It's starting to get chilly y'all!!! I really enjoy fall and the first part of winter. One of my favorite things about this time of year is when we get to have a fire in the fireplace. The problem is that I can't start a freaking fire to save my life. Seriously, it has got to be pretty hard to light a house on fire because I can't even get one started in my fireplace. I usually end up shelling out money for those little fire starters at kroger and they are so expensive! Last year we actually started using a combo of dryer lint (at the suggestion of a fireman friend I have) and papers that we needed to shred (because we don't have a shredder.)
It was still a long process though, I would have to sit there and keep stuffing papers around the wood until it finally caught fire. Well, this year I have discovered how to make my own firestarters and the credit should go to Jillee (again)!!! Really! I can't tell you how excited I am, because the best part is that they were totally 100% free to make. FREEEEEE! Now I can smirk when I walk past the pile of "kindling wood" at kroger that is on sale for only $8....hahaha. The best part, I can have a roaring fire in 5 minutes flat, yep, that fast! So here is a tutorial, full of pictures.
You will need:
a cardboard egg carton (I bought a 2 1/2 dozen tray because the regular cartons were styrofoam)
Lots of dryer lint (I just keep a bag hanging next to the dryer and put the lint in there until i need it)
old candles that won't burn anymore
I use the little candles in a jar quite frequently, Senor caliente can't get enough of them and he loves for me to have them burning when he walks in the door. When they burn down to the end of the wick I just stick them in the freezer for 30 minutes or so and the wax pops right out of the jar. I usually wash the jars and use them to hold sugar scrub gifts for friends. You can also use any other kind of old candle that you don't need anymore. Heck, you could probably use old crayons for that matter. Anywho, next you need to stuff wads of dryer lint into the egg cups like so:
Now, you have to melt the candle wax. Make sure you use a pot that you don't mind messing up. This cute little pot turned up in my cabinet and it was just perfect because it had the little pour spout on the side. I seriously have no idea where it came from. I should also interject here and let you know that you can melt multiple candles together. I had no idea how much I would need so I ended up melting candles about 3 different times. You can mix scents too, since you won't smell it when you use this to light a fire.
As you can see, I don't worry about removing the wick or any of the specks or anything, It doesn't need to look pretty. Once the wax has melted you just pour some on each of the wads of lint.
Let the wax harden and then cut them up.
I put them all in this cute little basket and then I tidied up the fireplace area and brought some firewood in.
So cute, right? I still keep a basket of papers that should be destroyed and just toss some onto every fire when I think about it.
The first time I used these, I put 3 in there and tried to get them between the pieces of wood and it worked great, but since then I figured out I can actually put two of them under the grate and light them and the wood will catch pretty quickly. These last long enough to get it going good and they burn high enough to catch the wood as well. Now go and make fire! While you're at it, check out this awesome recipe for nutella hot chocolate and make some to sip while you sit in front of your blazing fire.
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