I've carved out places in pillars for tea lights so I can use the pillars over and over again, but I've never thought about battery tea lights. How does that work? Do you have to carve out a big place? Do you have any pictures?

Wanda,

What a wonderful post. I burn my pillars but have started collecting the battery lights and have used them some. I forget to use the candles so much of the time. I had one of my large flowers catch on fire so be careful everyone to place them far enough away that it doesn't happen to you.

The last time I was shopping I found some small battery ones in the wedding section at Walmart. They are white, $15 for either 6 or 8 in a pack and would work perfect for placing in a candle. I will have to start carving now.LOL Your going to be saving me some money and I Love this idea.

Punk

Wanda, that's a great idea for the pillar candles ! I love to burn them, but can't stand the fact that they melt down through the middle and the outer sides are just wasted. I use both real candles and battery operated lights. I have to hide the battery operated ones though, because the kiddies like to use them as "flashlights" if they're playing outside after dark .. and these dang things are expensive !

Susan

I use both... real & battery...but never thought about carving out a pillar...great idea! Some of my candles are in places that is a pain to lift out & turn on/off. This summer I found one that has a timer ...so when you turn it on, it stays on for 3 hrs. & then turns off...am on the lookout for more of those...it was in a small town hardware store. There are "remote control" ones also but haven't found any real deals on those yet! Thanks for the info, WRH. Jeanne S.

I use oldalgebra's 'trick'~has saved me from buying a lot of candles during the holidays. I *do* use real candles, and burn them almost every night, even though it's just me. It's all about 'the glow'. ;o)

Thanks, everyone, for your input.

Battery operated...the last ones I purchased actually flicker like a flame.

A carved-out pillar with a battery tea light.

Same carved out pillar with a lit tea light.

If I'm going to carve out a pillar, I will light it and let it burn down to about the point where I think the tea light will sit. Blow it out. Pour off melted wax. While the surrounding wax is still warm I carve the spot needed for the tea light.

The battery tea lights can be expensive.
I usually purchase mine from the Everything for $1.00-type stores...usually 2 for $1.00.

You can also purchase replacement batteries but I found it to be cheaper to hit the Everything for $1.00.

Interesting topic Wanda and thanks for the instructions on how to carve out a pillar. I've usually just let them burn enough to make a well to hold a real tealight then messed around with a knife but your way sounds much neater. :-)

I burn real tealights, votives, tapers, then pillars in that order of frequency but tealights the most. I have a bazillion tealight holders (ys finds) and feel they are safer than tapers with the cats. I like the beeswax or soya the best altho have a lifetime supply of paraffin ones but mostly use them outdoors in the summer. Ikea has the best quality paraffin tealights for the lowest price IMO and sell in bags of 100 for about $3 on sale ($4-something regular) and I've also bot them at YS's for even less. I do have some battery ones I got a few years ago for the RV (for safety) but wasn't impressed with the appearance of the flame altho I've been told they have improved so should give them a try again.

I like the idea of remote control pillars as I have the same accessibility problem on my mantel. I'd like to use them as there are convection currents because of the stove and my beeswax tapers dripped on the silk poinsettias at Christmas.

Wanda, thanks for this informative post.
I never thought of doing this with a candle. I do have pillars that I hate to burn..and this idea is perfect.
I bought some Battery Votives from QVC that are rechargeable, and they work nicely. Now I think I have some 'carving' to do!

The ones that Jeanne found sound really nice and convenient. Most of the time I don't use candles on the mantel because of the inconvenience..but having ones on a timer is Excellent!! I'm going to check around to find these.

Thank you ladies...for my 'lesson of the day' !

jane

I burn votives and tea lights, but don't burn my tapers as often as I'd like. I worry about the drips, even though I use bobeches. About a year ago, I started carving out places for tea lights in my larger candles, as the big, chunky 3-wick candles are such a waste; they never burn down very far and always burn crookedly. I like your idea of using the LED lights in them. Great idea of how to carve them out more easily, too . . . thanks!
Lynn