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[151949]

Many years ago DH bought me a ceramic church that is all decorated for Christmas - it is very pretty and I love putting it our on my entertainment center - the next year he got me a lovely ceramic nativity set which i also put on the entertainment center shelf. Both these items have a light and a cord and plug so no matter what we do - in order to plug them in there is a wire hanging behind them and it is very unattractive. SO - here is what I would like to do - I am looking to find a way to light them with a very soft light that is battery operated - and on a timer if possible. I considered the flameless votives but they are too large. The hole in the ceramic is only 1 1/4 inches so that is all the larger I can put in there. I tried a very small set of lights thinking I could just put the whole strand in there but even the smallest ones I could find would be too much. I am looking for ideas - please post anything you can think of.

[151949]

Does anyone know if they sell those flameless votives at any other store than QVC - maybe they might have slightly smaller ones.

[Suzeecat]

I have not had any luck finding single, small size lights with a timer. A timer is really important to me. I hope someone will add a good idea here.

To Happy Housewife: I have found flameless votive size and tea light size candles at places like Joann's, Meijer, Walmart. Adding a timer would make them perfect for me!

[Zhills]

Bed Bath and Beyond and Walmart has flameless tea lights. So does Walgreens.

[151949]

On 11/4/2014 suzeecat said:

I have not had any luck finding single, small size lights with a timer. A timer is really important to me. I hope someone will add a good idea here.

To Happy Housewife: I have found flameless votive size and tea light size candles at places like Joann's, Meijer, Walmart. Adding a timer would make them perfect for me!

Thanks - i will check them out. I have a Walmart and a Hobby Lobby in our town.

[kzjohnson]

On 11/4/2014 suzeecat said:

I have not had any luck finding single, small size lights with a timer. A timer is really important to me. I hope someone will add a good idea here.

To Happy Housewife: I have found flameless votive size and tea light size candles at places like Joann's, Meijer, Walmart. Adding a timer would make them perfect for me!

Candle Impressions make a tall votive that run on 2 AA batteries. I use them for in slim lanterns, ceramic jack-o-lanterns...I even light up a large ceramic owl with an open base.

I found my set of 6 on ebay. It also looks like the Q has a new set...H203797. The votives that run on the AA batteries work infinitely better than the ones that run on the button cells. Those button cell votives are a perfect waste of money as far as I'm concerned.

And yes, the tall votives from Candle Impressions have a 5 hour timer.

[ChynnaBlue]

Is the concern about the cords coming out of the church and going across the shelf surface or hanging down behind the shelf?

If it's the cords on the table, I would buy a felt mat to cover the shelf and cut a slit in it to feed each cord through so that the cord goes under the mat and doesn't show. You can buy a mat in a color that matches the shelf or buy a green or white mat to represent grass or snow covered grass. You might even be able to find a decorated mat in a craft store in the section that sells Christmas villages. Hobby stores that sell train sets also sell mats like that.

[151949]

Unfortunately all the flameless votives on QVC are too wide - I think I have to stay at no more than an inch in width. I would prefer if they had timers but if I can't find a light with a timer I will have to go with ones that do not have timers - size is the most important consideration.

[151949]

On 11/4/2014 ChynnaBlue said:

Is the concern about the cords coming out of the church and going across the shelf surface or hanging down behind the shelf?

If it's the cords on the table, I would buy a felt mat to cover the shelf and cut a slit in it to feed each cord through so that the cord goes under the mat and doesn't show. You can buy a mat in a color that matches the shelf or buy a green or white mat to represent grass or snow covered grass. You might even be able to find a decorated mat in a craft store in the section that sells Christmas villages. Hobby stores that sell train sets also sell mats like that.

The corded pieces sit on a shelf with an open back then the cords hang down behind the TV where there is also no back and are unsightly back there. We have tried everything we can think of to bring the cords over to the side and down along the piece of furniture but they never seem to stay in place and sooner or later those cards are hanging there again. We even tried duck taping them to the back of the furniture and they came loose - plus left sticky on the furniture that I had to use goo gone to get off. So the only solution I can see is to eliminate the cords altogether. You would think in todays world this would be very simple.

[Suzeecat]

When will I learn to just go to Amazon.com first?!?!? I did a google search for flameless tea lights with timer and wouldn't you just know, Amazon has several sets to choose from.

HH, they might still be larger than 1" diameter, but check them out. Although, now that I think about it, if they use those button cell batteries, they probably run down very fast anyway and that timer function isn't going to be that helpful. Hmmmm . . . .