Tealight handle? Crook?
November 9, 2015 2:06 AM   Subscribe

Can anyone help with a bit of Googlefu? I am looking for some cheap and basic wire handles for a children's Laternelaufen. Can't believe I'm wasting my question on this! :-)

i.e. basically, a lantern walk where the lanterns are tealights in a container. The lanterns need to be held up highish and the children's hands need to be protected from the heat. The crooks could look something like this, but they'd be small and inexpensive because I need to buy 50 for the lantern walk.
Alternatively I could make them but I can see this as being very time consuming and fiddly! Any ideas?
Thanks!
posted by dance to Shopping (6 answers total)
 
If you're okay with ordering from the Netherlands/Belgium, you can search for sint maarten lampion stokje. That will get you results that look like this. Just check that you're getting the handle only, not one with a built-in light (like this).
posted by neushoorn at 3:12 AM on November 9, 2015


If it were me, I'd go for paper lanterns with LED tealights (the flickering type look better than the other type). I'd improvise the crooks with some lengths of bamboo and a bit of wire for the hooks. I doubt there's a cheaper option.
posted by pipeski at 4:00 AM on November 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Search for broom handles on ebay. You can buy a pack of 25 for about 15 quid. Each broom handle is 4ft long, so saw it in half, screw a hook into the end and you're done. If you need them higher than that, allow one broom handle per child, and cut to desired length. A broom handle is round enough for a child to hold it comfortably. Those metal crooks would probably be uncomfortable to hold for too long as they're so thin.
posted by essexjan at 5:06 AM on November 9, 2015


I agree with the suggestion to use battery operated tea lights. They're surprisingly inexpensive, the technology has progressed to a point where they look pretty believable, and you can use them again next year.

You don't have to worry about anyone getting burned, you don't have to worry about relighting candles that go out, your night isn't ruined if it starts to drizzle, and nothing will get set on fire.

Battery operated candles are one of the great marvels of our time.
posted by phunniemee at 5:23 AM on November 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


Again eBay is your friend for battery-operated tealights. They run at around £5 for 12, but there are a ton of different sellers with various pricing options.
posted by essexjan at 5:30 AM on November 9, 2015


When I did this I ended up drilling sticks (you could use dowels) to the bottoms of the cans we made the lanterns with. Not as classy, but functional. You could try wandering around the garden stake section of a nursery and see if there's anything easily modifiable.
posted by metasarah at 6:29 PM on November 9, 2015


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