I made up some fire starters a while back and I have had an inquiry about how they are made so I thought I would add a blog post about how I made them. I acquired two used candles that the wicks had been burnt out leaving a hole in the middle and lots of wax all the way around from when my son moved to his new house. I started by melting the wax in a double boiler until it could be poured from their containers. I mixed the two colours - red and purple - and put them in a large stainless pot so I could keep the wax molten while I was creating the fire starters. I started with little cardboard rings. Toilet paper rolls cut into three or four works really well but I also made up rings when I ran out using cereal cardboard strips stapled into the size I needed. This method would if you are using larger pine cones so you can make them the size you need. I tore newspaper into about 4" square and stuff one into each ring. I then crumpled a square and put in the little depression in the ring. Next, I dunked the pine cones into the wax several times to build up the wax on them and then tucked them inside the ring over the crumpled newspaper. I had heated the pine cones in the low temperature oven on a cookie sheet to make sure they were bug free and very dry.
From my previous experience with making fire starters they function better if they have a bit of air space in them. I laid out the rings on a plastic tray so that any dripped wax would congeal on the bottom of the starter and be easily removed from the tray. These worked out really well and I realize on hind sight that different materials would have made them "prettier". I packaged my fire starters in boxes - candy boxes work really well as they are the perfect depth. This way the package can be burned once it is empty. No garbage!!
You will need pinecones, paper and wax.
Pinecones:
The pinecones need to be dry. If you have time simply collect them and let them dry naturally in a mesh or brown paper bag. If not, lay them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes at 200F which will dry them out and kill any bugs that may have taken up residence. There are all sorts of shapes and sizes so use what you have available to you.
To begin with pine cones don't really need any help as they are natural fire starters but if you want them prettier you could simply dunk them several times in the wax and just let them solidify. They look pretty cool that way too.
Paper:
I could have used different paper to get a prettier final product. You could use old book pages, used gift wrap or tissue paper, bond paper from old manuals or misprints from your computer, old notes from previous courses, junk mail or last year's school notes on loose leaf or pages from scribblers. Just check your recycle bin!! You get the idea - pretty much any paper you have a supply of would do. Choose what you have on hand and gives you the look you are looking for. If you want a quick and easy solution you could use cupcake liners which are available in several different sizes and therefore accommodate your pine cones.
Wax:
Again use what you have on hand. Candles that are no longer useable are the best but consider old wax crayons as well. These can often be acquire by just asking your friends and family to pass them on. You can purchase canning paraffin wax which would work well is generally available. Beeswax would also work though may be a little harder to find.
These are perfect hostess gifts for anyone who goes camping or has a backyard fire pit. Keep an eye out for small cardboard trays - take out containers, candy boxes, shoe box lids, board games, puzzles, pizza, etc. You could also easily fashion what you need from cereal cardboard, poster board, cardstock or any light weight corrugated cardboard. Here is a
tutorial for making a shallow box from cardboard which would allow you to make a box to custom fit the fire starters you have made. Here is a template to give you an idea how you would go about it. Therese
