It's that lovely time of year again, when even though the weather is getting colder, bright little boxes of clementines start popping up in store windows. Now is their season, and it's ours to exercise a little bit a of will power and optimism in the dark.
I learned this fabulous little party trick when I was a school teacher years ago (thank you Ana Opitz of Pravda!) and have been showing other folks how to do it for years. Its ALWAYS a crowd pleaser. You can check out the short video How To below along with instructions and a nice clip of how to lay them in water for optimal effect. Enjoy!
What You Need
- One or more clementines
- Olive oil
- Sharp paring knife
- Matches
Got some Clementine Candle stories or tips of your own? Please let us know in the comments below.
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Brilliant! Love this idea!
For safety, I would use a small tea candle inside the fruit. It's better to be safe than have your table out up in flames, especially when you have a room full of people talking and drinking.
Great tutorial!
very cool. most importantly, how does it smell?
ABreathOfFrenchAir: I suppose you are right but it would be difficult to find a tea candle that small. Why not just set the orange on an attractive dish?
I wonder if you could use scented oil from Michael's? Great idea and can't wait to try this
Nice easy way to make a candle, but I would oh so afraid of fire.
I've done with tea candles before, but never thought to use oil.
Doesn't get too hot the bottom of candle/clementine?
Cool!
Was anyone else reminded of Bob Ross when watching this video, or is it just me? :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ross
I love this idea! You can also use regular vegetable oil and just drop a few drops of your favorite essential oil (mine would be lavender essential oil)
This is essentially an oil lantern, and it should burn much longer than 30 mins. Great for a little windproof light when camping or outdoors, or during a blackout if you've no candles. The bottom stays cool; it's the top that gets warm.
this is so cute!!!
love it ; cant wait to try.
thanks
this is great thanks for it. i could have used this earlier this week, as i used some mandarins in my salad!
Love this idea!
Just do not use that extremely dangerous Fire Gel for fire pots! It's terrible, terrible, terrible! Beware! READ this NYTimes article about it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/nyregion/a-firepot-a-safe-label-and-2-horrible-explosions.html
i love making these candles! it's fun to line the patio with them when you have an outdoor gathering in the evening. i like to add a drop of tangerine or grapefruit essential oil, which helps to keep bugs away, in my experience.
@niamh
Huh? I see tealights that are about 1in diameter or maybe a little less all the timeor are the clementines you get exceptionally tiny or something? In any case, 1.5in tealights seem the easiest to find on amazon....
How delightful! What a wonderful idea when entertaining during the holiday season.
This is perfectly safe with just the oil, just make sure you cut the top wide enough that it doesn't scorch and don't leave the room for 3 hours with the lit candle (a good idea no matter what the candle). This trick will entrance everyone who watches you make it, so always make it with an audience. Preteens and teenagers, especially will want to try it out on the spot, so have lots of mandarins available.
This is one of those DIY where I think " why?". It just looks too unsafe to me to leave unattended and neither attractive.
Awesome- this is why I love you, AT. Can't wait to show my kids. They'll love clementines even more. Love how you don't destroy the fruit!
I think I'll make a few of these for my Xmas party this year--but with a tealight instead. :-D
How tedious to read bleatings from folks who react with fear of the possible consequences of charming, simple, traditional crafts. Has common sense headed for the hills?
great idea.
@Painter Tim, how right you are.
And since kids will play with fire anyway, why not teach them to do it carefully? I remember being a total fire-lover as a wee tot, along with all the kids I knew: my sister and I lit brazil nuts on fire (nice and oily) at the dinner table while our parents and their friends talked and drank...or take orange peel and scrunch it in the direction of a candle, where the oil misting out of the skin would ignite in thrilling sparks. It's just not Christmas without a little low-level pyromania...
I bet this smells wonderful! For anyone in fear, you should never leave ANY open flame unattended. They all are a potential fire hazards. This is just clean, organic fun. Can't wait to impress the little ones!
this is so precious!
Mine looked great for the 30 seconds it stayed lit.
Very cute although I had difficulty lighting the "wick" and keeping it lit.
I tried this out last night. It worked just as he described. We put the clementines on a dish. But there was no reason to worry. After the oil was used up, the candle just went out. The bottom of the clementine was never singed in anyway. The main reason to put them on a dish is to prevent the oil that soaks through from getting on your table surface. Love it!!
Please DO NOT put this or any other candle on a flamable surface like the person in the video did. Even if you have no common sense, don't you read the newspapers? Many house fiires start each year because people put candles on flammable surfaces. Always put a candle on a candle holder or some other non flammable surface. Sheesh... the title of this video should be "How to burn down your house and kill your family and neighbors".
I tried to make this work with many different clementines, tangerines, mineolas, etc etc and it never worked out. The wick wouldn't catch and stay lit. Anyone have success with this? Its a great idea and I'd love to know how to make it actually work!
Painter Tim - couldn't agree more!
Looks great. I assume they put on the stool to have a dark background - not as a general recommendation. A dish would be a good idea.
I don't think that a tea light would work - the flame would be too high up and scorch the the rind.
I will try it soon!
The whole point of this is the awesomeness of using the fruit itself as the wick. Plus, I can't imagine a tealight would be any safer. A flame is a flame, just use common sense! What a lovely way to teach children about fire - how it needs fuel and air and you can control both in this beautiful craft.
This is awesome, I've always wondered how the clementine candles worked! I'm giving it a go tonight :)
I really dig the elephant timer!
Love this idea!!! I Love to use tealights during this time of year !!!
It's a cute idea but fire is fire. Use all the precautions you usually would with any candle, plus a few more because we're talking about oil, which could flow if the clementine is knocked accidentally (very easy if it's on a dinner table).
Finally, place it nowhere near Mrs O'Leary's cow!
Neat! We just bought a box of clementines but at the rate I'm eating them, I doubt I'll want to sacrifice any to make a candle.
I tried this tonight. It was so easy to do and the initial effect made me smile. But now the top of the fruit is getting cinched. And the fruit unfortunately doesn't smell. (I added a couple of drops of orange essential oil to the olive oil with little luck) If I could figure out a way to keep the top from turning black, I'd definitely do it again for a party. But if all I have to show is a bunch of burning fruit, then I'll pass.
*singed - not cinched. sorry.
What a creative way to use up all those clementine peels! This would make a great table decoration during those holiday dinners!
You could just use the one side; that would still be nice and creative!. Maybe try floating them in a vase of water like you would tea candles.