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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Home Made Fire Starters

One thing Chris and Isaiah love to do in the evening is light the fire pit.  I think it was one of the best splurges they made when the house was purchased.  Its a small one in the backyard, a place for them to relax and unwind….after he gets it lit.  No, really it could take a while.  Growing up with a wood stove &  in a camping family it drives Erika crazy.  The concept of  twigs, airflow and kindling to start a fire is beyond him.

  He starts with a huge log, paper a match..and charcoal grill starter…a lot of it…..WOOSH! 

He says he did not come from “Pioneer People”

He’s been pretty good about all the teasing so, for Christmas as a joke (sorta) I made him some fire starters…

Normally I would use cardboard egg cartons but they are hard to find. So I had to substitute with cardboard fruit packing  trays

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I cut them in strips trimming the excess into tiny bits

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I’ve been saving leftover candle wax all year, storing in baggies

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I also saved dryer lint from my cotton towels & jeans.  You can use the lint from all loads but the cotton works best….

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Melt your wax carefully ( I don’t have a double broiler so I used a large old measuring cup on top of a pan of boiling water…

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Be sure and protect your work surface with wax paper & pour a bit of wax into the individual section first.Add you lint and any extra bits, pinecone bits, twigs, or chunks of cardboard.  Christmas 019

Topping it all off again with lint, make sure everything is saturated by pushing it down.  Some may start to ooze through the bottom but that’s ok you know it’s all soaking in.

Let dry and your good to go start your fire!

And no Chris, you don’t throw the whole box in, you just need ONE to start the fire!

Store in a cool dry place and they will last forever

An additional benefit of using wax fire starters?

Your roasted hotdogs and marshmallow's don’t taste like lighter fluid!

5 comments:

  1. Cool idea. My husband has an obsession with lighter fluid. I'm still bracing for a major accident!

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  2. Great idea! I have been wanting to make these for a while. Looks so simple! :)

    Debbie
    ouroldhomestead.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. These look really easy to make.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  4. GREAT IDEA! we also have a fire pit and sometimes the start up can be quite frustrating (we don't use ligter fluid to start the fire - a welding torch is sometimes used though. YIKES!)

    i will defiantly try this.

    crystal
    visiting from down to earth

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow, this is such a great idea. Now all I need is a fire pit....

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Katie