Yay! So glad you were successful. Air and patience seem to be the two things that newbie firestarters forget (I'm a Girl Scout leader and every year my goal is to get the girls comfortable with and good at starting fires; I'm not sure their parents are really pleased about this!).

Another really good (and cheap) firestarter is to stuff dryer lint in the compartments of a cardboard egg carton then melt wax (candle stubs work well, but you can also use parafin bought for the purpose) and pour it over the top. Cut apart the individual compartments and one or two will get your fire going nicely--just light the cardboard and the lint/wax mixture will burn slowly.

Sarah