Now that fall has finally arrived I've been seeing many a glowing glass pumpkin online and in fall magazines. While I love the look, I certainly don't love the prices.

So what's a girl to do if she's longing for a glowing glass pumpkin on a budget?

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Well, turns out there's a few things she can do. Read on to learn what I did.

orsnge glass pumpkin filled with fairy lights

For comparison, one example of the high prices -- this one from Terrain -- goes for $78-$95. While I loved it, I knew I had to do something to create a more affordable glowing glass pumpkin.

fall sideboard brown transferware orange glass pumpkin candle

Last fall I shared a heavenly-smelling, orange glass lidded candle I snagged at Dollar Tree for $5.00.

fall glass pumpkin candle with lid

The three wicks gave off such a warm glow I burned it regularly and loved every minute of it.

fully burned out pumpkin candle in glass jar

After burning it down to the metal discs in the bottom of the candle, I had an idea. Why not clean it out and fill it with fairy lights, just like those expensive lighted glass pumpkins I'd been seeing?

metal bowl with hot water and glass candle jar

First step: clean out the left over wax. I've cleaned out many a candle jar in my day so this was a breeze.

HOW TO REMOVE WAX FROM A CANDLE JAR

1. Pour boiling water into a bowl that's large enough for your candle jar to sit in and one that can withstand boiling water. I use an electric kettle to boil the water, and pour in just enough to sufficiently cover the bottom of the jar.

2. Carefully place your candle jar into the HOT water.

3. Let sit for a few minutes, monitoring it.

4. Once it looks like the wax is coming loose (you can always nudge it to find out) carefully remove the jar from the bowl , then remove the wax and metal wax tab(s).

5. Once the bulk of the wax is out of the jar you can use some paper towels to wipe out any residue.

6. If there's still some wax or a light wax coating left inside the jar you can use Goo Gone to loosen it up and wipe it all out.

7. Wash candle jar with dish soap and warm water and let dry.

8. Add fairy lights to bring back that warm glow and enjoy!

I was thrilled with how it looked once I filled it with battery-operated fairy lights on a timer.

For a much easier DIY glowing pumpkin, I turned to some clearance glass pumpkins I got from Wal-Mart last year. To be honest, I forgot all about them until they turned up in a recent basement bin search. Needless to say I was thrilled to find them!

(I can't remember the clearance price, but I know the original price of the two together was around $30 -- which isn't even bad considering Terrain's and others' prices.)

Each glass pumpkin has a round opening at the bottom, just wide enough to insert either a tea light or a string of fairy lights. Once I filled them up with the fairy lights they were ready to go!

orange hops stems on fall mantel with pumpkins

I definitely had fun creating a fall/Halloween vignette with the glass pumpkins plus a light-up clay Jack-o-Lantern (Target Bullseye Playground for $5.) All way more affordable than many I've seen and a definite decor repeat for next year!

glowing glass pumpkin on wooden pedestal

I draped the vignette with maroon and orange faux hops stems, perfect fall colors to compliment the pumpkins. The glass pumpkins are displayed on my matching chippy, shabby DIY pedestal risers.

It's always hard for me to capture good images at night, but I tried here to give you somewhat of a sense of the pumpkins' glow.

The glow was magnified in the reflection of the mirror.

If you're not into making your own lighted glass pumpkins (which is totally understandable), there are some reasonably priced glass pumpkins with lights included, from single pumpkins to trios: