Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:

-egg cartons
-old candles (mine happen to be one color but you can grab all the ones you own and throw ’em all in one pot)
-wood shavings

1.) Melt the candles in an old pot on the stove until they’re completely liquified.

2.) In the meantime, have the kids pour wood shavings into each cup in the egg carton (to corral the mess, work on a tray or casserole pan.)

3.) When our candles melted down, we had several long wicks left. We cut them up and stuck them in each egg cup (they’ll light without the wicks, but if you have them, it’s a nice touch.)

4.) Pour the melted candle wax in each carton until shavings are saturated.

5.) Let harden. Cut each cup from the carton.

Done!

I also saw a great idea (on Pinterest, of course) in which someone put matches in a mason jar, attached a circle of sandpaper to the lid and had a jar of waterproof matches. So I tried it. Annnnd — it didn’t work. I tried three different kinds of sandpaper, but couldn’t get the matches to light. I finally glued the lighting-strip-thingy from the side of the matchbox (what is that called?) to the lid instead.

And there you have it. A firestarting kit for grilling, campfires and the like.

Just a note: I asked my husband not to read this post…so if you should see him before Christmas, please don’t tell him his present. Unless you want to…you know — RUIN Christmas for four small children.

Linking to:
The Frugal Homemaker