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I was going to complain about how the bargains for candles is about to end. Well maybe it really is just about over.
I started out making fire starters out of canning paraffin. It got too expensive, so I started to buy Christmas candles at the half price after Christmas sale. That only worked two years because the store where I was buying them always cuts back their order if there are leftovers that have to be discounted. So, they stopped selling the big fat Christmas candles.
Not a problem, Walmart sells them, so I loaded up at their half price after Christmas sale. That worked for two years, but this year, I went in and there were only two of the tall ones and six of the half size ones. The price wasn't nearly as good as I have been paying in the past.
I bought them anyway, brought them home, and weighed them. The short ones are a hair under $2 a pound and the tall ones are about $1.50 a pound. It sure doesn't feel like a bargain. So I looked up the price of canning paraffin online.
Yikes! $12 a pound for canning paraffin. So, my $2 a pound turns out to be a pretty good bargain.
The problem is that there were so few candles. I think Walmart is cutting back their order so that they don't have leftovers that they must discount. They had a whole boatload of candles in glass jars marked down, but those won't work for me and I don't want to pay for the glass jar that I have no use for.
I don't currently have a need for candle starters. I do buy the after holiday sales so I can add to my emergency candle collection. I bought some candles after Halloween for 90% off. It was a freak sale because the store had just opened up in October and didn't have time to sell the Halloween merchandise. Big jar candles were $.50. I only bought three because the scent was pretty strong.
I'm with you. The good sales are getting harder and harder to find.
How do you make yours and how much do they cost each?
Little wax coated Dixie cups, bought in bulk at Costco. 450 in a package. Those are cheap, but I don't remember how much because I bought them last year. Used them last year, already have most of my fire starters for this year, still have cups left over.
A large bale of pine shavings from the feed store, about $8.00, lasts 3-4 years.
Melted wax. Candles were 88 cents each before, now are $2 each at the half price sale. I suspect this cost this is going to get worse fast.
Fill the Dixie cups 4/5 full of shavings. Top with about a teaspoon of melted wax.
How much do they cost? I have no idea. But they make it really easy to start a fire and they don't clog up the spark arrester like newspaper does.
Thanks. I was just curious because we use those little flat square fire starters from the hardware store. They cost a few cents each. Not sure if home made ones were a better deal?
We used to make our fire starters the girl/boy scout way. Save your cardboard type egg cartons. Fill the egg holders with dryer lint. (May want to be careful of what lint you save and not use the kind from synthetic materials.) Pour melted wax over top. Can also use broken crayons.
We used to make our fire starters the girl/boy scout way. Save your cardboard type egg cartons. Fill the egg holders with dryer lint. (May want to be careful of what lint you save and not use the kind from synthetic materials.) Pour melted wax over top. Can also use broken crayons.
I thought about doing that. Except I would use sawdust (hey - we heat our house with logs that dh saws up. So we have lots of sawdust). All I would have to buy would be wax. Except since we normally build a fire every day about 6 - 8 months of the year, that would be a lot of fire starters to make. And they wouldn't stack in tidy little piles on the shelf by our wood stove, the way the little squares from the hardware store do.
I thought about doing that. Except I would use sawdust (hey - we heat our house with logs that dh saws up. So we have lots of sawdust). All I would have to buy would be wax. Except since we normally build a fire every day about 6 - 8 months of the year, that would be a lot of fire starters to make. And they wouldn't stack in tidy little piles on the shelf by our wood stove, the way the little squares from the hardware store do.
That's why you use a cute basket or other container to hold them.
Some people make Firestarters out of pinecones and wax. I haven't tried that, but it would probably work and be attractivr.
Ive been lucky to usually have coals to start my next days fire. I usually only use the wax fire starters for campfires. At home, I prefer the corragated cardboard. I tear up pieces of it and loosely roll it to make my own logs. I can usually get a fired started with that and some scrunched up newspqper.
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