3 homemade fire starters—try making these creative and practical gifts
Different kinds of fire starters make wonderful Christmas gifts because of their practicality. You could craft firestarter chips, rose-shaped starters, or even a whole fire starter tray!
1. Fire starter roses—a delightful classic
Gabi Brek-Laitinen’s crafting projects tend to turn into large-scale endeavors. These rose-shaped fire starters were no exception. Preferring small homemade gifts, Gabi began saving egg cartons in the spring for holiday presents and by October she had amassed a whole bag of them. She also collected leftover bits from candles throughout the summer. Some of the wax she needed for the starters was sourced from flea markets.
“I try to make practical gifts on a small budget by using easily accessible and largely free materials,” Gabi says.
Her idea to make rose-shaped fire starters came from receiving some as a gift last fall. She plans to give them to all her loved ones who have a fireplace or a wood-burning sauna.
“As someone with a fireplace, I’ve found that they work well, and I love their fun look.”
“I’m fond of the playful look of rose-shaped fire starters.”
She made the fire starters by cutting up the cartons, forming rose shapes, and dipping each one in melted candle wax. Finally, Gabi packed them in gift bundles and added small labels with instructions. Making hundreds of rose-shaped fire starters took her around a week.
“I didn’t waste any wax, because I used leftovers to make fire starter chips. All random cardboard bits and any failed attempts went into my own fireplace.”
2. Fire starter chips—practical and fun
Pirjo Viinikainen was inspired to try making the firestarter chips as a way to use up leftover candle wax.
“I try to make as many gifts as possible myself. Firestarter chips are, in my view, an excellent gift because they’re handmade, inexpensive, and practical,” Pirjo says.
“You can tailor the fire starter chips for each recipient by choosing different napkin patterns.”
Initially, Pirjo found making the chips a bit challenging, but she soon got used to it. Having made handcrafted gifts for a few years, she recommends setting aside plenty of time for the process.
“You can tailor fire starter chips to perfectly match each recipient.”
“The most time-consuming part was cutting the napkin down to the size of the cotton pad. Different candles melt differently and also harden in various ways.”
Pirjo plans to keep some of the fire starter chips for her hiking and camping trips.
“They’re easy to carry in a backpack, and they can help with starting a campfire even in rainy weather. I’ve tested it.”
See our easy instructions for fire starter chips here.
You can add a decorative pattern by cutting napkins into circles the size of cotton pads and dipping them in the wax in layers.
3. A fire starter tray—a wonderfully abundant assortment
If you can’t decide which type of fire starters to craft, a fire starter tray is the perfect choice! The idea was also tested by Sanna Tenno.
“I’ve made rose-shaped fire starters from egg cartons and chip-style ones from napkins and cotton pads before. This time, I wanted to combine them and even add a little extra to create something bigger and even more beautiful,” Sanna explains.
On a fire starter tray, you can combine all sorts of starters, from chips to items collected from nature. Sanna gathered small pieces of birch bark, sticks, cones, and little sprigs or branches of evergreens. She dipped the cones in wax along with her rose-shaped and chip-style fire starters.
“I’ve seen how well these all work. They’re especially good when you’re out in nature making a campfire.”
Sanna wants to give gifts that also look appealing, so she arranged the different fire starters in cardboard boxes, layering shredded brown paper at the bottom.
“The goal was that no one would end up stuck with unnecessary items.”
“A piece of tree bark also works perfectly as a ‘tray,’ with the other fire starters arranged on top.”
A detached piece of tree bark also works nicely as a base for the other fire starters. All you need to do is wrap up the tray so everything stays put.
Sanna plans to give the fire starter trays she has put together as Christmas presents to friends and family.
“Fire starter trays make a lovely alternative to flowers when visiting someone during the holiday season.”
More fire starter ideas: wood bark and mini logs
You can form cute onions, rolls, or tiny bundles to use as fire starters using dried deciduous tree bark. You can find instructions for bark-based fire starters here.
You can also quickly make effective fire starters from ordinary logs by splitting them into smaller sections. See here how to make mini logs and bundle them into convenient fire starters.
