Pine Cone Fire Starters

This year for Christmas I went with a camping theme for my husband. He had really wanted a cast iron tea kettle to take with us when we go so I decided to make a couple other camping essentials to go with it.

The first thing was a firewood carrier. This was the easiest project! I found a large black canvas tote at Jo Ann's. I simply cut down the sides of the bag and painted"firewood." on the front. Easy peasy!

The next project was pine cone fire starters. You could use some from your yard or store bought. First, get some wax or use an old candle. Make a double boiler to melt the wax. Fill the larger pot half way with water. Put a smaller glass or metal container inside the larger pot and the candle inside that. Turn heat on medium and let melt. This took awhile, so I would suggest trying to cut your candle in smaller pieces.

While this is melting, lay out some newspaper and put a sheet of wax paper on top of the newspaper.

Then you can use a candle wick or I used some cotton twine I had at home and wrap it around the pine cone, leaving a tail at the top to hold while dipping and to light when you are ready to use.

  Once all of the wax is melted, you can start dipping your pine cones into the wax. I used some tongs to dip them just to make sure I didn't burn myself. Dip a couple of times and then set on your wax paper to dry, about 30 minutes.

Remember the drawstring burlap bag I made awhile back? I decided to use it to hold these. My hubby loved them!