Pine Cone Fire Starters

Here's a great gift idea. I made these last Christmas for a friend with a fireplace.

You need:

Pine cones

Sawdust

Paraffin  wax (for canning)

Additives:

OK, first you need to decide what, besides fire starting, that you want these to do. You can add scent, for that you need essential oils. You can add color, for that you need some old candles or crayons. And my favorite, colored flames when they burn. For color flames you need different elements which create different colors.

Colored Flames:

Table Salt = Yellow

Borax = Yellow-green

Salt Substitute = Violet

Epsom Salts = White

Boric Acid = Red

Plaster of Paris = Pink

These are the only ones I'm going to list, as I feel many of the others could be somewhat dangerous.

Now that you have all your ingredients you need to find something to melt wax in. I used a disposable  aluminum pan set in a larger pan of water, the water level only needs to come part way up the aluminum pan. You also need a container with some sawdust, to this I added one or all of the color flame elements I intended to use, make sure this container is big enough to shake around your pine cone without making a mess. I can't say how much of the color flame stuff to use, but use about 1/4 as much as sawdust, maybe a little more...this may take some trial and error. Mix this well and set aside. Now get your wax melted, add any colored wax or crayons and any essential oils you want to use to the wax. Paraffin wax melts at a lower temperature than candle wax so it is safe and easy to use. When you have everything ready dip your pine cones in the wax then quickly toss it into the sawdust mixture and shake it around. Do the pine cones one at a time so you get each one coated good. Set them aside to harden, shake any loose material off and box them up to use or give away.