I got to wondering how hard it would be to wire some LEDs I had (left over from another project) straight to batteries… Not hard at all, it turns out, thanks to Instructables.com (LED Throwies, LEDs for Beginners).
The LEDs I had include pre-wired resistors, so that saved some labor.
One phonecall to my dad (an EE) and a quick trip to Radio Shack later: Light!
Someday I might have to try the Electronic Peasant’s ping-pong lantern, too (it’s at the bottom of the page).
my Aggie Journalists blog? It's over 
I'm not doing these right now because my life kind of went upside down, but thank you guys for the nice comments. I left all the stuff up 
