Firestarters

I made firestarters today. I'm hoping for a camping trip this Fall while the weather is nice. They cost 99 cents to make a dozen (they would probably be free if you have little kids).

You need:

• dryer lint
• a paper egg carton
• a tin can with the label removed (I used a large tomato can)
• broken crayons with the labels removed (I bought a bag of used crayons at Savers for 99 cents)

Stuff the egg carton compartments full of lint.

Dump all your broken crayons in the tin can and put in a pan of water and bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat and shake can until all crayons are melted.

Slowly pour the hot wax into each compartment of the egg carton completely covering the lint.

Cut apart each compartment and store in a ziploc bag. Set under your kindling and light the egg carton paper when ready to use.

A variation of this craft uses paper cupcake wrappers, old unscented candles, and wood shavings (fill wrappers with shavings and pour melted wax over). I didn't have those items on hand or I would have made both and evaluated which was better. In girl scouts, we made wax paper tubes stuffed with lint. They burned way too quick to effectively start a fire if your kindling was less than ideal or slightly damp. The wax firestarters we've bought at the park stores have never failed to start a fire, so I'm hoping these will have similar results.