What you'll make
Picture the sun going down and a ceiling of warm bulbs coming on over the dance floor, so your back garden suddenly feels like a little outdoor café made just for your party. The lights cross overhead, everyone drifts underneath them, and that square of lawn turns into the room nobody wants to leave until the last song. About £168 for the whole canopy, and you get to keep the lights.
Materials (per item)
- outdoor festoon lights with bulbs · 45 m (1 string)the glowing ceiling over the dance floor£49.99
- tall metal poles for festoon lights · 4 poles (3 m)hold the lights up at each corner£39.99
- guide wire kit with tensioners · 1 kitcarries the lights across the long diagonals£21.99
- reflective tent ropes with tighteners · 4 ropes (from a pack of 8)brace each pole outward against the pull£11.99
- long metal tent pegs · 4 pegs (from a pack of 8)anchor the ropes in the lawn£9.49
- outdoor extension reel · 20 mbrings power from the socket to the lights£34.99
- DIY cost each£168.44
Tools
- Tape measure
- Step ladder (1.8 m)
- Rubber mallet or hammer
- Wire cutters
- Spanner
- Outdoor cable ties
- Scissors
- Gaffer tape
- A helper
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Each guide is built from at least three published how-to sources and real store prices, checked on the date shown. We write the steps in our own words and list every source at the bottom.