Thursday, December 1, 2011

Twofer Thursday

I actually made TWO crafts today.  Look at me- I'm a regular Suzy Homemaker.  Except for that whole part where I still have no idea what I'm cooking for dinner.  Oh well.  Can't have everything.

Craft #1- Firestarters

One of my friends is... an outdoorsman shall we say?  He lives very simply and I'm pretty sure he keeps all of his money in his mattress.  I had no idea what to get this guy for Christmas.  The only things he really wants are car parts for the junkers he keeps in his yard.  Luckily, I have a brilliant boyfriend.  He suggested that I make this friend firestarters for his wood stove and bonfires.  So that's what I did!



They're not pretty, but they're definitely handy.  And (like everything else) pretty easy to make.






You'll need wax, a double boiler to melt it, the bottoms of egg cartons, and dryer lint.  While your wax is melting, fill each well of the carton with dryer lint. 



When the wax is fully melted, (make sure you're stirring!) fill the wells the rest of the way.  The lint will compact, so I made a second pass to make sure they were all full.




Let them cool completely, then break them up!  From what I hear they'll even get a fire going with wet kindling.  I don't build many fires, so I'll have to take my friend's word for it.

Craft #2 Candles!

I knew that I would have extra wax, so I made a few candles as well.  I saw this on Martha Stewart's website and thought it was pretty cute.  Candles in old teacups?  Sure.  Why not?  I was at Goodwill a few days ago for a different, yet to be completed project, and I saw the cups.  I snapped them up for under $1 apiece.  I got some wick, wick anchors, and some cinnamon apple scent.



I used bent paperclips to hold the wicks.  They weren't perfect, but they weren't terrible for my first time.



Once I was finished making the firestarters, I added about 30 drops oil to the remaining wax and filled the cups.  Let them dry, trim the wick and that's it.



cute!

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