Last updated on February 20th, 2021 at 04:01 pm
Homemade Fire Starters with Wood Shavings in Wax
Collect all your wax candle scraps and mix with the wood chips to make wonderful fire starters.
These are easy bazaar crafts that sell very well at my local charity thrift store, or package a few as a nice homemade gift for Dad on Father’s Day!
Craft Supplies:
- cup cake papers or paper muffin cups meant for baking
- wax candle scraps, wax crayon stubs or left-over paraffin wax
- wood shavings
- muffin pan
Project Instructions:
1. You will need a safe method of melting candle or crayon scraps. I use a large coffee can, which I fill with wax chunks from leftover candles and crayons. You can melt the wax by heating the coffee can in a saucepan of boiling water, or maybe an old double boiler would work for you. I sometimes do this by placing the metal can close to a small, contained camp fire until the wax melts. Whatever method you use, please make absolutely sure it is safe for yourself and for everyone else – remember that wax is a highly flammable material and must be treated as such!
2. If you don’t have a ready made supply of wood shavings, you can purchase bags of wood shavings in pet supply stores – it is sold as nesting material for small animals. Add wood shavings to the melted wax in the can until the wood shavings are completed coated.
3. Place the cup cake papers into a muffin tin. Fill each cup cake paper with the melted wax and wood shavings mixture, packing down with an old spoon until the paper cup is quite full. If you are making these to sell at a bazaar, you might want to press a few extra wood shavings into the top of each fire starter. This is not a necessity, but it does look nice.
4. Let the fire starters cool and solidify completely.
5. When you want to start a fire, put kindling in place and nestle the fire starter in the middle of the kindling. Set fire to the paper cup to make a small burn that will last about five minutes. By then, your fire should be
going very well.
CAUTION:
These fire starters are NOT recommended for interior wood stoves or fireplace inserts. Only you can determine whether these fire starters are safe for you to make, or whether they are safe to burn for the purpose that you have in mind. Use the directions in this craft project entirely at your own risk. If you are making the fire starters to sell, then make sure you include appropriate safety warnings in the package.
I made these but the melted wax seeped thru the cupcake papers and I ended up with as much melted wax in the muffin tin as in the cupcake papers. Do you use more than one paper?
I’m sorry you had this experience, Pam. I can only imagine how tedious that was to clean up.
I have noticed that cup cake papers vary in quality. Some are quite thin and flimsy – I think those are the kind that stick to muffins too which I really don’t like either.
If you’re working with some like that then I like your suggestion of using two or more. That’s definitely what I would try.
Why are these not recommended for indoor fires?
When I began making these, there were concerns about wax build-up inside wood stoves. However, I’ve since seen lots of similar wax-based fire starters that are specifically mentioned for use in wood stoves. I tend to err on the side of safety, therefore the caution.