The holidays are behind us and in many parts of the country and the world, IT’S FREEZING OUT THERE! Of course, in other places, the sun is out and days are warmer.

Wherever you are, starting a fire either indoors or out, can sometimes be a right pain in the neck!

Here’s the easiest solution ever!

GD Mizar’s Easy DIY Firestarter

Here’s what you need:

1.  candle butts

2. old raffia – those bits that are too short to use on a gift or package OR leftover pieces of twine, but doo NOT use nylon string!

3. newspapers

What to do:

1. In an old pan, (I’ve had one set aside for all sorts of projects for YEARS!) melt the candle butts.

2. Rip several sheets of newspaper into strips anywhere from 5 – 6 inches in width. 

3. Roll them up into tight little rolls and tie off with raffia or twine,
leaving about 3 – 4 inches of length after the knot – this becomes the wick.

4. Dip the rolls into the wax making sure to get the wax inside and saturate the entire roll.

5. Remove them from the wax and set aside to cool/harden.

6. When you are ready to start a fire, whether it’s in your fireplace, your outdoor grill, fire pit, camp fire, whatever … place 1 or 2 fire starters under the smallest pieces of wood (the tinder and/or the kindling) and stack your fire wood as you normally would.

7. Light the fire starters from the wick or from the end of the roll and watch. The wax prevents the paper from burning off too fast, allowing the wood to catch. NO NEED for chemical fire starting liquid which can be toxic and dangerous … not to mention the plastic bottle in which it comes. (note the dryer lint in the box – this is also great for using to get the fire going)

This has NEVER failed … not once since I started using this method to light fires back in the day when I was a Girl Scout … we are talking more than 30 years ago!