Saturday, September 27, 2014

The Three C’s…CAUTION in Capital Letters!

Caution, Candles and Colored Lights!

No the candle wasn’t lit.

And I’ve used these colored lights in this wicker basket for years now.

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(an old photo of it lit up at night)

But when I brought it to Florida a couple of weeks ago, I put a Fall scented votive candle inside to make it smell even nicer.

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(this is with the lights AND candle pulled out)

The colored lights got hot and MELTED the candle.

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And this is what the carpet looked like under the basket.

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What a mess. But the good news?

It could have been a WHOLE LOT worse! I have silk leaves inside the basket, too and the candles could have ignited the whole thing!

Hubby didn’t like the strong scent of the candle so I reached inside to take it out and that’s when I discovered, a light bulb was on top of the candle and it was a melting mess!

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We’ve worked on cleaning the carpet and it looks a lot better now! The pumpkin is in the kitchen now and I’m not sure WHERE the lights are! lol

WHEW! And that’s the cautionary tale I wanted to share! The 3 C’s!

 

38 comments:

Denise said...

So scary,I'm glad nothing else happened.My husband doesn't like strong smells I try on Myself or the house : / Always good to visit with You :)

Donna said...

Yikes! That was a close call!

Anonymous said...

Glad it was not worse. Thanks for the warning and I hope you can clean the carpet.

Blessings to you this weekend.

Pamela Gordon said...

Oh Diane, I'm so glad it wasn't a lot worse! One has to be so careful with candles and lights. Perhaps even the lights in an enclosed space (wicker and leaves) would be dangerous too. I've seen them in glass jars which get heated and often wonder if the jars might break. A good lesson learned and shared! Have a nice weekend. Hugs. Pam

Julie's Lifestyle said...

Oh Diane, I'm so glad that it didn't go on fire! Wow what a mess. I have to take out my decorations this week as I see in blogland I'm way behind in my fall decorations!

I do hope you have a nice fall weekend.

Julie xoxo

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

Yikes! That was scary!!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Oh gosh- that could have been a nightmare! I'm glad it didn't do any more damage than it did, and a trick I use to get wax out of the carpet..lay a newspaper on top of it and iron it. My daughter knocked over a candle once and the wax went everywhere. I was skeptical, but it works.

TexWisGirl said...

lucky that was it!

Jane and Chris said...

Luckily you removed the candle before any real damage was done.LED lights don't generate heat,so you'd be fine with those.
Jane x

Montanagirl said...

Wow - you were very lucky! I seem to be allergic to any kind of fragrance, i.e., perfumes, scented candles, after-shaves, etc., so we don't have any of that in our home.

Kathy said...

Yikes!! I'm glad everything turned out okay. Clearly a piece of good luck that he didn't like the fragrance.

Suzan said...

WOW!! You were lucky that a little wax is all the problems you had!! But I have to admit - the basket is neat all lit up!!
Stay safe!!

Acorn to Oak said...

Yikes! Those lights sure got hot. I wonder if there was something wrong with that strand? Or I wonder if it was a low melting candle. Either way, that's great you caught it before the situation became worse.

A Joyful Cottage said...

Oh, my. I'm glad you avoided a tragic incident, Diane. It's a pretty basket even without the lights. xxx ~ Nancy

Cindy @ Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home said...

Oh my...so glad you found it early!
Blessings,
Cindy

Susie said...

Diane, I bought a jar with lights in it and I could smell the heat ...so I never plug the lights in. Glad you found that out before it was too late. I also never leave candles or little lights burning while I am gone. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

The Bear's Blog said...

Maybe a little packet of cloves and cinnamon in the bottom, NO candle, just the string of lights or even a flameless tea light. Be careful!

Happy Saturday

Arlene G said...

These things happen Diane...so glad there was no fire. A friend of mine had a candle that she lit regularly on a shelf and came to find out, the heat had burned the shelf above it and she did not realize it until she was cleaning one day!

Mimi said...

Thank goodness you found it when you did! I've heard if you take a paper grocery bag and apply a warm iron on top of it, it will "soak up" candle wax. Thanks for sharing your cautionary tale--who would have thought?!?

Lynn said...

Oh yes, I've been there! My latest scares have been with C7 and C9 bulbs on trees, they melt the new (cheaper plastic) garlands creating a horrible mess... So glad you found the problem before it got worse:@)

Christine said...

So relieved you discovered that when you did! Could have been so much worse than a stained carpet. The basket itself is so cool! Love it!
Best wishes
Christine

Linda @ A La Carte said...

I've sort of sworn off candles here after a few mishaps. Now I use the LED one's for the glow and none of the scare of the flame for me. Of course you were after the smell thinking it was safe...just goes to show we have to be super careful. Glad it turned out OK! Thanks for sharing as this is the time of year where we start going all out for decorations including light!
hugs,
Linda

Shirley Hatfield said...

Me and a lighted candle do not get along...so I love the fake flicker candles that look real. Glad you're okay!

Linda H said...

Oh dear!! Glad it wasn't a lot worse...

BeachGypsy said...

oh my gosh I am GLAD THAT THING DID NOT GO UP IN FLAMES!!! dang!! glad you found it when you did!
loved the pretty scenes from the previous post..........so lovely!! also love the old childrens books.....brings back so many memories!! Old books are treasures!!

Deanies Stash said...

That is so scary! You really were lucky that it wasn't worse.

2 Dogs said...

Glad for you it wasn't worse. Good reminder to be careful. Thanks for sharing.

Vee said...

Phew! I'm so glad that all is well. My cousin's home went up in flames about ten days ago...he left his laptop plugged in while he went out to do some yard work. Fire is so scary.

Musings from Kim K. said...

You are one lucky lady!!

Diane Writes said...

Hi namemate! Without reading the captions, I thought it was blood haha

I can already feel the upcoming seasons and holiday in your blog. Your photos are really successful in destressing me.

Sorry about the late visit. It's only now when I can swim from the tons of workload I had.

Wishing you a great week ahead!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Glad that you caught it in the nick of time ! Sheesh !!

Sam I Am...... said...

Whoa Nellie! Who would think those little lights could get that hot?

Kim@Snug Harbor said...

Holy cow - you're lucky it didn't start a fire. SO happy everything is ok. Sorry to see that mess on the carpet - how will you clean that up?

Vickie @ Ranger 911 said...

Oh, my! That's almost as bad as my stain incident! I'm very cautious when I use candles because a friend of mine lost her niece and nephew to a fire caused by burning candles. I'm glad you found it when you did!

Debby Ray said...

Good catch! I did something similiar several years ago...there was a popular craft back in the day where you would put a mini strand of white lights in a mason jar and fill with potpourri. The "warmth" of the lights made it smell good...and it did for a while....until one day the lights got a little too HOT and about caught the potpourri on fire!! Lesson learned!! Glad you caught it in time!

Red Rose Alley said...

That is the cutest wicker pumpkin basket. Too bad that the wax melted on your carpet. I wouldn't even know how to get that out! I really like the first picture of it all lit up.

love,
~Sheri

~Damita's Pretty Wrap~ said...

Oh no! Glad you got it cleaned up! That is something I would do ....lol. The pumpkin is very pretty lit up! Have a lovely day!! xo Holly

Anonymous said...

Thankful a little wax was the only problem. Love the basket with the lights, though.