DIY Vintage Mold Tin Strand Lighting

By Chelsea Mohrman | Published on Jun 23, 2014

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DIY jellow mold stand light instructions

Summer is in full swing and that means it’s time for the outdoors! To light up those magical evenings, create some fun customizable strand lighting.

Here we used vintage jello mold tins on our strand, but the same concept for creating these can be used with other dome-shaped objects such as dixie cups, cupcake liners, or folded paper cubes. Whether you’re enjoying time on the front porch with friends or camping with the family, these cute strand lights will surely add a bit of life and light to the party!

Supplies for Vintage Mold Tin Strand Lighting:

set of string lights (test to make sure they work before using)
drill
step drill bit
spray paint
painter’s tape
vintage mold tins

prepping the string lights for spray paint

DIY Vintage Mold Tin Strand Lighting Instructions:

Step 1: Prep the string lights

Start by prepping the strand lighting for paint. Here we used a small string of lights that had plastic bulbs over the individual strand bulbs.

We removed each of those and wrapped the light bulbs and plug with painter’s tape to prep for painting. You may use regular strand lighting that doesn’t come with plastic bulb coverings so just go right to prepping.

Step 2: Spray paint the strand lights

Spray the string lights with spray paint in your desired color. If you decide to keep these outside all the time then go for an outdoor spray paint that will hold up against the elements.

Step 3: Drill holes in tins

While the lights are drying, drill holes in each of the mold tins with a step bit. Drill a hole just big enough to fit over the bulb and start on the plastic.

If possible measure your drill bit against the lights and mark off at which step to stop drilling so that you don’t make the hole too big. When in doubt make the hole small, you can always make the hole larger but it’s hard to go smaller.

Step 4: Put the sting light bulbs in each tin

Insert each of the lights into the predrilled holes in the tins. If you have trouble fitting the tin on, drill the hole just a little larger to fit the light. Make sure the tins fit snuggly on the plastic holder of the light so that the tins don’t fall off when you move the strand around.

Once you have all of the lights in each tin, the project is complete! This little set would be perfect strung along a vintage camper!

DIY vintage mold tin strand light project