Craft: Upcycled Candle Lantern from a Tin Can

Summer is a time for outdoor rituals and candlelit vigils to watch the sun rise on Solstice dawn. You should always check if it's okay to have naked flames, but even where they are permitted it's important to keep them enclosed to prevent setting light to anything you don't want to catch fire. Here's a very easy candle lantern you can make from an old tin can. 

Wash the empty can then fill it with water and put it in the freezer to go solid. This is to stop the can bending when you do the next bit. 

Get an old nail and a hammer. Take the can full of solid ice into the garden so you don't make a mess indoors, then bang holes in the side of the can using the nail and hammer. Let the ice melt and you have a useable candle lantern to put a tealight in. 

You can be more fancy than that. You could make star, moon, pentacle or elemental triangle shapes with the holes or you could paint the outside of the tin. Leave the inside silver coloured because it is great for reflecting the light and make the candle seem to burn brighter.

Old glass jars can, of course, also be upcycled into candle lanterns. I've blogged about decorative jar candle holders before. Tin cans have the advantage that they're less breakable than glass jars and are lighter to carry about.

You can find out more ideas for candle spells, rituals and crafts in my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic which you can view on Amazon. It's published by Moon Books.

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Other previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/03/easy-candle-wishing-spell.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/03/global-recycling-day-lets-talk-about.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/09/crafty-recycling-earth-light.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/01/craft-how-to-make-spell-candle-holder.html