It's Suuuuumertime...make some faux flower tea lights

Here's a fun & easy summer project. Now that the weather is warm, it is time to eat supper out on the terrace, deck or picnic table. Faux flower tea lights are easy and fun to make! Group a bunch of them together on your dinner table and they will safely cast a warm glow ...and if you make enough of them, you can actually see your dinner!

I found very cool faux tea lights at the craft store. I know you can't really see the light in this picture, but don't worry, it's in there! They are little white round thingies with a plastic flame on top & are powered by little replaceable batteries. They flicker a bit like real candlelight and if you place one inside a faux flower, it makes a wonderful bit of light to eat dinner by.

Take the fluffiest faux flower you can find and pull it off the stem. (No, this doesn't hurt!) The one above is a white peony. Next, separate the petal layers, keeping them in order. Each petal circle will have a small hole in the center which you have to enlarge by making an "X" with an exacto knife.

Starting with the largest petal circle facing up , insert the plastic flame into the hole (from the bottom) , pushing petal down to the base of the flame. Add each layer until the flower is complete. You don't even need to glue them in place. You can , however, hot glue some leaves underneath the flower if you like. I almost forgot to tell you to add a glittered bumblebee to the flower. Just wind its wire stem around a thin cylinder such as a thin paintbrush, to make a coil and leave a straight section at the end farthest from the bee. Put a dab of hot glue inside the flower and stick the straight end of the wire into it and hold it for to seconds until the glue sets. Now your bee is hovering over the blossom and the coiled wire gives it a special "boing"!

The tealight has a little switch on the base which turns it on and off. Each will light up for about 7 hours or so. Be sure to pick up an extra batch of batteries.

I can't seem to keep myself from making little boxes with flowers and bees on top. This is a small oval box with three flowers clustered on top & a glittered bumblebee, of course! I filled it with dried lavender so it not only pleases my eye, but my nose, too!