Reusing and Repurposing

So I have been trying very hard lately to find ways to make do and reuse things around the house and try to help save some money. One thing that my family has done for as long as I can remember is something we call firestarters.

These are what they look like, I know they look gross but they are pretty handy things to have around! We use them when we camp, for bonfires or for just in our own backyard. You can use an old egg carton, they work really well because the cardboard really soaks up the wax, and creates a nice pocket for the lint.

You know how your dryer lint trap should be cleaned every load? You know how annoying it is to do? How it gets lint everywhere and taking it to the trash almost inevitably ends up with lint on your floors that now have to be cleaned? Well instead of throwing it out reuse it! We take the old egg cartons and stuff the lint in the holders. Like so,

Please ignore the fuzziness of the shot, my phone doesn't work as well as my camera.

Make sure you have it really well packed in there!! The more the better so stuff away! Then you take all those old candles that you thought you were going to throw away! Silly you!

Those old almost gone candles that are hard to light, or ones that the wick has disappeared into the wax, those are the ones you hate. They are the ones that you just get so frustrated trying to light and then as soon as you light it the wick disappears! We never throw ours out, but I see so many people who do!

This is part of our box of candles, we have dozens more squirreled away in a box in the closet. (we like our candles) Then you melt them down, when we had old pillar candles for the longest time we would just boil them in a bucket but that got really messy and very hot. Now we have an old hot plate that my father used to have at his desk we use. You could also put them in the microwave, but with the metal in the bottom of the jar I wouldn't personally risk it.

You let it sit there until the candle melts. Make sure it is away from anything that would be considered a fire hazard!!  There would be nothing worse then getting all ready to go with these and then starting something on fire. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

This time we did both the candles and the bucket of random wax, the bucket was very hot so unless you are used to this I would recommend against it. We have burned ourselves plenty of times making these.

Or if you are just using the jar candles when the candle melts you take the jar and pour it over the lint, go slowly and make sure that you let the was soak into the lint and cardboard. The wax will run everywhere if you go too fast. Once it dries and hardens you can cut the egg carton into individual pieces by cutting off the back half of the carton and ripping the pieces into individual fire starters.

And there you have it! Your very own firestarters!! If you use a wood burning stove this would be a good use for them, or if you camp a lot they can be a life-saver when the wood is damp. You just light the corner that is still cardboard and stick them into the bottom of your fire.

I did have people question me about the possible environmental impact of these, and honestly for the amount of pollution that people put out on a daily basis these aren't going to do that much damage in the long run.

Now if only I could think up a use for all those glass jars! Any ideas? I would love some!