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This week’s reusing & repurposing post comes courtesy of my Dad. He makes his own firestarters. If you think about it, firestarters are pretty expensive, considering how much they are per box and that we can go through a box of 6-10 of them in a month. Plus this can be a fun activity for older kids if they are properly supervised.
What you need:
First, think about what the holder for the firestarter is going to be. It can either be a cupcake liner (all paper, no foil), or an egg carton (not styrofoam) that you’ll later cut up, or small paper cups.
You also will need a few items that you no longer want–a cupcake tin and a sauce pan. Use your old, scratched, rusted stuff, because you won’t be able to use it for food.
Used candles, the remnants. And either pine cones, paper scraps (like wrapping paper or newspaper, shredded into confetti) or raffia, dried straw, something like that. Dryer lint and cotton balls also work.
1. Get your “targets” ready. When the wax is melted–where are you going to pour it? So either line that cupcake tin with paper liners, or get those paper cups or egg cartons ready.
2. Melt wax slowly on low.
3. When it’s melted, pour it into whatever container you’re using and add your other fuel source–the paper scraps, the pine cones, dried pine, whatever. This is also a good time to add string as wicks, if that is what you are doing. Just drop it into the melted wax and allow enough extra to light.
4. Once cooled, tie some string or twine around it and add a bow to make it pretty. Use either raffia or cotton string, this will serve as a wick.
5. Use as needed!
If you want to do this just as a project, and don’t have enough wax remnants, ask friends & neighbors to save it. Or visit your local craft store and you can buy it in bulk blocks.
Last year I talked a bit about how I’m really trying to focus on wasting less food (or anything else, really) to save money. As part of that goal for 2011, I hope to do an ongoing series of posts with ideas and recipes to help us all accomplish this. Since trash day is tomorrow, I’m cleaning things out and trying to find new uses for things. What I have too much of: bread. I have two half-loaves of regular sandwich bread and a half loaf of Italian bread that I bought on 12/31 to go with our meal. That bread is too stale to be eaten as is. The other bread has some life in it, and as long as we eat sandwiches for lunch every day, won’t go to waste. But here are some ideas of things to do with bread that is either stale or about to be.
