Summer shimmers with faux flames

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Interior decorating is not a field rife with major technological breakthroughs. But in recent years, science has rocked my design world with one single, revolutionizing advancement: the fake candle.If I could, I would write an ode to today's lifelike battery-operated candles; I love them that much. While early faux flames had their foibles, today's fakes look so real that you're afraid to get too close for fear of getting burned. They come in a host of colors and sizes, with realistic detailing like wicks that look like they've been burned, and you can find them at most home-accent stores.I used to turn up my nose at fake candles. But through the years, I've heard so many horror stories from customers whose homes were destroyed by fires caused by unattended candles that I've changed my tune. After a few near misses of my own, like the forgotten votive that burned in my little-used powder room for two days, I've concluded I'm not responsible enough to play with fire.Once my romance with battery-operated candles began, I fell hard for these little cheaters. I call on them when I want to add just a tiny touch of warm light to an interior display or to do big jobs, like illuminate my home's exterior when we hosted our daughter Kelly's garden-wedding reception.For the wedding, I wanted to give our guests a warm welcome, so I lighted up our front walkway with two grand candelabras fitted with battery-operated pillar candles. To add sparkle to the trees, we hung wreaths horizontally from the low boughs, then covered the wreaths with faux votives. Finally, we pooled clusters of votives on the stairs leading up to our home.To light up our courtyard and the event tent where guests dined, I placed an epergne holding battery-operated votives at the center of each table. The garden paths were brightened by hundreds of hanging votives suspended from the branches of trees and shrubs. The effect was absolutely breathtaking.I could never have pulled off this lighting feat with real candles. We were able to "light" the fakes hours before the event instead of doing it at the last minute, as you must do with real candles. We didn't have to worry about them being extinguished by the wind and rain that plagued us right up to the hour before guests arrived. And the fake candles burned through the night instead of burning out in a matter of hours like the real ones do. After Kelly's wedding, I was more appreciative of battery-operated candles than ever.This summer, why not make your home look magical with faux candlelight? Outside, group votives on your front steps, next to your door or on the window sash. Tuck votives into potted plants for a little surprise twinkle of light. It's also fun to float tea lights in a birdbath or on your backyard pond.Suspend groups of hanging votives from the ceiling of your screened porch, arbor or gazebo. Dot them along your fence or brick wall. Hang them from bushes and tree limbs so they look like fireflies in the summer night.You also can use pretend pillar candles in lanterns to illuminate outdoor events. Line up a group of different-sized lanterns on your front porch, or hang a mirror-backed lantern from your front door. I have a large, weathered lantern that I keep on the stoop of my courtyard. This summer I've filled it with three pillar faux candles nestled in a bed of moss.Inside your home, use faux candles anywhere you would use the real thing, plus a few places you wouldn't. I like to tuck fake candles into displays in bookcases or among the bottles on the bar set up on my hutch. You can even use them as nightlights in children's rooms, guestrooms and guest baths.Wherever you use battery-operated candles, I guarantee they'll work so well that they'll light a flame in your heart, too.(Mary Carol Garrity is the proprietor of three successful home-furnishings stores and the author of several best-selling books on home decorating. Write her at nellhills(at)mail.lvnworth.com. For more stories, visit scrippsnews.com.)