I Did A Thing/Fire Starters

Today, I did a thing. Not necessarily a big thing, just a thing. I officially opened an Etsy shop. That's nuts. I think it's because of my excessive amount of fire starters that I just want to do something with them...(y'all, this didn't last very long. I can't stand having to monitor a shop when I don't understand it).

So, speaking of fire starters, I'd think it'd be cool if I explained those to you. I got the idea from a small shop in town that sold little odds and ends. Fire starters were one of those. I studied it for a bit and got the basic concept - put together wax and other flammable things.

So, that's what I've been doing. For the past two/three/seventeen years or so, I've been making fire starters!

So, how to do it? Well, first, you kind of have to get all the random things together. Random flammable things. Some of these can be found around the house, some are found at garage sales (...wax...).

So, take a muffin tin (that you hope to never use again) and put in cupcake liners. You maybe wouldn't have to do this, but I think it makes life easier.


After that, put the flammable objects in! So, take fabric (cut into pieces), broken up pieces of wood (popsicle sticks...), crayons broken in half, dryer sheets that have been used, lint, and other things of the sort and fill the liner. This part gets weird because it starts to seem like everything is flying out of the liner, but really, it's just the right amount.

Then comes the part where you may have to wait. I like candles and a lot of the time they are put in glass containers. This means that when you finish getting the wax out, you can recycle the glass! When it gets down to the part where you can't light the wick anymore, you can put it on a candle warmer/put it in the oven to melt the wax.

When all the wax is melted, you then CAREFULLY dump a lot in each muffin tin hole cupcake liner thing. This is the part that takes a long time. That's why, sometimes, I get old candles at garage sales because it makes life easier (and I don't have to be so intentional about burning candles all the time to use them up...).

Then, you're done! Sometimes you have to use lots and lots of wax on the fire starters. So, patience is key.

Oh, and the point of a fire starter? Light it when making a bonfire or even a fire in the fire place. It keeps the fire going because the wax very slowly melts, causing the fire not to go out. It's magical, really.

That is all.

I'm not sure if that made sense.

Oh well.

Oh, life note: this is also a really good way to reuse old socks that gets holes in them or some random fabric that has no purpose. That's another reason I like making these.

Peace.