I suppose this is for a party? Otherwise you'd be setting up lamps almost every day.

Take pots.metal buckets, coffee tins, tubs and fill them with candles.

There are many kinds of improved solar lamps these days as well as battery operated candles. NO danger of fire.

If you want to be creative, use coffee tins in which you've punch in designs so a lit candle inside would offer amazing ambiance.

You can take a giant punch bowl, fill with water and float many votive candles.

well its not for a party... i just wanted something cute for citronella candles, i dont mind unhooking them from sheppards hooks and putting them on the porch to keep them out of the elements. I love the coffee can idea! I could do some neat designs with that. I thought maybe the mason jars could be swirled with a clear paint to add color.
I have solar lights but kinda need bug protection at night.

Thanks. I got the idea of the coffee tins from a christmas craft show I always attend. He uses any tins that the labels can be removed so you only see the metals. You can punch holes using nails - create shapes like stars, rings, diamonds - anything goes.

you could also use wire mason jars to hang from the rafters. If you group a few of those mason jars together and wire them tight in a cluster - you could create a chandelier with it only using your citronella candles.

I love the idea of the mason jars and I have found many old blue ones at the local Goodwill store and several yard sales. They look really pretty with a candle in them. I also got citronella tea lights and they work really well in the mason jar. My local dollar store had short shepherd hooks last year and I bought several of them. They would work great together.
Good Luck!

Carol

I've made what I call "tea-light holders" for many years and sold a lot of them. I don't have a pic of any in my garden but here are a couple on the deck beside 2 of my garden totem tables. They have copper fittings on the bottom and can be attached to copper pipe and stuck in the garden soil. I've used them all around my patio for mood lighting. These are made with punch cups and dessert bowls and I used them on the patio tables last year. I made most of the garden ones with clear cups and saucers. We also spray the copper pipe with clear spray so it remains shiny. DH pounds the end of the pipe so it is closed and pointed and therefor goes in the soil easily. If you make them you need to sand the area a bit where the copper fitting goes and also between the cup and saucer. I glue with 2 part clear epoxy, which works well. The downside is that they fill with rainwater and need cleaning frequently.

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I bought one at a craft sale that was made from an old clear sugar bowl with handles on each side. Attached to the handles was a curly wire hanger that had colored beads strung on it. It's really cute and I bought it for a pattern. You can pick up old sugar bowls and old beads at most garage sales to make them with.

I would take an old chandelier (the kind with removable globes would be nice-- and paint it a funky bright color. You could hang it on a plant bracket, from a tree branch or anywhere! Hey, I might do this one myself! LOL.

Lots of great suggestions here. Luckygal, I love those clear cup and saucer votives you made!

Just wanted to add that if you do the tin punched cans, fill them with water and freeze them before you punch them. This will prevent the can from bending and denting while you pound you nail tips through the metal. Sounds like a very fun project. Have fun!

MeMo

Great ideas. I absolutely LOVE the old chandelier idea, cottagegirl. Guess I'll be hitting yard sales this spring.

Out by me, we have a sortof catch-all store called Old Time Pottery, and browsing through their wares one day I found some cheap ($5) candle holders that kinda looked like the linked lantern, but had a single, round hurricane-style glass cover instead of separate panels. Unfortunately for me they only came in white, red, blue, and bright green, so I bought some black satin spray paint and re-painted the lanterns which were extremely easy to dissassemble. They've been out in the elements for the past year and still look as good as when I first put them out (even through the winter). They'll fit votives, tealights, and the small citronella oil-lamps with little difficulty.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lantern at Amazon.com