05/10/2026

Glowing ghost lantern made from a solar jar with white cotton gauze, jute bow and black felt eyes

Make a Ghost Lantern: How to Turn a Solar Jar into a Glowing Halloween Ghost

Come autumn, you'll find them almost everywhere: small solar jars with a lid and handle that soak up the sun during the day and light up on their own in the evening. Add a piece of fabric and two felt eyes, and you have a ghost that floats above your front door on Halloween. No cables, no battery changes, no candle.

Children can do nearly everything themselves. Only cutting the hole is best left to a grown-up.

Time: about 30 minutes, plus drying time for the glue · Difficulty: easy

What you need

1 solar jar with solar lid and handle, about 15 cm tall
thin white cotton gauze or a muslin cloth, about 50 × 50 cm. The thinner the fabric, the brighter the light shines through
a scrap of black felt
about 40 cm of jute twine
1 rubber band to help with tying
fabric glue or a black fabric marker
scissors
optional: fabric stiffener from a craft shop, if the ghost hangs outdoors without a roof

Step by step

1. Lay out your materials

Sketch: solar jar with lid and handle, cotton gauze, black felt, scissors, jute twine, rubber band and fabric glue

Put everything on a clear table. Creases in the fabric can stay: on a ghost, they look intentional.

2. Check and charge the solar lid

Sketch: hands holding the unscrewed solar lid, a finger pressing the switch on the underside

Unscrew the lid and turn it over. Many solar lids have a small switch on the underside. If it isn't set to "ON", the ghost stays dark. Then place the lid panel-side up in a sunny spot so the battery is charged by the evening.

3. Cut and fray the fabric

Sketch: hands pulling threads from the edge of a white fabric square

Cut a square of about 50 × 50 cm. Pull a few threads out along all four edges until you get a frayed border. It makes the sheet look old and a little spooky.

4. Cut a hole in the centre

Sketch: the corner is snipped off the folded fabric, unfolded it has a round hole in the centre

Fold the square twice so that the centre of the fabric forms a corner. Snip just a small piece off that corner and unfold the fabric. There is now a hole in the middle, roughly the size of the jar's opening.

Tip: Start too small rather than too big. Gauze stretches, and you can always cut a little more.

5. Drape the fabric over the jar and tie it

Sketch: fabric draped over the open jar, two hands tying jute twine around the neck of the jar

Stand the jar on the table without its lid and lay the fabric over it so the hole sits exactly on the opening. Pull the edge of the hole down until it sits just below the screw thread and tie it there with the jute twine. The thread must stay clear, otherwise the lid won't fit back on.

Tip: If you're working alone, secure the fabric with the rubber band first and tie the twine over it.

6. Glue on the eyes

Sketch: a hand gluing the second black felt eye onto the fabric, fabric glue and felt scrap next to it

Cut two ovals of about 2 to 3 cm from the felt and glue them onto the fabric at the height of the upper half of the jar. No felt? A black fabric marker works too. Let the glue dry properly; the drying time is on the tube.

7. Screw the lid back on

Sketch: two hands screwing the solar lid with handle onto the jar with the fabric ghost

Once the glue is dry, screw the charged solar lid and handle back on. Your ghost is ready.

8. Hang it up and let the sun do the work

Sketch: by day the sun shines on the hanging ghost, at night it glows warmly under the porch roof

Hang the ghost where the panel gets as much direct light as possible during the day, ideally under a porch roof. With most solar jars the light switches on by itself at dusk, and the ghost glows through the fabric.

Keeping your ghost going until Halloween

October sun: In autumn the days are short and the sun sits low. A solar lid charges less than in summer, so the ghost glows for a shorter time. The sunnier the spot, the longer it stays bright.
Rain and fog: Wet fabric hangs heavy and limp. Under a roof it keeps its shape. If the ghost is going to hang in the open, brush the fabric with fabric stiffener before gluing on the eyes and let it dry over the jar.

No candles, please: Never put a tea light or candle under the fabric. Gauze catches fire quickly. The ghost only works with LED light.

Even more ghosts

Ghost family: Hang three jars of different sizes side by side.
Startled ghost: Glue a small oval felt mouth below the eyes, as if it had just had a fright itself.

Sketch: three glowing ghost lanterns hanging under a porch roof in the evening, carved pumpkins below