Bountiful Baskets

Come check out another blog I have just started http://bountifulbasket.blogspot.com/

Has it been a year?

I have to first apologize to all my faithful followers. I can't even believe that it has been a year since I have blogged. I started teaching this past year and life just became too crazy. I now feel like I have some control in my life and I am planning on blogging again. So please stay tuned for some fun and new adventures. I am getting ready to plan our family garden. Pulling out the canner and dehydrator. I can't wait. Thanks Nichol

Be My Friend award. MY FIRST!

I was super excited when I seen that someone had given me an award. I wanted to thank Just a Gal at http://justagalsmusings.blogspot.com/ for giving me this award. I felt so honored to recieve my first award. Expecially a friendship award. I am also excited to be able to pass on this award to eight deserving people.

Now for the rules:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Becky at Scripture Mom

Merilyn at Merry Misadventures of a Matriarchal Woman

Kelli at Our Cute Little Family

Jennifer at Peacock's Nesting Place

Mom2my9 at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven

Fun with Food Storage

Olivia at Pushing the Suburban Envelope

The Family Home Evening Bolg

P.S. I end my long term subbing on March 3rd. So I will be better at Blogging.

Firestarters from Old Candle Wax and Sawdust

I am sorry that I haven't been posting as much as I would like. I have been substituting for the school Secretary while she is on maternity leave and I just haven't had the time. I will try harder to be more consistant. Hope everyone had a great holiday and are looking forward to a great new year.

My husband and I were looking to make some fire starters. I found a site at Firestarters from Old Candle Wax and Sawdusthttp://lumberjocks.com/projects/3793 and I just loved the whole project so I am including it in my blog. We have tried this and they work perfectly. Thanks Tim.

SUPPLIES LIST:

• Wax (old candles work great)
• Sawdust
• Something to melt wax in (double-boiler method is best and safest)
• Something to mold them in (paper cups, paper egg carton, cupcake cups)
• Craft paper and string if you want to wrap them.

1) Here are the materials I used. Since my wife makes candles we’ve got plenty of wax around the house – I’m using a few melting tarts, an old jar candle and some various scraps. I also have a melting/pouring pot and some votive cup molds.

2) Next, it’s time to melt the wax. NOTE: Wax is flammable (duh…) so it’s best to use a double-boiler if possible. Otherwise use low heat and keep a close watch on the wax until it’s melted.

3) After the wax is fully melted it’s time to add the sawdust, mix enough in to make a heavy sludge. It should pretty thick when mixed together.

NOTE: Pouring these can be very messy, it’s probably best to let the mixture cool down some and thicken. Then when pouring you can use a spoon or stick to make the process a little neater. I prefer to have a lot of sawdust and enough wax to bind everything together.

4) Now it’s time to mold the starters, simply pour or scoop them into whatever your molding into.

5) After a couple of hours these will setup, if you’ve used a metal mold you can pop them out now – if they stick a little you can put them in the fridge for a few minutes and they should come right out.

6) Now you can finish these if you want to. I like wrapping them in brown paper and tying the ends. You can stack these by the fire and they look nice.

7) Now when you’re ready to get a fire going just drop one of these below the wood pile. Light both ends and the center and it should burn for 15 minutes or more – plenty of time to get the fire going!

-- Tim D. - Woodstock, GA