23 Homemade Firestarters You Need To Light Your Backyard Firepit

Homemade firestarters are a fun craft to make with the kids plus the craft is very useful indoors or outdoors. A warm, cozy fire in the fireplace on a cold winter evening is wonderful, but you have to get the fire started with something.

Store-bought fire sticks can become costly, and just using a match to start a fire isn’t always sufficient. Adding a combustible liquid, like gas or kerosene, to start a fire is not safe and can cause property damage. These 23 homemade firestarters are safe for use in an indoor fireplace, outdoor firepit, or while camping to start a campfire.

Check out these great ideas we have collected for you and learn how to make firestarters so you will always have something safe and reliable to get a fire started.

1- Pinecone Firestarter

These are easy to make, attractive, and fragrant. It’s a great way to recycle pinecones from the yard and transform them into useful objects. Great for gift-giving too!

A small, scented candle is melted and one pinecone placed in the melted wax. As the melted wax re-hardens it will hold the pinecone upright. The candle wick is pulled over to the side and used to light the pinecone when you want to start a fire indoors or outdoors in the firepit.

Get tutorial of this diy firestarter at shelterness.

2- Coffee Filter Firestarter

You can make firestarters with a coffee filter like this one by helloglow and your favorite herbs and spices. These are quick to make, lightweight and flat to pack for a camping trip, and can be personalized to give as gifts.

Start with a coffee filter and place your favorite (or the recipient’s favorite) herbs and spices, then sew the end closed. The paper coffee filter will light easily and burn long enough to get a fire started in your backyard firepit.

3- Used Coffee Grounds

Here is a great idea for recycling used coffee grounds – make homemade firestarters from them like this one by thequeenbean.

A little candle wax and used coffee grounds in a small paper cup make an ideal way to start a fire. You will also have the aroma of freshly brewed coffee filling the air when you use one of the DIY firestarters.

4- Dryer Lint Firestarter

Dryer lint is something we remove from the dryer and toss in the trash without thinking it may have another use. It does. Dryer lint will make an excellent water-proof firestarter like this one by instructables that is perfect for taking on camping trips.

Some dryer lint, dental floss, and old candles stubs or canning wax are all you need to create the DIY firestarters. These are small enough to fit into your pants pocket and will provide 15 minutes of flame, which is enough to get a fire started.

5- Wood Shavings and Beeswax

Here’s a great way to recycle unwanted items around the homestead and transform them into something usable.

Wood shavings left lying on the ground after chopping or sawing wood is a highly combustible material, but it needs a binding agent to make it portable. Beeswax is a great binding agent and will allow you to create the six and shape of a DIY firestarter like this one by themerrythought that you want.

6- Father’s Day Gift

If dad likes to go out into the woods on adventures, then this will make a great Father’s Day gift for him. Have the kids fill an attractive jelly jar with utensils needed to start a fire like this one by liagriffith. Matches, small pinecones, dried moss, and bits of dryer lint can be layered in the jar and sealed with a lid to make all the items inside waterproof.

7- Dried Herb Firestarter

If you want an aromatic blaze in your backyard firepit or indoor fireplace, use this great idea for creating DIY dried herb firestarters like this one by purelykatie.

Dried sage, lavender, and thyme are bundled together inside of an attractive white paper dolie to create a fragrant firestarter. A few loose pine needles are also tucked inside with the dried herbs to help provide more combustion to get the fire started.

8- Camp Fire Starter

These are some of the best camping fire starters that you make. Each one is small enough to fit into your pocket and they are practically free to make.

These free plans show you how to recycle dryer lint, egg cartons, used candles, and a bits of twine or yarn into a lightweight, portable camp fire starters like this one by twineandtable These are so simple to make and the small size makes it easy to tuck several into your backpack or camping gear so you won’t even be stranded in the wilderness without a fire.

9- Used Cooking Oil

Dryer lint ignites quickly, but it burns out just as quickly if there isn’t something added to keep it burning. Cooking oil will burn for a long time and is a great companion of the fast-lighting dryer lint.

Instead of disposing of used cooking oil and dryer lint, watch this free video to learn how to combine the two waste products to create homemade firestarters like this one by thethingswellmake. Fill a recycled container with dryer lint and saturate with used cooking oil. Keep one container with your camping gear and another container in a safe place for use to ignite your backyard firepit.

10- Waterproof Firestarters

These are great for adding to your survival gear! These waterproof survival firestarters by diyready are lightweight, compact, and will enable you to build a fire even in the middle of a rainstorm.

Recycle a plastic drinking straw and cut it into 1-2 inch lengths, then stuff them with a cotton ball and seal the end shut by melting them with a lighter. The plastic straw will keep the cotton ball dry on the inside so you can build a fire even in the rain.

11- Pinecones And Wax

Gather up several fallen pinecones this autumn and save the small bits of leftover candles to create these fragrant pinecone and wax firestarters like these ones by designsponge.

The pinecones make this craft pretty and are the focal point, what you add to transform them into homemade firestarters is up to you. Used candle wax, beeswax, or paraffin, along with a few drops of your favorite essential oil for fragrance, plus a little twine to use to create wicks can be put together with these free plans to make cute pinecone firestarters.

12- Chemical-Free Charcoal Starters

If you love to grill but hate the taste of lighter fluid or other chemicals on your food, then you have to give these simple homemade firestarters by blessedbeyondcrazy a try.

Made out of just 2 items – cardboard and paraffin – these firestarters for the grill contain no chemicals, are safer to use than lighter fluid, and cost only pennies to make. Recycle an old cardboard box for this DIY project and cut the box into small squares. Dip the squares into melted paraffin wax and let dry.

13- Pinecone Firestarters

Pinecones are a very popular material for use in making homemade firestarters like these ones by southernliving because they are free, easy to find, ignite quickly, and burn for several minutes. Pinecones are also attractive and can be displayed in a basket after being transformed into firestarters.

A little wax, fragrant oil, wicks, and pinecones come together very nicely to create a long-burning firestarter. Follow these detailed plans to make some for yourself and to give as gifts.

14- Garden Waste Firestarters

Garden plants must be pruned during the growing season to keep the plants looking neat and producing as they should. The small amount that gets trimmed off of a plant may seem insignificant alone, but when it’s bundled together with other garden waste, they can make ideal free firestarters like this one by hearthandvine.

Tiny branches pruned off of herb plants, rose bushes, and other fragrant plants can be grouped together and tied in a bundle with twine to create a small, fragrant fire-starting log. Add a few leaves or twigs from fruit trees or increased fragrance.

15- Petroleum Jelly Cotton Balls

Petroleum jelly is a by-product of petroleum but it’s not flammable and will not burn unless it is connected to combustible material, like a cotton ball.

Put a little petroleum jelly onto cotton balls and ignite for a long-lasting blaze that will get a fire in the backyard firepit started. Great idea for use while camping or as a part of survival gear. These easy to make lightweight firestarters by ramblinjim can be stuffed into an airtight plastic bag and take up almost zero amount of space.

16- Feminine Hygiene Product Firestarter

Not what most people think of when they want something to start a fire, but the material that tampons are made from are ideal for starting a fire, especially after they have been coated with wax.

Get detailed instructions for creating homemade firestarters in this YouTube video using a feminine hygiene product.

17- Gauze And Wax

Small, round, lightweight, cheap, and will fit into a shirt pocket. These homemade firestarters on youtube are made from round gauze pads dipped in wax and this YouTube video shows you how to make them.

The small size makes them ideal to take along with you on a camping or hiking trip, and great to keep some stored at home for use in the backyard firepit or indoor fireplace. Anywhere you need to build a fire, these DIY firestarters will burn for about 10 minutes and get the fire started.

18- One-Hour Burn Time

If you need a firestarter that has a long burn time, try this one made from paper toweling and used cooking oil.

Get free detailed instructions for making the longest-lasting firestarters in this YouTube video that can get you warmed up and cooked a meal in remote areas where firewood may not be available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWT4E6hvdpc

19- Homemade Pinecone Firestarters

Add your favorite dried herb to this pinecone firestarter recipe by popsugar so the fire will emit a pleasing aroma as burns.

A sprinkle of dried herbs on a pinecone then cover the entire thing with melted wax to create a fragrant, long-lasting DIY firestarter.

20- Recycle Toilet Paper Tubes

Use this great idea to recycle several waster materials around your house and transform them into long-lasting, fragrant DIY firestarters by dabblesandbabbles.

Empty toilet paper tubes, newspaper, dryer lint, candle stubs, dried herbs, and some twine can be put together to create a fragrant, attractive, and cheap firestarter for your backyard firepit.

21- Beeswax Firestarter

Fill an empty egg carton with some wood shavings, then pour a little melted beeswax on top to create a dozen long-lasting, cheap homemade firestarters like this one by harmonicmama.

Dryer lint will work as well as wood shavings. Cut the egg carton sections apart after beeswax has hardened.

22- Homestead Firestarter

Large brush fires are sometimes needed when clearing land around the homestead. A large brush fire needs a large starter to keep the flames burning until all the brush ignites and this plan will show you how to make a homestead firestarter like this one by homesteading. Don’t use fuel for building fires, save fuel for other uses around the homestead by making these firestarters.

23- Crayons And Dryer Lint

Recycle everything, including broken crayons and dryer lint. Crayons are made from wax and will burn a long time after being ignited by fast-burning dryer lint.

Create these colorful DIY firestarters by re-thinkgreen in a recycled egg carton so they will be the perfect size for starting a fire in your backyard firepit.