Light up your life

At night, these wonderful accents can't be seen by people going by and your home blends into the neighborhood. That is, of course, unless you have an extensive network of floodlights and that could get expensive. It could also give the neighbors a big headache and keep them awake all night.

Solar lights are the perfect solution. They are versatile and attractive and they emit a soft glow instead of the eye piercing glare of some outdoor lighting. Best of all, they are reasonably priced, require no complicated wiring and are absolutely free to use. Solar lights come in a variety of styles from ultra modern, to retro, to traditional carriage type lanterns and several finishes like black, white, bronze, brass, silver and pewter.

So they look great during the day too, while they gather up all that great solar energy to adorn your evening landscape. Choose a style and finish that you like that compliments your home and landscaping and then, get creative. Once you start decorating with these little jewels you won't be able to stop. Finding new places to put them becomes an obsession.

So, let's get started. Create a welcoming trail for your visitors to follow by placing solar lights into the ground all along your driveway and entry walkways. Place them along the edges of your gardens to highlight and enhance the beauty of your shrubs and flowers (and let everyone know how hard you work to keep them looking that good). Special trees in your yard can be emphasized by the placement of solar lighting around the base or even hung from the branches using the hook attachments that are included with some fixtures.

Solar lights look great placed in the ground along a fence or hung as lanterns from intermittent fence posts. Or just put one on each side of the gate to draw attention to the entry. Insert solar lights into container gardens on your porch, deck or patio or beside the front door. The application of lighting here adds an unexpected touch of creativity to your displays.

The lantern style fixtures can be used as a centerpiece or as part of a grouping for your patio table. Solar lights look great placed around your pool in containers or hung from deck fencing or shepherds' hooks. And they will add a romantic glow to your hot tub area.

Use them as inviting accents for seating areas throughout your yard. And if you have a utility shed you can make it a more attractive part of your landscaping if you add solar lamps to the wall on each side of the door or stick them in the ground along the front and even sides of the shed.

Anywhere you have a garden is a great place to accent with solar lighting. Highlight a birdbath, gazing ball or garden statue. Set them around fountains or fish ponds to help the moonlight make the water sparkle.

Finding new ways to use outdoor solar lighting will keep your creative spark glowing. So, "glow on" and have fun!