Infinity Coaster

i just made a huge 50cm x 130 cm inifinity mirror with 2 strands of 3528 led strip lighting left over approx 1' long left over. I am on the attempt of making small portable infinity mirrors and coaster seem like the best idea for them. i wired it all good and i am done now however i appear to have a problem

Step 1: Infinity Coaster

everything works well until it has been left on for 2 mins. even when i turn off the lights, the batteries get super hot. They are cheap dollar store AA batteries but almost too hot to touch even when it is turned off.

i figured maybe i have a short somewhere but i cannot find one with the multimeter.

is it just that i have too much amperage for too little of an LED strip?

they stopped turning on the lights when they got hot but i tried again to shoot this video clip and they worked pretty good. A little slow to light up still so some of the juice is gone i imagine.

if you know these strips give me a clue. if i find out the problem, i can make a solution and make another instructable on how its made with # 2. it is Christmas after all and somebody needs a coaster for their egg-nog.