Frugal Homemade Fire Starters

We are under a winter weather advisory here until Saturday morning! Which for south Mississippi is pretty darned exciting, I gotta say.

A cold front is moving in from the west at the same time that some precipitation is moving in from the Gulf, so we have a small chance of some of that rare white stuff even down here along the coastline! The Cajun and I were out running errands today, and in those couple of hours early this evening, the temperature change was so drastic that I thought a fire would be in order.

Speaking of which, be sure to stop by Deep South Dish and check out that Leek and Cabbage Soup with Smoked Sausage I just posted today. Talk about some good and perfect for a cold day! Click right here to go see it. 

I love having a fire going, and for it to be cold enough to have one down here is a rare thing, so I was sure gonna enjoy one while I could! As soon as I open up the doors on the fireplace, these cats of mine seem to understand that there is a fire soon to follow, and they come and sit close by waiting for it. Right now as I type in my post, I am sipping on hot herbal tea, warming my feet by the blazing fire, there's football droning in the background, the house is all warm and cozy, and the cats are content and happy, curled up in their beds right in front of the fire. It's all good.

I figured this would be a great time to post my homemade fire starters that I like to use on those rare occasions where we do get to have a fire, and it is what I used tonight to start this one. I like these because they work well, but especially because they are free - using up things that would normally go in the trash and end up in a landfill!

Now I'm no fire building expert, so I have to caveat this post with one of those 'use this at your own risk' disclaimers of course, but I can tell you that I have been using these little starters for years.

All year long I save lint from the dryer and cardboard tubes from the toilet paper and paper towels rolls, that I just stuff into a plastic bag and keep in the garage. The only other thing you'll need to make these is some kind of wax. I generally like to use the tail end pieces of candles, since this makes good use of something you would otherwise be throwing out. You can also just grate up an old votive candle, which is what I used this time.

In one end of the tube roll, stuff a bit of the lint.

Sprinkle some of the grated wax on top of the lint - about a tablespoon or so.

On top of that, stuff some more lint on the other end of the tube, so that the wax is encased in the middle of the lint.

Pull out just enough of the lint to act as a wick on both sides. Place this in the midst of your kindling, add your logs on top and using a long tipped lighter, light both ends of the lint. Depending on how dry the wood is, it may only take one of these to get your fire going, but you can also just place one of these fire starters on each end of the wood and that will usually do it.

Sit back and enjoy your fire!

Frugal Homemade Fire Starters
Posted at http://www.mynew30.com

Empty cardboard toilet paper rolls
Dryer lint
Candle wax
Grater

Grate up a votive candle or use small chunks of leftover candle wax.  Insert dryer lint into one end of the cardboard tube, top that with about a tablespoon of grated wax, and top that with some additional dryer lint.  Pull out a bit of the lint on each end to act as a wick, place in and under some of the kindling, add the firewood on top and light each end of lint.