Posted in Projects to Make, Stones, Cottage Style |
Stone Oil Lamps
April 19th, 2006
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I really love working with “naturals” - things found in nature that I can repurpose into cool things for the house and yard. To me, these projects are made with ”free” materials( a really good thing for a frugal person). Today I’ll tell you about a project I made to use at my little cabin studio.
I wanted some unique outdoor lighting, and came upon the idea of stone oil lamps. These lamps are made buy mounting a stone with a hole in it on top of a “container” with a wick, then burying the container so that all that shows is the stone and the flame. Here’s how you do it:
You’ll need:
* Stone - I used slate - you can use any flat stone
* Glass containers to hold the oil. These can be old jars, cups, or anything glass. Believe it or not, I actually used those glass coasters from years ago as my containers.
* Wicks - I used shoe strings
* Lamp oil
* Epoxy glue
* Bobbie pins (if needed)
Okay, here’s what you’ll do (to see the completed project up close, click on the picture to the right):
1. Using a masonary bit, drill a hole in your stone where you want the flame to be. I made mine big enough to hold the wick AND to use as the refill hole for the oil.
2. Center your drilled hole over your glass container and glue in place. (When buying your glue, ensure that you aren’t working with something flammable. That would NOT be good.)
3. Once dry, use a funnel to fill your glass container with lamp oil.
4. Drop in your wick. If your wick is in danger of falling through your stone into your jar, use the bobbie pin to hold it in place. To prevent smoking, make sure your wick sticks out no further than 1/4 inch from the whole in the stone.
5. Bury your glass container so it can’t be seen. I put mine in the garden and used mulch to hide the glass.
6. LIGHT!
These were really easy to make and will last for a long, long time. I am in year four with mine. How about you? What cool things have you made for your “outdoor” spaces?
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
Daniel on 25 Sep 2007 at 12:25 pm: 1
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article By Design : Stone Oil Lamps, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.