No matter how hard I try to avoid it, I always end up with a spot in my village that needs an extra lighted house--long after I have already strung the lights carefully through a line of houses. I used to use a tealight. Now I have found something better. The photo below shows a gel LED lighted ring that's all the rage for kids right now. Press on them and you get an amazingly bright light-show (they shut off by pressing again). I was given one of these as a freebie at a recent tree lighting by a local store. It immediately went into one of my putz churches that I had been using a battery tea light in to only minimal effect--now I had bright vibrating light in the church instead. By the way I have left it on all night three nights in a row so far--I forgot to turn it off--and it is still working! The store owner told me it had a life of 150 hours. These gel rings slip in and out of the putz houses easily--it doesn't matter what they look like--no one sees them-and you can find them online at Oriental Trading by the dozen or at party supply stores. They're squishy and compactable!

They're also great for that lone spot where you have no outlet and as a quick replacement for battery light strings that run out of juice or break. Granted you have to take them in and out to turn them on and off --as you would have to do with a battery tea light as well--but the brightness and colors are just far superior to any tea light.