In accordance to the apple theme going around the site I have decided to make a 'Mini Apple Jack o Lantern!

I hope you like it, it is very simple and the option to add fire is totally up to you...

I lit this up and showed the rest of my family, they all said to add the following:

This smells great, it smells like cooking apple because that is what is happening - they said they loved it!

You will only need:

As many apples as you want Lanterns.
Paring knife (or another small knife you are comfortable with).
Melon baller.
Tea light (or a tiny candle or a battery powered LED)
Matches (you won't need these if you use a LED)
Parental supervision (if you are a kid)

That is all, if you have (or don't have) all the items, read on!

Step 1: Lets Make the Light Source Fit.

First you will have to determine the size of your light source, I only had a tea light as a light source so my apple had to be fairly large, there were larger ones at the shop but I decided not not get them so it would be a challenge for me.

To hollow out the apple you will have to use the same principles as a pumpkin, cut off the top and then hollow out - the melon baller should work very well to hollow out the apple, sorry there aren't any 'action' photos, I was doing this on my own.

When hollowing out keep in mind that you want the walls of the apple to be at least 5mm thick or they will break.

If you have a very large apple you will need thicker walls due to the surface pressure.

When you think it is hollowed out enough you can put the source of light inside to check - it is better to check now then put it aside and find out on the night it is too small!!

Also, if you break through the base of the apple it is OK, the base needs to sit flat so you can even trim a small slice off it so it sits right, you won't see it when it is on display.

Once it is hollowed out far enough you need to cut a square out of the top of the apple if you are using a candle, otherwise when you put the top on the apple it will smother the candle.

When you have that sorted you can move on to the carving stage!

Step 2: Carving!

Time to carve your apple, I am fairly good at carving stuff so I just carved it freehand.

If you want you can draw lines to follow.

Start by carving out the eyes, I made triangle eyes an spaced them about 1cm apart, if your apple is larger you will need bigger eyes further apart.

Next you should carve a small nose, this will add to the 'glow' effect, if you don't want a nose it is OK, o what you want - this is just a guide.

Once that is done it is time to carve the mouth, this is the hardest bit because the bottom of the apple is thicker than the rest so you will have to push the knife through further, I had to do my mouth twice because I didn't cut far enough into the apple.

When you have all the features carved out you can move onto the next step.

Step 3: Let It Glow!

It is time to make your creation glow, to do this you will need to put your light source inside and (if it is a candle) light it, wait until the flame is fairly going and then put the lid on, make sure you made the hole in the lid I talked about in step one or it will put the flame out.

If it is a LED light you are using, turn it on and put it inside the apple, put the lid on and let it glow!

I will add another picture tonight so you can get the full darkness effect (it is daytime here and I had to put it in a cabinet!)

Thanks for reading, please be sure to check back in about 15 hours (I hope they will be o by then!) I hope to have the 'full effect' in a photo!