apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I personally love hurricane lanterns, but you need to have a top on them. They're a real fire hazard.

More than votives, you think?

More of a fire hazard than votives........votives tend to have the flame below the top of the glass. Also if you knock one over, it's very likely to extinguish itself. Oil lamps of any kind will keep burning.

And the flames aren't three inches tall, lol

That's not a mini lantern, that's a mini Molotov.

The other wrinkle is that some glass food jars these days come with lids that look like metal but in fact are made of plastic with a coating. (I discovered this while scrubbing one off in preparation for recycling it.) Plastic flame = Badness. Give the lid a good careful looking over before you try this at home.

Made these a few times out of salsa jars when I went camping. I think we used zippo fluid, which requires a wick to burn and is a pretty stable substance. Wont do much if you knock is over. Add citronella oil to keep the mosquitoes away.

The issue with hurricane lamps isn't just knocking them over. A big breeze can send the flame MUCH farther than you think if you don't have a glass lid. Trust me on this -- I know from bitter experience.

what do you use for a wick? just rope from a home store?