After moving into our home, I am finally able to see all the crap I have acquired over the years and I came across about a dozen old candles that previous wives did not want to discard. Now couple that with the idea that since I am retired, I can now do many things I have wanted to do for years – like make fire starters.

Basically, take the candles and melt them down and mix sawdust into the hot wax. As is usually the case, I forgot to take pictures throughout the whole process, but there is still enough info to explain.

Below is what the candles were in, which I gleefully tossed in the trash afterwards.

Then I used a cheap frying pan I bought from the Dollar Store to melt the wax using the side burner on my BBQ grill, then added sawdust from my shop as shown below.

After a thorough stirring, I poured it into a small cake pan, and after it cooled I cut it into bite sized pieces. This piece will be cut further.

I broke a hunk off to start a fire in my chimenea, and after wrapping it in paper to help it ignite, it took off like a prairie fire in the Texas Panhandle. Since wax burns hotter than paper, it helped the wood to burn.

Enjoying life, one ugly candle at a time.