Make your own Firestarters!

 

For years I have complained, (yes, I do that from time to time) about this one thing over and over again.  It seems that when I go to make a fire in our fireplace we are ALWAYS out of firestarters.  I hate buying them, due to their cost but their convenience is worth its weight in gold. 

So,  off to the internet over the summer to see if I could make my own firestarters, nothing lost, nothing gained. 

This “recipe” is so simple I kick myself that I didn’t do it sooner.  Without further writing,or um, talking, here is the best firestarter recipe I know…..and did I say it is almost free except for the cupcake paper?

A package of small cupcake wrappers (I mean small, they will work great, you don’t need bigger, trust me, you will use way too much wax and the smaller one will do the trick just fine.

Wood shavings ( I gathered wood shavings from Bertha aka the HUGE tree Andy cut down.  You could even use wood shavings from any pet store.

Used candles (See, REUSE, how cool is this? Now I never throw away my candles anymore)

A vegetable can (rinsed out )

A pot (filled 1/3 way with water)

Mini muffin pan (convenient but not imperative)

Now, melt the candle wax in the can over medium heat, remember that candle wax is very flammable, so always use caution, pleeaassee!

I put about 1/3 of the shavings in the cups and when the was is melted I Andy  wrapped a thick cloth around it as to not burn me Andy and slowly pour each cup until they were 3/4 way filled.

Once it dried, I removed them from the muffin pan, that’s it!

To use, just add one to your fireplace and light the paper on top and VIOL A you have a GREAT firestarter!  They will burn for about 15 minutes, plenty of time to get your fire going good!

 

I was so excited about this that I just had to start it while I had my candles in the fireplace.