I know. They look like a bunch of tasty caramelized brownies don't they? Probably a good time to say don't feed these to your children or leave them out where children will feed themselves with them. It's not gonna kill 'em or anything, it'd just be embarrassing for you if they said they were the best dessert you've ever made.
Now you're wondering when the hell would I ever need a fire starter? I'm going to list the possible scenarios wherein you could use these.
- When you want to light something on fire.
I've done a couple of posts on DIY fire starters because apparently I like to light things on fire, and I like to have things burst into flames, with ease.
The first fire starters I started to make were dryer lint stuffed into cardboard egg cartons which were then filled with melted wax. They work great.
But if I didn't have any cardboard egg cartons around I couldn't make any fire starters. Then I discovered the Dollar Store carried good little fire starters for cheap, so I started buying those.
Well, this fall when I went into my dollar store to pick up some fire starters for they winter they didn't have any. I tried again in November, December and at the beginning of January. No fire starters. I'm not sure what has prompted the Dollar Store to suddenly stop supplying me with fire starters but if I were the suspicious type I'd guess it has something to do with my curious nature and their fear of culpability.
So I again started making my own fire starters, this time based on the ones I used to get from the Dollar Store.
All you need is sawdust and melted wax.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
I decided to go this route because I've been sanding my wood floors in inconspicuous places, like right in the middle of my front hall, to see how the newly sanded floor will react to different finishes.
This means I have a supply of sawdust.
I also have a supply of paraffin wax and leftover candle stubs.
- All you have to do is melt some wax (paraffin, ends of candles, tea lights that for some reason wouldn't burn). To do this I put the wax in an old coffee can and set the can in simmering water on the stove. Do NOT leave the stove when you're melting candles. Watch it and stir it. To make the wax melt faster chop it up into small pieces.
- While the wax is melting, dump the sawdust into a shall dish or tray of some sort, that's been lined with wax paper or freezer paper.
- Once the wax is melted, pour it over the sawdust and mix it together with your hands. Bare hands are fine, candle wax cools quickly and as soon as it touches the sawdust it's cool enough to mix with your fingers. You need enough wax to hold the sawdust together. It's just a matter of trial and error.
- Press the sawdust and wax mixture down into the tray until it's relatively flat and pressed together enough so that it doesn't fall apart. It'll look like the topping of a rhubarb or apple crisp.
- Let it cool, then lift the whole block out by grabbing the wax paper. Cut the slab into rectangles that are around 2" x 1".
You are now able to light anything you want on fire. I'm hoping you're leaning towards wood. Chopped wood, not 17th century antiques. Which as we all know would be a complete waste of a fire starter. A 17th century antique would burst into flames with a single match.
Marilyn Foster
When I had my Girl Scout troop back when I lived in Anchorage, Alaska, we were always on the lookout for items we could cheaply make and sell. We made egg carton and dryer lint starters first, then scrapped the lint for the more attractive sawdust and after that we had a hugely successful idea! We gathered spruce cones from beneath neighborhood spruce trees, let them dry completely and then dipped them in melted wax colored with crayon stubs (pretty colors only). While the wax was still soft we rolled the cones in the granulated stuff sold for making flames in fireplaces colorful. And shazam! The Aurora Borealis Firestarter was born. They sold like hotcakes at Christmas bazaars and we made enough money to take the whole troop to camp the next summer.
Karen
Brilliant!!! ~ karen
Steve H
I was thinking of bringing the crystals that make for a colorful fire in a campfire to a friend's cabin, but wanted to be sure they'd be safe if food was being cooked on the same campfire. I asked a science teacher friend and he advised not to use those: said they involve metals and salts (if--big 'if'--I'm recalling correctly), and that inhaling the smoke from the fire would be unhealty, and/or burning such would taint the fire pit in ways that would linger. Could be a different teacher would have a more positive answer, but thought I'd pass along a caution, especially since it's younger kids who are making/possibly using the items.
Steve H
As a high school teacher it may be easier to get my hands on such, but I'm saving up pencil shavings for this purpose. Anyone know if there's a problem with using such? There's some paint and graphite mixed in, but seems like the amount and type of stuff is minimal (i.e. 'okay').
Randy Watkins
Pencil shavings or wood and ground fine so therefore they'll burn nicely
Bev Ross
I make my fire starters out of 100% cotton balls coated with petroleum jelly. Store them in a jar. In additions to starting camp fires, they also work well starting the charcoal in the BBQ. They burn for several minutes. I recently started stuffing them in about 2 1/2" pieces of plastic straws. It's less messy. Seal the ends of the straw with a pliers and lighter. Used them all the time when I was in Search and Rescue.
Karen
Interesting! I'll give it a shot. ~ karen!
Michelle Good
Like this idea, but sawdust would be hard for me to find. In the past, we used pinecones (free!) and paraffin. I used an old muffin tin, poured in melted paraffin, stuck pinecones in each cup, let harden. It takes 3 to start a fire.
tiffany
I use the small paper cups, hamster shavings and old candle. I also just stuff the dryer lint into the TP tubes. Lately, ( my son eats bacon everyday), I have been soaking up the bacon fat (and cleaning the pan at the same time with paper towel and shoving the half sheet into egg cartons (my hens went to stay with friends) or small waxed cup. They all work well. Thanks for the heads up about the sawdust. I can get free pine shavings from my local mill which I used for these plus deep litter for Les Girls.
Marti
I read the entire post waiting for you to start laughing at the massive joke you pulled because these were, in fact, photos of apple crumble bars.
sigh. And now I'm hungry.
Karen
OMG that would have been brilliant. ~ karen!
Marti
Since you've already noted there seems to be a recurring theme of pyromania in your posts, perhaps the next one will be something along the lines of "fire-starters that look like dinner starters" (appetizers?) or "desserts that can help you turn up the temperature on a date."
There's got to be some great innuendo in this for the upcoming (highly annoying) next Hallmark sales event, er, holiday.
Nancy Blue Moon
I think these would work well in the burn barrel out back...Hopefully my Son doesn't grab some and start munching before I package them...