I love the soft glow of candlelight, and I usually light the candles on the dining room table for dinner.
Then my husband and I play turn-the-dimmer-switch-on-the-chandelier-up-and-down for a few minutes. Do you play that game at your house?
My soft "romantic" lighting always wins out over his bright "I can't see my food" lighting.
But I don't rub it in or anything...
I used to be kind-of paranoid about lighting candles in other rooms of the house, though, because I was afraid I'd forget to blow out the candles before leaving the room and wake up in the middle of the night to the house in flames.
I tried some battery operated flameless tea light candles for my votive candle holders, but I kept forgetting to turn them off. Those little tea light batteries are expensive to replace!
Then two years ago I found some large battery operated pillar candles at Costco that take AA batteries, instead of the more expensive little wristwatch-type batteries. They were made out of real wax with a recessed wick and looked like normal white pillar candles. I had a $5 off coupon, so I bought the package of four candles for $15. Eight AA batteries were included in the package, so it was a really great deal.
These candles worked two ways: I could turn them on and off manually whenever I wanted, or I could use the optional switch on the bottom that programmed them to automatically turn on every night at the same time and then turn off after five hours.
So the first night I went around the room at 5:30, which is dusk in my neck of the woods, and turned on all the candles by moving the switch to "timed." Five hours later, at 10:30, just as I was preparing for bed, they all went off by themselves like magic. And the best part was, they turned themselves on and off everyday at the same time all winter long! I didn't have to light them, blow them out, trim wicks, scrape wax off candle holders, or worry about burning down the house.
The next year I replaced the two AA batteries that came with the candles because the "flames" seemed to be fading a bit. I considered that a very fair price to pay for peace of mind and beautiful flickering (yes, they flicker!) candlelight every night.
I loved these candles so much that last fall when Costco stocked them again, I bought four more. Now I have safe and effortless realistic candlelight all around my home. Can you spot five of them here in my living room?
I probably sound like an advertisement, but I have no stake in these candles other than wanting to share how great they are with you. If you're out and about shopping and see some, snap them up.
