Orange rind votives
Oranges would have been a rare delicacy in 1802, but as the owner of the mercantile, William Beekman would surely have been able to procure some for special occasions (and certainly Joanna would have wanted to show off a bit to her guests—what good hostess doesn’t?)
Our oranges cost only $3.99 a dozen, but we found a way to turn them into a rare delight for New Years Eve. How? Glad you asked…
Cut orange through the middle. Oranges are very pliable, so you can shape it into a nice sphere and also press it down on the table to flatten the bottom so that it will stand nicely when the project is done.
Use a knife to separate the meat of the orange from the rind. We find that a grapefruit knife works best.
Use a spoon to scoop out the meat.
The cleaner you can get the rind, the less moisture and mess you’ll have later on. Be sure to save the edible part of the orange. It comes in handy for juicing – especially if the votives are for New Years Eve, as ours were. Think Mimosas on New Years morning…
Cut a hole in the center of the top of the orange to allow smoke to escape the votive. We used a small round biscuit cutter, but stars or other cookie cutter shapes would also be festive.
Place a votive in the bottom half and then rejoin the two halves
Aromatic orange rind votives with whole cloves
We decorated the crown of the orange with whole cloves to match the garland we had strung earlier. Set the votive in the center of a plate to provide support and eliminate messes.
A soft glow
Votives adorned the grand piano during the concert. As the votive heated the orange peel and cloves, their fragrance filled the music room.
Orange you glad you asked?
50 Comments
Very clever! I need to remember to try these next NYE.
They’re also nice for Thanksgiving and Christmas
Very inventive and a wonderful way to add natural fragrance to the house during the Holidays or anytime.
Thanks for sharing.
Wow, I love this project! Great for holidays and parties. I just found your site via Curbly. I’ll be linking to this.
Hi, Rachel
Welcome to our world! Love your website!
Hi, Congratulations to the site owner for this marvelous work you’ve done. It has lots of useful and interesting data.
What a great idea. The grandchildren will like to help with this. I could imagine the room smelling of oranges so nice.
Hi, Linda
This is a great project to do with children. After you’ve done the knife work, they will love decorating with the cloves.
In the picture, you show a tea lite candle, not a votive. That’s a good thing, because a votive would be too tall to safely burn in an orange. As an “orange rind tea lite”, it seems like a clever idea.
What an absolutely wonderful idea! They’re just beautiful and I imagine they smell heavenly. Thank you for this!
Living in Florida, I am literally ankle deep in oranges that fall off our trees every year, and unfortunately rot on the ground. You can only eat so many oranges! This idea is fabulous! And I found it just in time for our big annual Independence Day bash! I’ll be cutting oranges all day tomorrow to get these tea lites ready for the party! Thanks!
Oh!I bet the smell though out the house is wonderful! Can’t wait to try it…
Hi, Barbara-Ann
I’m just betting that there’s is something cool and creative that could be done with sparklers, too. Send us a photo of your project
Great Idea! Imagine if you created snowflake patterns out of the cloves… these would be so festive all winter long.
This is so green. I’m going to make these for my next party. Thanks for the know how.
What a great idea!!
I’m doing this just for me, heck why wait for a party?
Those would make cute mini-jack-o-lanterns for halloween, too.
this is great as we’re gearing up for autumn! i may be linking this for a blog post on decor for halloween and autumn
♥Elisa
Thanks, Elisa
Check back often. Maybe we’ll have something else that catches your eye
these could be very festive for halloween too!
Yes! You could make little orange jack o’lanterns
Awsome idea, and so simple. Can’t wait to try out.
ANTS!!! not cool to leave citrus hanging around. fruit flies. etc.
Hi, Sarah
Once the meat of the orange is removed (and with it all of the fruit’s sugar) the bugs couldn’t care less about it
You could use an exacto knife & cut jack ‘o lantern faces into the orange if you were careful. Wouldn’t that be different for Halloween!
just made these orange votives, very cool! can’t wait for the evening to come around, so that we can see and SMELL them!
(i scooped out the remaining flesh with a spoon so it doesn’t get burnt by the candle)
Great idea. One question. How do you attach the two pieces so the top does not get accidentally knocked off?
Hi, Judith
The halves actually sit fairly well. To avoid accidental bumps, we placed the candles on a small saucer.
Cool idea. I may try it with LED string lights for a safe chain of mini jack-o-lanterns in front of my house for Halloween. Thanks for sharing this.
this is great! and at $3.99/dozen, a steal. navel oranges are like $1.25/each on sale here in hawaii.
Using LED lights is a great idea, JC
Don’t waste the meat of the oranges.
Make some delicious orange-cookies
from the orange’s meat.
We would love a recipe for orange cookies. Do you mind sharing?
See… this is why we need people like you. I love the orange glow! I would have never come up with this on my own. It’s price is right and it’s sustainable!
great idea!
Thanks, Jennifer
I’m sure you’ve had a good idea or two in your day, as well
Hello. This is a very nice idea that I would like to try. What is the life span of the orange/candle?
Hi, Artemas
The candles should last about 4 days
Oooh, good information, that. I hadn’t thought to ask about the lifespan of these wonderful candles. Definitely want to make them for the holidays. Thank Artemas and Doc Brent! :0)
Nice ecofriendly idea!
My long-time pal, Marilyn, just joined up with me to look at The Beekman website AND now we just made one of these charming orange/clove orange votives, and are sitting in the dark admiring the scent and sight!
Thanks…happy holidays!
How wonderful! Thanks for letting us know. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season
this is a great idea! i hope to try it for christmas this year. i have a feeling i am going to be spending a lot of time on this site.
Hi, Deidre
Thanks for finding us. We hope you’ll share some of your ideas with us as well. Have a wonderful holiday
Funny, I just squeezed my fresh orange juice and then came across this site to make the orange candles. Great, since every day I have cleaned out oranges!
Well orange you a lucky girl, Karen. (Sorry, I just had to do that)
Just ran across this site. “CUTE” idea! I like the idea of cutting holes for mini jack-o-lanterns. Here’s my idea…..how about cutting snowflake, leaves, or any other shape with mini cookie cutters? Then they can be luminaries with a tealight or Led iside (usually seen on bags)! Love this?!!!
Fabulous idea, Donna! Thanks for sharing
i love it! the instrusctions are great as are the photos! i am in florida, where citrus is as close as the backyard, so i will have fun experimenting with this idea!!
Nifty. I’m going to try it with limes and grapefruits too
I am ready to try this!!!!! I can just imagine how wonderful it will be.
Has anyone tried to use other fruits, like grapefruits or limes?
What a great idea, making votives from oranges. I can’t wait to try this!