Flameless Tea-lights and Votives and Button Battery Safety

I talked about all the different kind of Flameless Candles in Flameless Candles 101 . Two types where Tea-light and Votive candles. These candles are easy to find at your local craft or discount stores, they use button batteries, are small enough to use in lots of different ways and are inexpensive. They don’t usually have timers so you will need to turn them on and off manually but they have a cheery little light that with a little imagination and often times just a few things around the house will make a lovely decoration for your home.

Snow Wolf Candle Wrap

There are rechargeable tea-light candles but most of us use the button battery type so that is what I will talk about.

Most flameless tea-light and votive candles use Lithium button batteries. These batteries are found in many household items including toys and if you are a parent or have children or pets in your home you should always take special precautions with button batteries and the items that use them. These batteries are small and could easily be swallowed and could make a child very sick and in rare cases even cause death. You wouldn’t leave matches or lighters in the reach of children so lets make sure we keep button batteries out of their reach.

The button batteries used in my candles are number CR2032 always read the packaging and follow any safety instructions. Now for some extra tips on how to keep your family and pets and the earth safe. Always keep new batteries in the packing until you are ready to use them and wash your hands after handling them. I use two old child proof medicine bottles to store my button batteries, one for the new unused batteries and one for the used ones. I made labels with the Mr. Yuk sticker . If you would learn more about Mr. Yuk like to get free Mr. Yuk stickers go to http://www.homesafe.com/blog/2009/04/20/free-mr-yuk-stickers/ .

Use Child proof bottles to store Button Batteries.

I mark old batteries with an X.

Look for candles with screws on cover to keep it closed.

Keep your battery bottles in the top shelf of a cupboard or closet. When you need to change a battery in one of your candles take down both bottles and put the used battery ( I mark them with an X)  in its bottle and get out the new one and put it in your candle and put the two bottles away. Keep all your old button batteries in this bottle and Recycled them to keep the earth safe. Never throwing them in the trash! To recycle them, at no charge, you can take them to a Batteries Plus store near you.When it is time to recycle you can put the "Old Batteries Bottle" in your purse and drop them off at Batteries Plus. Go to...http://www.batteriesplus.com/ and find a store near you.

Now for some extra tips. These candles are small and many have battery compartments covers that come off easily or might pop off if dropped. I recommend you look for tea-lights that have a little screw on the battery compartment cover. It is a little more trouble to change the batteries but it is much safer. Keep a small screw driver in your New Battery container so it is handy. For candles that don’t have a screw on the cover it is recommended that you put a strong tape over the cover.

Snow Wolf Candle Wrap

So now lets make our first project with a Flameless Tea-Light. Not only is it pretty it will add an extra amount layer of protection keeping the button battery out of little hands.


This jar candle is made from a recycled jar out of my kitchen, a scrap of organza and netting, a tea-light candle, a plate or decorative holder, a pine cone pick and some larger pieces of potpourris and a House of Frogbird candle wrap. These wraps are made to tie onto 6” flameless candles but can also be used in many other ways.






Cut a piece of organza and netting to a size that when the corners are brought together it will fit down into the bottom of your jar with the top corners reaching to the top of the jar. I used organza and netting but you can try any see through fabric scraps you have. The idea is to soften the light of the candle and hide the ribbon in the back. You could even use tissue paper. Try different things and use what you like. Turn on the tea light place it in the center of the fabric and lower it into the jar. To turn off the candle you can easily remove the candle lifting it up using the fabric corners.

My lid had a label on it and I wanted  to dress it up so I added a pine cone pick with the stem cut off. If your lid is not very pretty you could paint it or cover it with fabric. Have fun and use what you have and your imagination.

Light the candle and move it to the jar.

 

You can change the candle wrap and use a different holder for a whole new decoration.

 

I hope this inspired you and please come back for more ideas to flameless candle light to your home. To find the candle wraps I used in this project and many others go to...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrogBirdsHouse

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)  

Flameless Candles 101

In the next few weeks we will be learning all about flameless candles and creative ways to use them. This week we will start with Flameless Candles 101.

There are many reasons to use flameless candles. I will try to hit on some of the main ones.

For many people the fact that there is no risk for fire with a flameless candle is one of the first things that come to mind. It is true they can be placed anywhere without fear of setting something on fire and for this reason they are much safer than regular candles. If you have small children and/or pets they will not burn themselves or catch something on fire if they should knock over a flameless candle. Flameless candles can make a great nightlight for children and since they don't need to be plugged in you can put them anywhere in the room. They are also a much safer alternative for older people or people in nursing homes and once again make a great nightlight for that middle of the night trip to the bathroom.

Flameless candles are cleaner because they are soot-less and have no emissions they do not cause problems for people with health issues or do not cause a fire hazard for those who use oxygen.

Flameless candles have a soft romantic light for a romantic evening and can also be handy to have around if your lights should go out. They are great to decorate with and when you use an embroidered candle wrap you can use the same candle though many seasons by just changing the wrap. If you burn a regular candle soon the candle is gone and they are just as expensive as flameless candles. A flameless LED candle will last a lot longer than a flame burning candle and when it finally dies you can move your embroidered candle wrap to a new flameless candle.

How many types of flameless candles are there? The list of colors and styles seems to be endless and as flameless candles become more popular the list is growing. You can get everything from tapers to tea lights, scented to unscented, and with timers and remotes to manual on and off switches. You can buy them at department stores, discount stores, craft and hobby shops and even find them online. They come in many price ranges so decide where you want to use them and get the candles that best suit your needs.

 

There are many sizes and styles of flameless candles. These are just a few.

How long do flameless candles last? Depending on the type of candle and the batteries it uses a flameless candle can last anywhere from 100 to 800 hours on a battery change. Make sure you get the ones with LED lights and you should get thousands of hours of light. So the first time your candle starts to get dim you probably just need to change the batteries.
.

A simple battery change and the candle
is glowing beautifully again.

The candle in the red holder is dim, indicating
that the batteries are expiring.

Do all flameless candles glow the same? No. You can see from the photo at the beginning of this article that some glow more from the top and some seem to glow from inside the candle. It is really a personal preference as to the style of candle you use and although the candles that glow from the inside will illuminate your embroidered candle wrap more completely any wrap will be a beautiful addition to any style of flameless candle. We will also discuss later in this series of articles many different ways to use your wraps and different lighting effects. With a little imagination the possibilities are almost endless.

How will you know when buying a flameless candle if it will glow through the whole candle or just the top few inches. Take a look at how it is made. Most of the time if you look at the top you will get an idea. Some candles have the LED's at the top of the candle and then the light will probably only glow through the top couple of inches.  Some candles have the LED's inside the candle and just a wick can be seen from the top. These will probably glow through the center of the candle. And of course your flameless tea lights usually have the light at the top and are meant to light the space around them. So is there a right or wrong kind of flameless candle? No, it really just depends on what you like.

You can see the difference in the candles and the light they give off.

So in closing we can say some of the best reasons for using flameless candles is cleanliness, safety, and versatility. And when you use your House of Frogbird candle wrap along with your flameless candle you have a winning combination. That is it for now but watch in the weeks to come for more Flameless Candle workshops and you will see many different ways to use your flameless candles and candle wraps. To see the candle wraps go to my Etsy shop at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrogBirdsHouse

Good by for now,

Amanda and Frogbird, wherever he is:-)