Homemade Grungy Timer Tealights

I love grungy candles.
But even moreso, I love flameless candles.  My love began when my kids were little: Cave toddlers and open flames are not a good mix. The more I got to know flameless candles, the more I liked them. No mess, no melty wax goo, no soot marks on my wall, no panicking about whether the candles were all blown out or not.
When a friend turned me onto flameless candles with TIMERS, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Going around and turning on a dozen or so candles every day was only slightly less annoying than lighting a dozen candles every day.
The problem for me was, that there really weren't a ton of options available with the flameless timers. I found some pillar that I liked, and managed to find some grungy candlestick type ones that I put in my windows. But search as I might, I couldn't find any grungy-esque tealights with times.  Grungy tealights, no timer. Timer tealights, no grunge. But no combination of the three.


So I decided to make some!
You can buy white timer tealights lots of places - craft stores, online, etc. I bought about four 4 packs of these.

 

You will also need:

 

• Mod Podge
• Ground Coffee (for texture)
• Instant Coffee (for color)
• Plastic container with lid
• Disposable spoon
• Small flat painbrush - bristles should be about 1/2 inch wide
• Water
• Wax paper

 

I don't have any pics of the process because I did these awhile ago. But it will be fine.

 

Pour some Mod Podge into your plastic container. Add a little instant coffee and stir. This will dissolve completely and will give you mixture it's color. Keep adding until it gets to the color you like.
Then add your regular coffee. This won't dissolve as easily and will give you the little bumps and granules that will add texture. Add as much as you like.  Stir stir stir.
Cover your work are with wax paper. These suckers are going to be sticky.
When painting your tealights, hold them by the flame part and paint the top first. Don't worry if you get a little on the flame part - it's not supposed to look perfect. Then paint the sides. It will go on thick, don't worry. If it seems TOO thick add a LITTLE water. But you don't want it too think. Somewhere between paint and glue is a good consistency. Also, don't panic if it doesn't seem to cover much with the first coat. This is plastic, after all. It's a multiple coat project.
Once all of your tealights have their first coat, leave them on the wax paper to dry COMPLETELY. Drying completely between coats is an important step. Otherwise, you will end up with a mushy mess. If you press in with your finger and you feel movement or leave a fingerprint, they are not dry.
The first coat will probably take about 6 hours to dry. Subsequent coats, even more, like overnight.
Keep adding coats until you have achieved the coverage you want.
Add batteries, turn on all the timers at once, scatter throughout your home, and enjoy!

Put the lid on your container, and save this gooey goodness for another project!