Budget friendly and easy. That’s how I like to plan most of my events. I get a lot of my decorations with coupons, on clearance, from dollar stores and from Christmas Tree Shops. I’ve gotten quite a few paper lanterns lately and had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to light a number of them inexpensively. I lucked out one time and got lantern lights for $3 at Goodwill! If you buy in advance, you may be able to get a pretty good deal on ebay, newegg or other online shops (keep shipping costs and time in mind).

For my paper lanterns, I got them for $1 each at Christmas Tree Shops. They do have battery operated ones but the batteries weren’t included. They had some flameless tealights on sale so I got 5 boxes of those. The last time I used them, I tied string to the fake flame, then tied the other end to the metal frame of the lantern. It worked but it was a pain trying to turn all of them on when it got dark. After fiddling with a tealight for a while yesterday, I found that the fake little plastic flame pops right off! Now we have just a bulb and doesn’t look like an upside down candle. I used yellow yarn in the pictures but a tighter weave neutral string would work best. Here is how it looks:

Careful taking the cover off – the batteries slip out really easy!

I tied a loose knot first then slid onto the metal hook to tighten.

Nice bulb look and doesn’t look like an upside down fake flame.

A very accessible on switch.