What do ramekins and cupcake pan liners have to do with starting a fire? Here's a DIY recipe for fire starters.

I'm a typical mom, wife, and fellow crafter.  I love my house to smell wonderful and freshly mopped, however, that doesn't always happen.  So what do I do?  I fake it!  Yes, that clean breeze isn't coming from across the floor; it is coming from my wax warmer. 

I change them out a lot.  Usually a few times a week, which leads to a lot of wax being thrown away.  This made me feel wasteful.  So, the first thing I did to attempt to reuse this wax was to grab a jar and make an emergency candle.  

First, I took some candle wick from a roll and cut it the height of my jar.  Then I took some regular sewing thread and tied it to the top of the wick to hold it up and keep it in the center of the jar.  I taped the thread ends to the outside of the jar using clear tape.

The easy part is to just pour the used, melted wax into the jar instead of the trash.  Be careful as the wax is warm, even though Scentsy warmers never seem to get the wax hot enough to burn.  The bottom of the dish is really hot though.  Just don't touch it!  

Pouring the wax into the jar each time I change my warmer scent out causes the wax to layer in the jar.  You can tell I get stuck on certain scents for a while and other times I change the scents out frequently.  

When the jar is as full as you want it, you just clip the thread and trim the wick to about 1/4" from the top of the wax and you have an emergency candle.  

However, you only need so many emergency candles, so now what?

  

Layered emergency candle

  

You make fire starters!  Tada!

Look close and you can see leaves, little twigs, chips of charcoal, and pine cones.

We have a wood insert for our fireplace.  It puts out some heat, if you can get the logs to light. :)  That seems to be the hard part.  I have gathered kindling until I am tired of it.  Do you know when you need it the most?  When the fire goes out at 2 o'clock in the morning and it is 30 degrees out.  I had to find a better way (besides buying fire starters).

Here's my disclaimer: I am not a chimney professional and I do not know if the wax in the fireplace will "gunk" your chimney up.  All I know is, I started using these last year and we have not had any problems.  We do have our chimney cleaned regularly.

Grab a ramekin and put a PAPER (not foil) cupcake pan liner in it.  Then, just take a quick trip outside and gather a few supplies.  I use little twigs, crispy leaves, a few pieces of charcoal (my son's puppy got into our charcoal for the grill and chewed a brick, so I used little pieces of it), pine cones that the squirrels have chewed, little pieces of bark, etc.  Anything that will burn will do.  I've even used shredded paper and pine straw.  I'm sure you can get creative and use dried flowers on the top if you want to display them or give them as a gift.

Fill up the liner that is in the ramekin and you'll get something that looks like the picture below, depending on what materials you use.  I use normal size cupcake liners.  The pine cone end that I have in it is tiny and makes my dish look big.  I really like the squirrel chewed ones because they light easily.

This is what it looks like before the liner is full of wax.

Once you fill up your liner, you just pour the warm, melted wax over the contents, being careful not to cause the wax to overflow to the outside of the paper liner.  Depending on how many cubes of wax you use in your warmer at the time and how often you change it will determine how long it takes for you to finish your fire starter.

I keep filling it up until the wax gets to the top of the paper liner.

When you get the paper liner full of wax, just pop it out of the ramekin and store it until you get ready to use it.  I have all mine in a basket next to our firewood holder so they are handy.

To use it, you just stack your wood like you would if you were to start a fire using kindling, but use your wax cake instead of the kindling.  Then, just light it, paper and all!  I usually just strike a match and set the lit match on top of the wax cake.  All the pieces sticking up catch fire and it burns for about 15 minutes or longer, depending on the wax and other stuff you have added.

As the wax melts and all the little goodies you put in there burn, some of the wax will melt out and run onto the wood and even into the bottom of the fireplace (note this if your fireplace is open because you don't want it to run on the floor).  It seems to get caught in ashes in my fireplace and usually doesn't go far.  When I scoop the ashes out, I never see any of the wax, so I just assume it burns up.  The wax that runs onto the wood helps the wood catch on fire too. 

If you are worried about putting this in your fireplace inside your home, you can always use them for camp fires outside.

Let me know what you think and your experiences or ideas.  I love to hear from you!

Don't Pretend Like You Haven't Been In My Shoes

I've been called a Jack Jill of all Trades...

I have done a little bit of everything.  Besides earning my living by being a member of the medical field, I have hobbies from kayaking, to fly fishing and from oil painting to quilting.  I scrapbook; I sew.  I teach; I garden; I feed worms.  See, I think I have to try everything.  Once, I was asked why I try my hand at so much.  My reply was a simple one that leads back to the way I was raised... "I've never been told I can't."

I am not talking about "you can't eat that whole box of candy" or "you can't hit your brother" or "you can't watch that on T.V."  Believe me; I grew up thinking "No" was my name.  I have never been told I couldn't paint, draw, sew, cook, etc.  If things didn't turn out the way it needed to, I was told to TRY HARDER.

This brings me to a quote by my father, "My girls can do anything boys can do, except stand to pee."  Well, I have now proven him wrong.  I want to share with you my experience with a nifty little product called a pStyle.  It is a life changing device.

Here's how I found it.  I'm a nurse.  I have worked in the ER (boy do I have some stories), academia, private duty, and in Hospice (more stories, but heartwarming and heart-wrenching).  The latter being the one that allowed me to discover this handy little device I now believe I can't live without (at least not comfortably).

Driving hundreds of miles in a week is conducive to learning where all the good, and the bad, public restrooms are.  While using public toilets, there are several rules you must follow 1) Never EVER stop at a station that has bars on the windows 2) Always have toilet paper (TP) in your bag  3) Sometimes the woods is a better option (but really inconvenient).

Sometimes, rule #3 is all you have.  I frequently visited a group of 5 patients who lived 18 miles from the nearest public restroom.  The company I worked for had a policy against using a patient's bathroom so I knew I better not drink much.  Patient visits are typically 30 minutes to an hour or so, depending on individual needs, so when I got to patient #1, I already knew I was in trouble.

Patient #2 couldn't find her pill bottle so, I had to call the pharmacist and wait on hold, and wait, and wait, and wait.  I was calculating the drive to the restroom and the time I would need at the other patients' homes while I was on hold.

Patient #3 talked about her cat.  The litter box was looking like an option.

Patient #4 had to sing me a song.  It almost had to be "Row Row Row Your Boat."

Patient #5 was on a whole lot of medication (Can you say polypharmacy?).  A whole lot.  EVERY SINGLE ONE had to be REFILLED.  Oh. My. Word.  At least I could sit cross-legged while on hold and talking to the pharmacist.  At this point, my back teeth are floating and I'm praying nobody turns on the water in the kitchen. 

Finally, when I get to the car, my seat belt across my bladder was just about all I could take.  I speed the 18 miles to the gas station, praying I don't see a trooper or get behind a tractor that would go 7 mph.  Arriving at the gas station, sliding in on two wheels, I run in.  LOCKED!  The stupid door is locked!  Who is going to steal a toilet?  There is a line at the cash register where the key is located.  I guess my pee pee dance tipped off the cashier, because he did hand me the key (attached to a long metal pipe) before checking the next person out.  After frantically opening the door (at least it is unoccupied) I find RELIEF.  Sheer, relief.  And, wouldn't you know, no toilet paper, except for the wad on the floor.  Luckily, I follow rule #2 and had TP in my bag.

Exiting the restroom, I am promptly yelled at by the cashier (and apparently owner)...  RESTROOM FOR PAYING CUSTOMERS ONLY!  Do you know how much that would cost me a week??

($5 for every bathroom trip per day x 5) x 52 = way too much money, there has to be a solution

Finding a solution became my goal for the evening.  I thought about the camping toilet that we have with the disposable baggies, but have you seen what a hospice nurse has to carry in the car?  Nope, no more room.  I thought about female urinals, but that would require me to drop trou.

I then found websites and blogs that were referring to something called a "stand to pee device."  Oh boy, was I educated real quick... I don't want to look like a boy!  I just want to PEE!  aka: Drain the dew off my lily. :)

Then, like a gift from above, I find it!  The thing I wish I'd had years ago...

Ta Da!  Simple, easy to clean, discreet, and no need to drop trou!

This device has changed my life!  I can camp, fish, hike, bike, travel, and do anything I want and not have to worry about my tush being exposed to the elements.  No poison ivy on my derriere.  No warm rush of wetness into my shoe.  Just unadulterated relief.

I don't go anywhere without it.  I have introduced it to most of my friends, one of who has her 3 year old daughter using one.  It is easy to clean (I use antibacterial wipes) and if you practice, you don't even need toilet paper!! WOO HOO!

I made a simple draw string bag to put mine in. See how to make yours here:  How to Make a Drawstring Bag

My dad has since changed his saying,
"I used to say my girls could do anything a boy could do, but stand to pee.  Wonk proved me wrong." (Wonka is a nickname he gave me and has shortened it to Wonk)

One more video for the brave...
Don't worry, you can't see anything.  That's another reason why I think this product is so life changing!  It makes it so easy to use rule #3!

http://www.youtube.com/v/ENeJ02_mO18?version=3&autohide=1&showinfo=1&autohide=1&autoplay=1&feature=share&attribution_tag=s_BpLu8JQQrQKjhTmMdrDw