On the heels of our post about Staging a Summer Party with Modest Means, frequent contributor Susan Dworski sent this email about Shoji Solar Lanterns, an essential, inexpensive, mood-enhancing element that are, in her words “Pretty damned lunar at night”:

Ironically, I just replaced my tattered red Shoji solars yesterday with the familiar bluebird ones.

They are marvelous! I screwed the plastic stands (intended for tabletop use) on the bottom to stabilize them better in the wind. They add a certain Japanese gravitas.

They hang from iron shepherd’s crooks so I can distribute them among the sword ferns and not be dependent on a wire or tree branch for positioning.

Bonus: when the lantern’s fabric finally shreds apart after 2 or 3 years outdoors I salvage the undamaged flat solar cells and hang them in the lemon tree where – inconspicuous by day – they continue to glow all night like tiny stars among the branches.

Thanks a million, Susan!