the Walk to Your Door
I have a confession. The first year I bought solar torch lights, Halloween was only half the reason. The other…
Purple and Orange Solar Lights Without the Carnival Effect
Why do some Halloween yards look styled while others look like a carnival threw up on the lawn? The difference…
Solar Halloween Lights: A Spooky Yard With Zero Extension Cords
The best Halloween house on my street last year was also the quietest one. No humming power strips on the…
Building a Rock Garden: Stone Placement, Soil, and Alpine Plants
I built my first rock garden on a slope in my front yard that I had been fighting for years.…
Where to Place Solar Lights for Maximum Charging
Most solar light disappointment is not a bad product; it is a bad spot. A panel that sits in shade…
Balcony Lighting for Renters: No Wiring, No Holes, No Deposit Lost
Renters get the worst lighting deal there is. The landlord provides one fixture, usually a sad flush-mount by the door,…
