Laura’s Team Pick:
I learned this trick last year at the end of clementine season and didn’t get to try it myself. This week, my mum came home with a giant bag of clementines and so I grabbed a knife and some olive oil and got to making a candle.
I was slightly clumsy on my first attempt and spilled oil all over the table, so I found a video of a guy making one so that you can see how to do it. As an added hilarious bonus, he keeps whispering at weird moments and talking about how “gently” you have to do everything. It’s kind of like watching a slightly out-of-practice yoga teacher handle some kind of baby animal. Which is really what the holidays are all about. You should try it!
Before you go!
Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our A+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen,
will you consider joining A+ and supporting the people who make this indie queer media site possible?
Join A+!
Laura is a tiny girl who wishes she were a superhero. She likes talking to her grandma on the phone and making things with her hands. Strengths include an impressive knowledge of Harry Potter, the ability to apply sociology to everything under the sun, and a knack for haggling for groceries in Spanish. Weaknesses: Chick-fil-a, her triceps, girls in glasses, and the subjunctive mood. Follow the vagabond adventures of Laura and her bike on twitter [@laurrrrita].
Laura has written 308 articles for us.
yay, it’s working.
this comes on my list of ‘things which are fun to do when you are actually suppose to do less fun things’.
also my roommate probs hates you coz I forced her to eat 6 clementines by now
also if you are like me and messed up the part about the ‘centre pip sticking from the bottom’ a few times …
take the ‘wick-part’ from a small candle/tealight…works fine:)
yes! i messed up the wick part too so i peeled some white part off the fruit and used it as a wick. it involved a little finess to get it to stand up but it burned for half an hour!
This is awesome! I have to try it, i’m obsessed with citrus scented things…so if anything at least i’ll get a lot of vitamin C out of it?
Cool, but seems a bit dangerous.
I just tried it and blew it out bc I set the top on fire (slightly) oops
Yeah this seems like the funnest way to burn down my apt haha.
if you’re not living on the edge you’re taking up too much space.
jk i had a giant bowl of water on hand in case of emergency.
Noooo! do not use water to put out an oil fire. The oil will spread like a slick on top of the water and disperse the fire further. Always put out an oil flour with baking soda. (Do NOT substitute flour, which also burns fast.)
hahahaha your username…
ohmygosh you’re so right. have you ever seen the mythbuster about grease fires? terrifying!
I tried this and it worked! I got a little snack out of it too. : )
i think apartment decor + snack is a really good business model actually
it certainly worked for ikea
Excellent point. Suddenly I want to eat Swedish fish gummies out of a chic glass dish.
i just made three of these. i stopped making dinner to make these candles.
i made these! and people were impressed! i credited you, of course :)
This video feels like a hipster DIY version of “The Joy of Painting.” But with less happy trees and more gentle handling of clementines, obviously.
Okay, I had to try it. To those worried about fire safety–they totally float! http://i.imgur.com/2Zgqc.jpg
That’s what I was thinking! Floating candles=extra pretty and much less flammable=total win, especially when they’re clementine candles.
…because I’m neurotic I’ll probably have some baking soda on hand as well, but that’s just me. =P
Oh my goodness! This is awesome. I am definitely floating mine once I make them.
A bit tricky but the final result is quite nice :)
If anyone needs help with the Eating Clementines part of this project please drop me a line. I will eat all of the clementines.
SO apparently a clementine is a type of mandarin. This is what I learned from this project, which I can’t attempt cos I have a contact allergy to citrus.
MIND. BLOWN.