(How to) Tangerine Candle

 This past week my Mamaw past away. This past weekend was her funeral, and it was filled with tears, laughs, and memories.

While it is a difficult time, being in the mountains of North Carolina brought back many Christmas memories.

Someone brought clementines and tangerines to my Mamaw's house for people to eat between services and hugging family members.

The smell of that old house and the aromas of citrus brought back childhood memories of Christmases past in the mountains. I was glad to bring some of the winter fruit north with me as I returned to Pennsylvania Sunday night.

I briefly saw this idea on pinterest sometime a few weeks ago, and was reminded of it as my efforts to capture the scent of the holidays continued.

Start with a citrus fruit. Orange, tangerine, clementine. You could try with a lemon too, I suppose.

Cut in half. Focus on that white center. You want to find at least one string in the middle to leave as your wick.

Using a grapefruit spoon (or a regular one) spoon out the meat. Again, try not to touch the white center yet.

See how that one white string of pulp is emerging? Don't cut that out!

This is what it should look like. 

You can do the other half too, if you'd like a top for your candle. Dry off your wick by squeezing with a paper towel to get rid of juice. Not doing this will result in it taking longer for your wick to catch flame.

Try and even the bottom out with a knife so it doesn't roll around. But be careful not to poke a hole in it! Fill fruit with olive oil, until it's about half an inch or so to the wick. 

Light your candle. This takes some patience, but it will work! Keep trying to light it until it works.

Your flame may be delicate at first, but it will take off!

See?

You can cover with your other half of fruit to provide some additional scent. But cut a hole in the top first. Your flame does need oxygen.

Pretty right? And it smells awesome. I love the natural detail that the pores of the fruit provide.

You could even add some cloves to your rind, to give it even more seasonal scent. 

Just remember it's not safe to leave any candle unattended!

Wouldn't it be beautiful to do a line of these across your mantle? This is a great cheap alternative to those smelly, artificial seasonal candles. I can't take credit for this idea, here's where I found the idea for olive oil.