Wax Pinecone Firestarters

The house smells amazing. I haven’t made these in years!

Today at the Big Book of Mayhem we made Wax Pinecone Firestarters. I say firestarter, but many people just think they are too pretty to burn. Whatever you do with them, they are a fun fall item.

I start with beeswax pearls, melting them in a double boiler so as not to scald the wax.

Once the wax begins to melt, I add the wax dye – red to go with the cranberry fragrance. You can also get away with just tossing in a red crayon with the paper removed.

Stir while melting.

Once you have a smooth red liquid wax, remove from the stove and add the oils. I’ve been buying ingredients for my crafty things from this supplier for 20 years.

NOTE: Getting cinnamon oil on your fingers and then touching your eyes or other sensitive areas is a REALLY BAD IDEA. I did this once and it was EXTREMELY PAINFUL. This was VERY STUPID of me. Don’t be like me. Treat cinnamon oil with the respect it deserves. Sorry about the yelling but I needed to pioneer the obvious at you for just a sec.

The cranberry is a fragrance oil, with a nice tart fruitiness. I use about 1/3 of that bottle for one batch of the pinecones. The cinnamon cassia and clove oils are essential oils. Very potent, so I use about half the cinnamon as I used of the cranberry and half of the amount I used of the cinnamon for the clove.

Once the oils are blended in I use my tongs and begin rolling the pinecones in the mixture until they are completely coated, then set them on parchment paper to dry.