It's not camping season yet, but...

...we're getting ready!

The boys and I finally made fire starters today. I've been meaning to do this all month. A great project for yet another rainy day. This is something I first did in girl scouts more years ago than I'd care to admit. Pete laughed at me when I first made them; now he is a convert. They are great, and use nothing you don't already have. If you need wax, don't go buy paraffin or wax for making candles (it's crazy expensive). Go to goodwill or garage sales looking for candles or candle ends. Ugly is fine and probably cheaper! One 6-in pillar candle is enough for about 48 fire starters.

Ingredients: dryer lint (cotton with limited pet hair is best), paperboard egg cartons, old candles and candle ends, 1 empty tin can, saucepan, range, popsicle stick to stir with (or anything else you don't care about), cookie sheets to put cartons on, oven mitts.

First, put your dryer lint into the egg-places of your egg cartons.

Be sure to put your cartons onto your cookie sheets. This will protect the surface underneath.

Next, melt your candle blobs. Put an empty tin can (I like a 28 oz crushed tomato can myself) into a saucepan with about 2-3 inches of water. Put your candle blobs into the can. Don't overfill! You don't want wax dripping into your water, too much will just make it messy now and harder to pour later. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down to medium so it's still simmering. Use a popsicle stick to stir a bit if you want. Don't leave the room--just keep watching. It takes awhile to melt. 

When the wax is all melted, it is time to pour it. Put your oven mitts on. Carefully lift the can out of the water and pour onto the lint in the egg cartons. You want a fair bit of wax in the lint--it should soak through the carton a bit. Try to cover all the lint in each egg spot, but don't pour too fast. When you are done, it should look about like this:

Now leave the cartons to dry. It takes longer than you'd expect, put doesn't need supervision. When they are done, they even have their own handy storage/carrying cases!

To use them, just tear off 1 or 2 egg spots. Put them under your firewood, then light the carton corners. You will still need some kindling, but these burn for awhile (like candles!). We use 1-2 for a fire in our backyard table firepit, 2 for a fire camping in a standard campground firepit. 

Enjoy your s'mores!