Orkney Rough Linen duvet cover
I love candles. The only problem with them is that candles, even the cleanest burning ones, make a mess of your ceiling. Plus of course, there are certain places burning a candle would be unsafe. Like under the slanted ceiling over the mantle in my bedroom (as you can see in the photo above). Plus anywhere children, cats or other things that cartwheel could knock a candle over.
So when flameless candles came out I was happy. When flameless candles with timers came out I was ecstatic. When flameless candles with real looking flickering flames were introduced I spontaneously started tap dancing and my hair turned curly.
So along with real candles, my house is also filled with flameless candles that I know I can switch on without the worry of having to blow them out before I run to the store or out to chop wood. I love them.
Until I don't. Every so often, randomly, without warning, I do not love them at all.
A few times a year I look at my flameless candles and think bleh. BLEH. That is NOT a real candle it's a fake candle and the only thing worse than a fake candle is a fake cupcake.
If you too go through the same love hate relationship with flameless candles give this a try.
It's not complicated. It's not genius. But it does have a great effect.
Drop those candles into an opaque or almost opaque container and let them glow.
Look for things like bowls, vases, even wicker baskets work great. Then place them up on something high where you don't look straight down into them. When looking head on, you want to see the glow, not the candle. Because they just look weird inside. They work especially well under a slanted ceiling like I have because the glow hits the ceiling, but it would also be a great effect on floating shelves, or inside a bookcase.
For those of you wondering that's a cheap electric fireplace that you can get on Amazon for around $150 with an antique brass fireplace insert.
These candles and the electric fireplace are all on timers to come on at 7 o'clock so when I wander up to my bedroom for whatever reason throughout the night it's all warm and inviting with no chance of burning the house down unless I happen to wander into the bedroom drunk with a flamethrower.
I'm sure I'll get to the point where I love the flameless candle again but for now this is what I'm going with.
These are the great flameless candles with flickering flames I talked about earlier in case you haven't seen them before. They start at about $25 each for a pillar candle so about the same price as a ridiculously expensive candle, but it'll last forever.
Ideas don't have to be complicated to be good. They just have to be good.
Mary Werner
I know what I'm getting my daughter (forgetful, candle loving, sweetheart) that has candles and kids all over her house. Timers!!!!!!! Her birthday is coming up and she'll get a load of pretty flameless, candles WITH timers. THANK YOU! But your beautiful glowing white holders make me think of eggs and I just got hungry instead of relaxed. Speaking of cats - someone just put three gorgeous kittens on my door step. They are freezing, hungry, and need to poop. They were obviously inside cats and not afraid of people. I already have two of my own. I get so angry at people that don't spay and neuter. I get to make the heartless trip to the pound this morning. I need some beautiful candles to sit in front of and relax. Sorry, just venting before I explode since I just found them, fed them, stuck them in a cat heater bed, and am drinking my 1st cup of coffee before turning into Cruella Deville.
JMC
Don't sell yourself short you kind heart - Cruella would have left them on the step.
Mary Werner
Update - I did take the kittens to the pound and guess what? They had just gotten an email from some organization that was coming over to get gentle cats for a hospice organization! The people at the pound took one look at what I said were really cute lit tens and they said WOW these are gorgeous. They will go immediately to someplace good! Oh happy day for me. Its raining and I will get a cup of coffee and go back to helping my sweet yorky poo poo deal with her collapsed trachea. They said her age was really against her for some serious operation and they would give me drugs to deal. That was yesterday. She is sleeping like a baby but Oh, pets are a double edged sword. I wouldn't do without the love I get and give to her but the "end" is so very hard. At least the kittens now have a chance. I'm just a real sob story today - so sorry. But my laptop friends just get to put up with all this - thanks.
Bonnie
You are a kind and caring person, Mary. You are right that having pets is a double-edged sword, but that intense feeling is what makes life worth living. If everyone were as considerate as you, we wouldn't have so many strays. Thank you for taking the trouble to see that those kittens got a chance. You will have good karma.
Mary Werner
thank you so much for taking the time to respond - it meant so much today especially!
Ev Wilcox
Last Christmas I asked for one of those neat flickery candles. My husband got the last one available and it resides on the dining room table. Love it! Don't have to worry about it when grandchildren are here either. Mine is a tall taper in a holder with a round finger hole for carrying, as in days of old. I hope to get more, but they are $$! The effect of the moving flames is pretty cool!
Heather
I have a bunch of these and tons of battery operated tea lights. They're great.
That bedroom looks soooo cozy.
Stephanie
Hi Karen! It says the candles are "lightly scented" - usually I can't stand scented candles, so could you please tell me what they smell like?
Linda J Howes
It says they are composed of scented wax with a subtle vanilla or cinnamon accent. Sounds like a nice warm scent to enter a room with.
Karen
To be honest I didn't even know mine were scented, so they can't smell like much! If they are, you'd have to actually put your head down and smell the candle. They certainly don't add any scent to a room. Hope that helps. ~ karen!
Scounslowgreen
Hi Karen. How often do you have to replace the batteries?
Karen
Ah HA! Excellent question. The ones that take double A batteries have to be replaced around once every month and a half. That's with them coming on automatically every night for 5 hours. But they better ones (the flickering ones) also have ones that take C cell batteries which last forever! They're also making LED ones now. I have a few of those and even though they take double A batteries they last for months and months and months. ~ karen!
Jacquie
Don't talk to me about being drunk with a flamethrower ......
Tigersmom
Beautiful glimpse of your bedroom. Good job on the mantle, Pink Tool Belt. I love your mix of modern with the occasional antique.
~JackieVB
The fireplace looks like it has a kind of foggy moon thing behind it. It's even in the picture where you don't have the electric insert turned on - what am I seeing? I too love your floors and Pink Tool Belt did an amazing job on your mantle - what a talented family! I've always hated the waxy flameless candles but the ones in glass seem pretty nice. I'll have to get some and try this in my bookcase.
Karen
That's just the electric fireplace JackieVB. (it has glass at the back that reflects the fake light, lol) If you're going for the candles in glass, just buy the regular candles and then buy a couple of cheap glass vases. If you can get them at the dollar store like I can here then it'll be a cheaper way to go. ~ karen!
Chris
Hey Karen, I think we have the same cat! One of them anyways. I will send you a pic.
Sera
That's a great idea! I have the cheap kind that have a battery and a timer but no remote. I do feel like getting a set of four for $10 was good though. I tend not to use them very often because I don't want to spend tons of money on batteries. Do yours recharge?
Karen
they don't recharge. The regular flameless candles go around a month and a half before needing battery replacement but if you can find LED ones they last FOREVER. And if you buy the more expensive flickering candles, the larger ones take C cell batteries which also last a long, long time. Months and months. ~ karen!
Pam'a
I finally bit the bullet and bought a nifty little battery recharger. It holds four-- either AA or AAA-- and over time I've probably amassed 6 or 8 of each. They just sit there all charged up (takes several hours) until I need them. I'm sure I've saved close to a million dollars on my cordless mouse alone, and it feels great not having to throw so many batteries away. You can get chargers that work for larger batteries, too.
Sherry
Seriously makes me consider these. You're right, real candles really do mess up the ceiling over time.
Love your room and your cat looks much like me last sweet lady. But I seriously covet your floor! So gorgeous.
Cynthia
Now I have to go to the dollar shop and see if I can find flameless candles. i have never seen one.
By the way, what is the cat staring at?
nancy
Timers. I had no idea. I avert my eyes when I see those fake candles, they seem like such a horrible idea. But you and your readers make these sound like a viable option. And I love almost anything from Costco. Hmmmm.
Jessica
My grandmother puts cheap flameless candles in her half used REAL pillar candles.
Burn your nice fancy pillar candles until they have a 2-3" cavity at the top, and voila, you get the best of both worlds.
tajicat
Love that idea!
Becky
I am in love with your fireplace insert. I have a faux one in my tiny living room, and the insert is terrible.. I didn't know you could buy a different one.
Auntiepatch
We've used them for years. We also have the ones that have a built in timer so they go on and off by themselves. Love that!
Tracie
Love that bedroom, even though I can't see much of it. Your bed looks so comfy, dressed in what I assume are your rough linens? A fireplace, too? Decadent. Great place to sip a glass of red wine, read a great book, snuggle with the cat, eat some snacks...I don't know how you ever manage to get out of bed in the morning!
Karen
Money is an EXCELLENT motivator, lol. ~ karen!
Rondina
Karen, I like the candle idea, especially for my candle-loving daughter with a toddler. I'm wondering about the electric fireplace though. All the electric fireplaces I've ever seen have had glass fronts on them. I can't see a glass front. Does it produce heat or just look like it does? I' have a tiny fake fireplace that has a chimney and looks real. Except it's not. It has a radiant fire heater in it, but the ceramics are the originals and look pretty crappy. I was going to just put in some cute andirons and birch logs, but then I saw your picture.
Cool bedroom.
Karen
Hi Rondina. This is an electric fireplace and heater. There are no real flames obviously and all the flame action just comes from some weird rotating shiny fan and 2 lightbulbs. I got mine locally but you can get the same one on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001WJ5U8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0001WJ5U8&linkCode=as2&tag=tharofdost-20&linkId=W2OALQWEOLMQFLL7 I'll put that link in the post too. It looks surprisingly realistic and it's remote controlled. The mantle was built by my sister Pink Tool Belt and it pushes up against the actual chimney that runs up the centre of my house. ~ karen!
Bols
It's mantel, not mantle. It's like saying sandles instead of sandals (I have seen, that, too).
Jackie a la Calgary
your links dont show that brass....can u find it? beautiful. i've recently become obsessed w those candles too, just no moola to buy at the moment...soon i hope
Laurinda
I do that with my collection of silver cups! It's a pretty effect, & I never have to worry about molten silverplate
Mel
I love them. I have a set of four, with the timers (thanks, Costco.) I have them next to the tv, set to come on at 8, 9, 10, and 11 o'clock. A quiet little visual nod to the passage of time, a reminder about bedtime for grownups. We like it. And I have some in the bedroom set for 7pm too!! Because it's dark out by then, and it's just so nice. The white glass containers are really neat... Hmm. If only I had more shelf space.
Mary Werner
GREAT idea about setting consecutive timer to show the passage of time. Its like waking to soft music instead of a barking dog. I will be copying you!
Katie
This is a BRILLIANT idea! Immediately after reading this post, I went to HomeGoods to try my luck and stumbled upon a four-pack of 6" LED candles with timers (AA batteries, vanilla-scented) for $25! I feel like I just hit the jackpot, especially since it was the only set I saw.
Now that it's started getting darker out earlier, the idea of setting timers for each hour every night is so incredibly appealing.
Thanks again!
Mel
Awesome! I need to change the batteries in mine and get them reset.