Would you like to learn how to make your own fire starters? Not only is this a great recycle and reuse project, which is great for the environment, but they cost almost nothing to make and work like a charm!
Over the years they have saved me hours of frustration when we had a wood burning stove to heat the house. If I got home from work to a cold house, I would always have trouble getting a fire going. Turns out I was an expert at creating smoke bombs but getting a fire going in the stove when there weren’t any coals to help out was another story. It was always a challenge for me!
Years ago my son and I made these as Christmas gifts for family. Both my dad and my mother in law had wood burning stoves in their homes. These fire starters were a big hit! Not when they opened them at Christmas, but later once they tried them, they wanted more! My son decorated them with a little paint and lots of glitter to try and pretty them up, but they were still ugly.
Toss a few in the wood stove, top with a few small pieces of wood and light. That’s it! You will have a roaring fire going in no time!
Supplies you will need:
- Empty paper egg cartons
- Dryer lint
- Taper candles
- Lighter
- Scissors
TIP: You can purchase 2 taper candles for a $1 at the Dollar Tree.
When I first made these with my son, I didn’t have any dryer lint saved up so I put out an email at work asking co-workers to bring in dryer lint. Boy did they deliver! I got bags and bags of lint! If you are in the same boat, try asking around, you will be amazed at how many people actually save their dryer lint. Apparently it’s a thing, who knew?
Or you can set out an empty egg carton on top of your dryer and every time you clean the lint trap between loads of laundry, place the lint in the egg cups. Depending on how often you do laundry you will have all the lint you need for this project in short order.
After you have gathered the lint you need, cut off the egg carton lid with a pair of scissors, we will only be using the egg cups filled with lint for this project.
Light a taper candle and hold it horizontally above the egg carton, and allow the melting wax to drip onto the surface of the lint and to the edges of the egg carton cups. Your goal is to cover the entire surface with a layer of wax, sealing in the lint. This will ensure your fire starters don’t come apart.
Once the wax has cooled and hardened, cut the egg cups apart. Store them in an empty coffee can until ready to use.
We no longer have a wood burning stove, we converted to a gas fireplace a while back, but these work great for starting campfires! I have a coffee can full of them in our trailer ready to go for our camping trips!
We also use them in our backyard fire pit. Confession, before I started making these homemade fire starters I was known (on occasion) to get a fire going with lighter fluid. Effective but not very environmentally friendly.
You can get a roaring fire going in less than 5 minutes, guaranteed! I timed it last summer when we were camping. Now all you need to do is sit back, enjoy the ambiance around your roaring fire, and get those marshmallows roasting!