DIY Orange Lanterns

Recently I was so impressed to find out that you really can make a candle out of an orange and some cooking oil. No lyin'! I first saw it on Instructables and tried it myself, with a twist. Today I'll show you how to make little orange lanterns!

Step 1) Chop a citrus fruit in half. Oranges are recommended, but I used a mandarin.

Step 2) Slowly release the peel from the fruit, leaving the pith connected to the peel.

Step 3) Remove the green stem from the bottom so the peel sits flat on your surface.

Step 4) You may need to press down a bit to get it to sit flat. You don't want any rolling balls of burning oil on your hands!

Step 5) Fill the peel about half way up the side with olive oil or cooking oil, then trim the pith-wick about 1/4 inch above the top of the oil. You can now light the pith. This may take a bit as it needs to blacken first before it lights.

Step 6) Cut a small hole in the top of the other half of the peel (after removing the meat).

Step 7) Pop on the top.

Step 8) Turn off the lights! Spoooky!

Tomorrow's post: Cary Grant Color Trip Painting

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