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How to Make Fire Starters

May 27, 2011 by SandraW

Fire starters are perfect for rainy camps, emergency kits and getting fires going in a hurry. We’re going camping this summer, so I thought I’d get a jump start on preparations. This project is also a great way to recycle things that would normally get thrown out.

Supplies for Fire Starters

The supplies you need are simple and include: an egg carton, candle wax and dryer lint. I’ve also seen people make them in those little paper muffin cups, but I like the messy egg carton method.

Instructions for Fire Starters

I may have been a little skimpy with the dryer lint because I didn’t have that much. First, you stuff each compartment full of lint and then you melt the wax. Leftover wax is good if you have it. Sawdust is also effective in place of dryer lint.

Before you pour the wax over the dryer lint, make sure you have something underneath to catch leaking wax!

Unfortunately, this does happen. The lid of the egg carton works well for this. Finally, wait for it to harden and break the fire starters off as you need them.

It’s a quick fun project that’s also practical, because fire starters come in extremely handy when nothing else will light.

If you have any bits of leftover wax that you don’t know what to do with, you should try it too!

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Have you read?

Book Review: Off to the Nursery

One of the best things about the return of warmer weather is getting to plant new flowers and starting the vegetable garden if you have one. Off to the Nursery by Alice Oehr is subtitled “a celebration of gardening, plants and seasons,” and it’s also a celebration of diversity (because gardening is for everyone) and caring for the earth.

The book starts with the work of getting the garden ready for spring, pulling out the old plants and spreading compost made from kitchen scraps. They grab tomatoes and peppers, learn about zucchini and eggplant and explore the tasty world of herbs.

They also look through the seeds, succulents, berries and fruit trees, flowers and aquatic plants, talking about the benefits of different plants and how fun they are to grow. Maybe you can relate to the family buying what seems like way too many plants?

The book was originally published in Australia, so some of the flowers mentioned might not be familiar to your or your kids, but that’s kind of fun, too. You can also use this as an opportunity to talk about which plants in the book can grow where you live and that just like animals, plants have preferred habitats, too.

Illustrations are colorful and the book combines a standard font and a hand written font to make it feel more like a journal about the garden. The illustrations include fun facts and growing tips such as always planting mint in a pot or germinating seeds on a wet paper towel before planting.

If you want to introduce kids to gardening or just talk about what kind of plants can be grown at home where you live (yes to tomatoes, probably no to the kumquat tree), this cute book is a great addition to your spring reading list.

About the book: 30 pages, hardcover. Published 2025 by Scribble US. Suggested retail price $18.95.

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