I strive for historic accuracy, but safety comes first. At events I am living in a canvas tent, and wind is often an issue. For these reasons, I skip the romance of the open flame in favor of electric tealights. I’d love to figure out how to make a realistic-looking fake oil lamp. Until then:

Here are two lanterns found at Pompeii. They were originally fitted with translucent horn.

I found these lanterns at Craft Warehouse (sorry, I forgot to take a “before” pic). They are about 5″ tall, and were on sale for a buck or two (I can’t remember exactly). I also bought a sheet of vellum paper in the scrapbooking section, and some ModgePodge.

I cut little rectangles of the vellum to fit. Then I used a sponge applicator to cover a pane of glass with the Modge Podge. I found I wanted enough that it didn’t dry before I got the paper down, but not so much that the extra oozed out around the sides when I smoothed it with a fingertip.

End result: Not bad! They’re no A&S miracle, but they pass the 20 ft rule, and they are both safer than fire and cuter than bare LED candles. Super cheap, super fast… I am quite pleased.

Edited to add: I STINK! I totally forgot to mention that Eulalia Piebakere gave me the idea for these!