So Melissa told you about Almost Lighting up the Night last week. And I came up with a free fix.

We have this box of scrap wood in the corner of the garage that we use for things like propping things up in the grass to spray paint them.

I decided to use some of it to make that nominal 4″ x 4″ post we needed, or at least a stand-in version of it. (Check back to the first post on this project for more info.)

A nominal 4″ x 4″ post is actually 3.5″ x 3.5″, so I decided to use two pieces of a 2″ x 4″.  Now a 2″ x 4″ is actually 1.5″ x 3.5″, putting two together only gets me to a 3″ x 3.5″.

So I had some extra .5″ MDF left over from a previous project. This wasn’t pre-cut, so I  got to use my new SoniCrafter Tool (You can read about the deal I got on it here).

Melissa popped out into the garage at this point to make sure I was wearing my safety glasses…

To get the right size, I traced my 2″ x 4″ block  and got to cutting.

Pretty soon, I had the pieces I needed.

(Sorry these photos are so dark. This project was before we hung our new shop lights.)

Once I got the MDF cut to size, I clamped the three pieces together and pre-drilled the holes for the screws that would permanently hold them together. I used a drill bit that was just smaller than the shaft of the screw, not including the threads. I used some leftover screws from the workbench that I built.

Here’s how the block post inserts ended up looking when they were all ready to be inserted into the post caps:

Once screwed together, I dry-fitted the cap lights and pre-drilled the screw holes that would hold the cap on. Then it was time to attach the lights to the post inserts.

It’s important to be careful not to over-tighten the screws and break the cap.

Once the cap is attached to the block, it was time to drop the block into the porch post, where it sits securely since the block inserts are heavy enough to not blow around (or out) in the wind.

They look they were made to fit, huh? And here’s what they look like at night:

And here’s the view from the street. They don’t add a lot of light, but it’s something, and we like to look out the window and see them instead of darkness.

What do you think? Kinda small and insignificant from the street, but we love how they look on the porch! Ever had this problem and just returned the light? Interested in going and buying them again to try this free fix? Let us hear about it!