Homemade Fire Starters That Smell Like Christmas

Made with beeswax and things from around your yard, these homemade fire starters make lighting a fire easy, and they smell like Christmas.

A year or so ago, a dear, dear of mine from high school sent me a little care package. She sent me wild rice, (which turned into the most delicious Wild Rice Soup),  locally grown where she lives in Minnesota, and she sent me the cutest fire starters that she made herself. There were maybe a dozen, and I was so taken with them. As I held one in my hand, I thought about the care that she put in to making them. A little time to herself, in her own space, melting the wax and then adding natural elements that would help get a fire in the fireplace started. Add a little of this, and a little of that, making sure everything is nestled in the wax before it hardened.

My kind of craft.

I asked her about making them, and she told me they couldn’t be easier, and more importantly, more fun.

Homemade Fire Starters That Smell Like Christmas

These homemade fire starters are easy to make, very inexpensive, and are so functional too. They would make great host / hostess or Christmas gifts. If you plan on making and keeping a few for yourself, they look cute displayed in bowl with a glass cloche filled with matches next to them.

I love to make a functional craft that also looks pretty, and these homemade fire starters checks those boxes. You can add any dried natural elements to the melted wax. These that I made here are Christmas inspired, and will bring all the smells of Christmas when burning.

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I love that these fire starters are so affordable to make. No need to use those store-bought fire logs that cost a small fortune, when you can take an hour or two and make a couple dozen of these, and have fun in the process. You can even melt down old candles, that for some reason we all hold on to simply because we can’t bring ourselves to throw away – you know….in case there’s a power outage sometime.

At least that’s my odd reasoning.

Gathering up natural elements from around your yard, these little gems can be customized however you like.

Let’s Get This Fire Started! Here’s What You’ll Need:

Silicone baking cups – You can find the ones I used HERE. These make the process super easy and they’re reusable. You can also use paper liners in a metal muffin pan, and with these, there’s no need to peel off the paper.

Beeswax Pellets – Any candle wax will work for this project. You could even melt down candles that you’re no longer using. Just keep in mind that if you use a scented or colored candle, your fire starters will take on those scents and colors. HERE are the beeswax pellets I used.

Candle Wicks – You don’t need a long wick for these homemade fire starters, but I bought THESE and cut them down to about 3 inches after the wax was hardened, and that’s plenty of length.

Natural Elements – This is how to keep the project even more affordable. Look for things around your yard. I’ve linked a few things below that I used here.

Natural Christmas-y Element Suggestions:

Dried Small Red Flowers

Mini pinecones

Cedar shavings

Red berries from magnolia pods

Evergreen sprigs

Holly leaves

How To Make These Fire Starters

I have an easy, and almost (ALMOST) mess free way to make these. Be sure and line the baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper for even easier clean up. Another tip I’d like to share is when removing the baking sheet with the melted wax cups, walk / move slowly so no wax spills. That would not only burn if it hits your skin, but would also make for a laborious clean up.

Step 1  Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Step 2  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place 12 silicone cups evenly on sheet pan.

Step 3   Separate ingredients in individual bowls.

Step 4  Using a tablespoon, spoon beeswax pellets (I found that 3 heaping tablespoons is the perfect measurement) into silicone cups; 3/4 of the way full.  Place into the oven until the wax is melted

Step 5  Carefully remove from the oven

Step 6  Work quickly and start by adding a wick to each baking cup, then fill them with your natural finds. Be sure that each dried flower, pinecone, berry, etc. has part of it submerged in the wax to keep it held in place.

Step 7  Leave at room temperature to set and harden. Then, remove the fire starters from the silicone cups and store them in a bowl near your fireplace.

How To Use Homemade Fire Starters

To use, place a fire starter on a piece of kindling in the wood-burning fireplace. Add two to three logs on top of it, and light the wick.

It’s that easy!

As a side note – you can find the beautiful glass match cloche that I used in a few of my photos, HERE. The best match size to fill the cloche are 3 inch matches, and you can find them HERE. 

This post does contain affiliate links. I do receive a small commission on items purchased, at no cost to you. As always, thank you so much for your support.