How do you make a sky lantern?

I made a sky lantern as a school project when I was about 10... You can figure out the assembly yourself - it's pretty straight forward, but here are the things I learned/did:

- The top of the lantern/balloon has to be larger than the bottom... this way it has more "lift" at the top, which is what helps keep it upright.

- The material does not need to be fireproof - I sewed a couple of garbage bags together using an old sewing machine

- The opening at the bottom can be kept open with wire - it needs to keep the sides away from the flame.

- I used a firelighter for fuel (one of those kerosene soaked things), held in place level with the bottom using some thin wire attached to the edge frame. Note: The size of the fireligher will reduce as it burns - ensure it will still be very secure once it's smaller!

- Because mine was made of soft very flexible plastic, I needed to use a hair drier to fill the balloon with warm air before I lit the firelighter to keep the sides far enough away to not get burned. It seems the sky lanterns can hold their own shape because they are paper.

Beware - this could present a large fire risk in some areas - you should time how long it takes to burn the fuel - and consider reducing the amount of fuel used to ensure it doesn't go too far... during one of my launches, the fuel fell out about 10 seconds after launch (because it wasn't secure enough), and the balloon still traveled about 1/4 mile. Luckly we were nearby to extinguish the firelighter which fell!

I managed to make one after purchasing from a company on the net skylanterns2u.com . They were really good and told be exactly how to make, even mentioned the fuel cells are made from toilet paper just dipped into old candle wax. Just be very careful, easier to buy the quality ones like I did on the net.

There's a detailed plan for making your own Sky Lanterns at .skylighter.com/fireworks/how-to-make/sky-lanterns.asp.

When buying them in the US, always be sure and get the flame retardant ones, like those sold at .skylighter.com/mall/novelty.asp. Not all sky lanterns come with flame retardant. Check before you buy.