I thought I would share a few useful tips for staying at home during this years deep winter freeze. In Minnesota this week the temps will dive well beneath subzero...
How about we start with a nice warm-up...
Homeade Firestarters
We live on a property with over 600 pine trees. Needless to say, we have a hefty supply of pinecones, all shapes and sizes. Our favorite tradition each year is to gather hundreds of pinecones to use as "fire-starters" for our fireplace for the winter months.
We gently warm up paraffin wax, using a paraffin bath— a great little machine used to hydrate hands/feet after a manicure or pedicure. I prefer using the parafin bath because the temperature is regulated, which means my daughter can use it safely, and there is less mess to deal with later. Now what mom doesn't love that!
Using wooden tongs, we dip the pinecones, one at a time, in the wax, placing them on waxed paper to harden.
The kids love doing this!
We store them in a basket by the fireplace. Each morning we add them to the fire. It makes an easy and inexpensive way to light a fire and warm our home for the winter chill that stays with us longer than most states in the USA.
For those who don’t have a paraffin bath or want to add your own creativity;
Check out OldFashionedLiving.com,
They have a lot of resources you'll be blessed to check out!
Although they use "old- fashioned" methods, they have taken the art of creating firestarters to a new level—they add color and fragrance and even give a list of products to use to create different colored flames...
That's Hot!!
For those that are blessed to live in a warm climate, you can use the firestarters for your backyard fire ring or campfire. We use them all summer long too!!
Can you say….Science Project!!
I home educate only one at home, and that takes creativity, thankfully I am known as 'the idea person'.
For the tip of the day, here on homeschoolblogger, I will share many of my own creative ideas, plus, others I have borrowed along the way, from friends, books and the resource I have come to depend on... the internet.
I will do my best to give credit where it is due.
Homes Cool Academy
