Our hackerspace, The Rabbit Hole is going on a camping trip and everyone knows that any good camping trip starts with a GINORMOUS bonfire! To start the bonfire, however, one needs a handy and effective firestarter.

We present, a DIY cupcake firestarter for your pyrophilic pleasure!

What is needed:

Block of Paraffin Wax
Wood shavings (small and large)
Cupcake wrappers
Muffin Tin or similar item
Tin Can
Pot/Pan
Boiling Water
Tongs
Knife

Step 1: Shave Your Paraffin Wax Block

Using your knife or some sort of shaving tool, take your paraffin wax block and whittle it into shavings. Our eventual goal is to melt the wax so shaving the block leads to smaller pieces and thus a faster melting time!

Be careful not to cut yourself!

Step 2: Melt the Paraffin Wax

You'll want to have a pot or pan on the stove boiling water. Place the paraffin wax shavings into the tin can (here we used a halved coke can) and place that into the middle of the pot.

The tin can is a great conductor of heat and will melt the wax shavings easily. As you can see in the pictures, it turns to liquid!

You can of course use a safer tin can than a halved coke can as the sides can be rather sharp/jagged.

Step 3: Get Your Cupcakes Ready

Sounds delicious doesn't it! But don't eat these! This can be done before everything is started or as the wax is melting.

Take some smaller wood shavings and place them into each cupcake wrapper. Once you have all of the ones you need prepared, place them into a muffin tin, or something that can keep the cupcake shape when you start pouring the paraffin wax in.

Step 4: Pour the Paraffin Wax in

Carefully take some tongs or pliers, and pick up the can with your melted paraffin wax and slowly pour the wax into the cupcake molds. The wax will not immediately solidify! But that's okay, you'll want to take larger wood scraps and place them around the outside of the cupcake.