I went to dinner at a friend's the other night, outside under the stars. She said she couldn't keep candles burning outside with the Florida breezes, so she had small frosted votives with battery operated flickering candles at each place setting. The effect was lovely, and drew comments from everyone.

Saturday I had a few folks over to enjoy the boat parade, outside on a cool crisp evening. The group included my toddler grandkids. I knew they might get into trouble with real candles, so I copied my friend's idea and used the battery operated ones. Again, compliments.

Now, maybe you have been using battery operated candles for years? I, for one, have seen them in stores and thought they were gimmicky. Now that I've enjoyed them in different settings, I'm hooked. And I intend to get a few as gift items.

My friend got hers at Stein Mart. The nearest Stein Mart is far away from me, there's a CVS nearby, so guess where I got mine, 6 for $5. (I used a $5 off $15 in Holiday items Extra Care coupon that came on a CVS register receipt, so they were an even better deal.) Not as nice, but once you put them in a nice frosted votive, it's the glow that counts.

You can be thrifty or extravagant with the votive. The candles and votives pictured are from Amazon.com.

Please share your recessionista gift ideas with us. No one wants to be a Scrooge, we just need to be creative. Are you baking presents this year? We'd love to hear from you....

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