Clementine Candles

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

One of my favorite quotes EVER!  I really do try to live by this example, so I spend quite a bit of time looking for ways to use everything I have in my home.

When I came upon this idea online a while ago, I just knew that it was definitely one I would be trying.

Thankfully I have a good memory because I completely forgot where it was and ended up not bookmarking it either.  Doofus that I am.  I'm quite positive it was on Pinterest though.

The best part of this is that you don't need wax, or candle wick or anything that you don't already have in the house.

So here we go...........Clementine Candles

Cut through the skin around the whole clementine, don't go too deep, besides you can enjoy the yummy clementine later.

Gently peel the skin from the clementine.  You want JUST the skin, the way I do it is by gently sticking my thumb in between the skin and the fruit, then work my way around.

When you get to the end, stick your finger gently into the middle of the clementine and make sure you remove as much of the white piece that extends from the skin into the middle of the fruit.   THAT is your wick so try to get as much of it as possible....if you accidentally break it or don't have enough, you going to have to try with another one.

At this point, peel off the other half of the skin and score it with a little knife, you want whatever shape you wish, I made a start but I've also made hearts before or initials or whatever.

Take some olive oil and pour a little bit into the bottom, you don't need a lot at all, just a tiny bit into the half that is going to be lit.  You want about an 1'8" to 1'4" of the wick above the olive oil.

Take a lighter or a match and hold it lit to the wick for a few seconds....because the wick is wet you'll have to hold the flame there for a few.

Once it stays lit, then you can cover with the other half.   The bottom half will last quite a long time because the olive oil seeps into the skin.  As with every other candle, KEEP an eye on it, don't just light it and walk away.

It's so cute and it smells really good too. :)

NOTE:  You can also use oranges, grapefruit etc.  I've wanted to try with a lemon but because of it's shape I don't know if I could make it work, but I'm TRYING :)