[Patti]

The tea lights aren't that expensive. I've just never been able to keep them burning outdoors for that long. It seemed as though I did nothing all night but light candles. The flame also winds up "drowning" in the wax if it's windy.

Could be that I've underestimated the burn time on the plumber candles. We rarely have to replace a candle in an evening and we generally start the next night with the leftovers. The wax usually runs down the side of the candle as well.

I calculated about 7 till midnight that we have the candles lit. I'll have to time them more carefully this year.

[Tkaraoke]

Last year, at the last minute, I bought one of those "luminary" candles that you put in those bags of sand and used it in my pumpkin. It was pretty bright and looked awesome but I think it was like $5.99 per candle. It was kind of a squat cylinder shape and I think it was supposed to last a long time.

[Tkaraoke]

Well, I finally found a place on the web that had these LED "flares" called FLARE ALERTS. I bought two of them and figure that if they don't work well with the Funkins I can always throw them into the trunk of my car and use them like they were designed to be used! LOL

[Dans banana Loafcake]

Wow, whats the website for those flare thingy's?

Dan

[Tkaraoke]

http://www.buyemp.com/product/1042331.html

I've seen them on several sites but this one had them for a better price. They are $9.99 a piece before shipping but that price is not much better after they add a "handling" fee. I bought two of them (one RED and one AMBER) and I think it was like $30 with shipping. They should be here in a couple of days and I'll take a pic and post it. If this does work out good, I'll get a whole set of them so I can...humm...put them in the trunk of my car! Yeah! That's the ticket! ROFL

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

The tea lights aren't that expensive. I've just never been able to keep them burning outdoors for that long.

This is true. Although inexpensive, when I use tealight candles in my pumpkins, I spend a good part of the night relighting them. They're supposed to last 4-5 hours, but placed outside (with the chance of some wind,) they don't always make it that long.

With that in mind, larger candles, liquid candles or battery operated lights might be the way to go, especially if your Halloween activities include things other than just babysitting your candle flames.

That's not to say you should leave a burning candle unattended, of course!

[Dadja]

You can always put tea light in a small glass or something, that keeps them out of the wind...

[Patti]

You can always put tea light in a small glass or something, that keeps them out of the wind...

That would probably work, but since we carve in excess of 100 pumpinks which are all displayed at once, I don't think I have enough little glasses.

For our purposes, the longer candles just work better and cost less in the long run. By the case they run 25 cents a candle and unless it's extremely windy they don't tend to blow out. We have more time to entertain our visitors.

Just to address the safety issue, someone is always monitoring the display and I always ask parents to keep their children back far enough to be safe. A quick reminder that "this is real fire, and that is a flowing costume" usually does the trick. I hear a lot of "look but don't touch" for a couple of evenings. We also keep the hose where one of us can get it in seconds in an emergency.

[Pumpkingrower]

http://www.buyemp.com/product/1042331.html

I've seen them on several sites but this one had them for a better price. They are $9.99 a piece before shipping but that price is not much better after they add a "handling" fee.

Those lights look fantastic.. I might try to find something similiar I would just be afraid that they might show the hardware on a shorter pumpkin... nah just display it at Creepy Eye level.

[Kittie]

I used to have a good collection of battery operated lights, but in 2004, we left the pumpkins lit for a bit longer, and some jerk off kids came and smashed a bunch of them, and broke a lot of our lights.

[Tkaraoke]

Sounds like the same bunch of lil' bastards who broke all of my friend's outdoor Santa lights last Christmas. I don't know why people have to be like that...it really makes me upset....upset to the point of wanting to put something out like that, hide around a cornor of the house, and when they do something like that introduce them to my friend Louis "Ville" Slugger.

[Tkaraoke]

Ok, before I forget for the millionth time to post about this subject...

We've been discussing LED and candles but I was wondering if anybody has come up with an electrical light idea for pumpkins. I know I saw something SOMEWHERE on the net saying that Funkins shouldn't be lit with any bulb over 5 watts (I believe) which I think is the wattage for a night light. Here is a light design from PUMPKINGLOW that looks like it would work great...

http://www.pumpkinglow.com/WatermelonLight.htm

I just can't remember (for sure) how powerful of a light you can use in a Funkin (or other brand) before you run into problems. I want to make a bunch of pumpkins for indoor use but I thought having them powered means you can keep them on a few days before halloween.

[Tkaraoke]

We've been discussing LED and candles but I was wondering if anybody has come up with an electrical light idea for pumpkins.

Never quoted myself before...lol

I went to LOWES home improvement and found something very interesting. It's a socket and cord set that's made to hold a 4 watt bulb. It has an on/off switch and looks like it would be perfect for lighting up a Funkin. The only down side to it is that there is no base to keep the light upright but I think that could be solved with a couple of pieces of scrap wood and some glue.

I did stick it into one of the Funkins I made and it does a great job! I'll have to see if I can get a pic for you guys so you can see what I mean.

[GeologySage]

I put something like that into my grandparents Michaels 'funkin' pumpkin I made them last year- http://zombiepumpkins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=113

It's a small bulb, and the cord has a switch on it. It has a cheap plastic bulb mount, and... I think I just duct taped it to the bottom of the pumpkin lol.

Works fantastic though!

[Drayco]

The Michaels in my area has a plug into the wall kit already setup to go into a pumpkin for $3.99.



I've used it in two pumpkins and it works great.