Fire Starters

We had quite the adventure making fire starters yesterday.

Things I learned (this is the "live and learn" part):
1. Do not use scented candles as the majority of your wax because melting it all at once made me nauseous and I don't think I'll enjoy the scent of "clean cotton" for quite a while.
2. Put down paper or something disposable to catch the dripping wax or the clean-up will take a very long time.
3. Make sure I have a plan for turning off smoke detectors that are near the vaulted ceilings, way out of my reach. A tall stool and very long level (tool) came in handy for pushing the "off" button for the very high ones. A short stool and jumbo pencil with a huge eraser came in handy for the ones that were just out of my reach. This can be challenging because the button has to be pressed for about 5 seconds before the alarm will go off. This time I was actually glad that we don't have neighbors near enough to hear the smoke alarm go off four times in a period of an hour. At least we know they work.
4. Make sure the flue is open on the fireplace before testing out the fire starters. This was the cause of two smoke alarm experiences.
5. Make sure the wax is just hotter than its solid state before dipping the pine cones and string or you don't get enough wax to keep the flame going.