I shared the recipe for making fire-starters a long way back, but I thought I'd re-share it one more time, as my daughter and I spent an afternoon making a huge batch of them to give out to friends with wood burning fireplaces this Christmas.
It's the perfect use for your candle stubs, whether they are old tapers, or pillars that have burned down. I save my old candles in a drawer, and once a year I melt them down to make these great little treats. Here's what you'll need to make them:
Old candles (or a few pillars from the dollar store)
A bag of shredded cedar chips from the pet department at the grocery store or WalMart
An old pot that you don't plan on cooking in ever again*
An old muffin tim or two*
An old cup, a ladle, or disposable cups to scoop the heated wax out of the pot*
Cupcake liners
Newspaper, old paper bags, or a towel to protect your work area from any dripped wax
*You can easily get the cup or ladle, pot and muffin tin at any thrift store if you don't have one handy at home.
Once you've gathered the supplies, simply fill the cupcake liners inside the cupcake pans with the shredded cedar chips... ...while heating the candles in the pot on top of the stove on medium until melted...
Pour melted wax over the chips...go easy here. A little goes a long way. The idea is to add enough melted wax to make the cedar chips stay in the liner, but not to saturate it too much or they will stick to the cupcake pan.
Once you've done this part, pop the tray in the freezer for about ten minutes to set the wax. Remove from the pan and repeat until you've used up your wax.
These work amazingly well for starting a fire in your fireplace or wood burning stove, and are so much easier than messing with precariously placed stacks of kindling. They make wonderful winter-time hostess gifts and it's a good use of your old candles, so why not try making some of these yourself?
