Handcrafted Winter Pine Cone Fire Starters

Just close your eyes and imagine a warm, cozy fire with the wood crackling and the heat seeping forth to your face. Fires are so wonderful during the winter. A great craft is to make winter pine cone fire starters. They are an excellent way to get your fire going and lots of fun to make.

This project takes about an hour to an hour and half to complete. It uses hot wax so it is not recommended for young children. However, this is a great winter project for teens to enjoy on a cold or wet winter day. You never can have too many winter pine cone fire starters because you never know when you want to have a cozy fire to enjoy.

Items You Need for Winter Pine Cone Fire Starters

Several long strands of candle wick

Dried Pone Cones (You can purchase from a craft store or pick up from your yard)

Scented candles or candle wax

Wax Paper

Sea Salt

Double Boiler

Tongs

How to Make Winter Pine Cone Fire Starters

First you need some medium size to large pine cones. These should be dry so make certain that if you use the ones from your yard that they have completely opened up. A green pine cone will be closed and tight and is not good for fire starting because it doesn't burn as easily and is not as easy to use for the winter pine cone fire starters craft.

Next, you will wrap one wick around each pine cone toward the center weaving it in and out of the pine cone openings. You should start at the bottom and work your way to the top of the dried pone cone. Set each cone on the wax paper on your counter top after you have wrapped the wick around it.

In the double boiler, melt your scented candles. If a holiday is coming up such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, you can get scents that compliment the holiday. Melt only one color and one scent of wax in the double boiler. Melt on the lowest heat setting to get the candles to melt. You can fish the wicks out and use them another time for more winter pine cone fire starters.