This is my first Instructable, so bear with me. This 'ible shows how to turn a few waste products-a tuna can and bacon grease-into a useful mini bacon lamp!

Step 1: Materials

-Tuna Can (empty)
-the lid (optional)
-Cotton rope
-scissors
-a pen (or something similar)
-bacon grease/fat

Step 2: Preparing the Bacon Grease

So I saved up my bacon grease in an old pasta jar. I put it in the refrigerator so that the grease would solidify into a white-ish solid. In order to make this lamp, i had to melt the solid grease.

Fill a small pot with water and placed the jar of grease in the water. Turn on the heat and watch the grease melt.

Caution: Do not place the glass jar directly on the stove-top. The glass will shatter. See the third image.

Step 3: Preparing the Wick

Take the cotton string and cut a length that is at least 2x taller than the tuna can.

Tie the string to the pen.

Caution: Do not use acrylic or synthetic fibers. When burned, they release toxic fumes. Stick to cotton cordage.

Step 4: Pouring the Grease and Setting the Wick

Now that the grease is in a liquid state, remove it from the pot using an oven mitt. Carefully pour the grease into the tuna can.

Take your wick/pen combo and place it on top of the tuna can, roughly in the center. If you want, you can tape the wrapped up cordage on the pen to keep it from moving.

Step 5: Let It Solidify

Now that the wick is set, place it in a cool spot. I chose to put it into the freezer so that it would solidify faster. (sorry for the bad quality picture)

Step 6: Light It Up!

When the grease is solid, light it up and bask in the glorious bacon light!

Also, if you have a can opener that opens the side (see picture), you can use the lid to close off the top to make it portable.

Disregard the writing on the can of the lid, courtesy of my roommate.