Now you all know that I am in no way a prepper. Don't believe in guns, do not have an aggressive bone in my body, but I want to make sure just like my friend Laurie, that I'm prepared for power outages and for me here in California, earthquakes.
Laurie posted this amazing idea which I am adopting as part of my small emergency section in my pantry. Her DIY project is an emergency candle made from a ball jar, a wick, and believe it or not Crisco. Not only is it an inexpensive idea it is primarily made to be used for those disaster situations where you need many hours of candle light.
Items to make the candle: Quart or any size jar - This is where those other commercial jars with wide mouths come in handy (recycle)! Wicks - available on ESTY, 70 wicks for $5.00. or you can find them at craft stores. You will need one long enough for your size jar. Quarts use a 6" wick. Last, Crisco! You can use any of the generic types of Crisco from Wally World or other discount stores to save money.
How to make the candle:
Spoon 4 cups (if you are using a quart jar) of the Crisco into a glass container and just soften in the microwave. Place the wick in the jar and tape the top of the wick to the edge while you slowly "dump" the Crisco into the jar until its full leaving about 1/4" headspace. Wipe up the jar for any spillage, add your lid and ring and store with your other canned goods until it's needed.
From Laurie: Will burn for 100+ Hours, one of the reasons I Love this idea is because of the strength of the canning jar...no worries about cracking, they do not burn black at all, very clean and noooo smell, I have tested mine it burns slow and cool...actually better and cooler than purchased candles. Nothing to it..really, cause I'm not that talented! ...Cost.....$1.50 YAY!!
My Generic Candle is still burning....5 hours now, no smell, no heat and I am very happy with it!!!! :) Just do it, it is really easy..... :)
Thank you Laurie for being such an inspiration to me and giving me this great project for not only my home but other in my family! SB Canning!
5 comments:
Be a "prepper" does not require one to be agressive, violent, or to be a gun nut. Canning and putting away food from your plenty to carry you through leaner times is the foundation of being a "prepper". Whether you realize it or not, being PREPared for emergencies makes you a prepper. Being a prepper does not make you weird, it makes you wiser than many folks out there.
Could you add an essential oil to this for a light scent?
am not really sure one would want to add a scent to the candles. my reasoning is thus: in an emergency situation you may have people with you that have perfume allergies (like myself) - perfume can trigger an asthma attack & you might not have access to medical help at that time.(such attacks can be potentially fatal for some) the 2nd thought - in a true shtf situation where you might be, may not be something you want to advertise. scented products are Not natural scents & therefore very noticeable (i admit am showing a tad of paranoia on this one) you might not want a stranger to be able to find your physical locaton because he can smell your candles. just my thoughts.. :)
" Don't believe in guns, do not have an aggressive bone in my body..." I want to first say that i love your site and have learned a lot from it. I can understand you not liking guns, the part that hurts me personally is how you appear to have linked gun ownership to aggression. I feel this is an unfair statement. Owning a gun does not make anyone more aggressive regardless of the application, it being sport, hunting or protection. I have a number of firearms and i do have a gun i carry with a permit. This is not because i have an aggressive personality, but because i lived in a rough area of the largest city in my state. After hearing gun shots out my window, and receiving emails from my college about all of the armed robberies, rapes and shot delivery drivers i quickly learned that there are people in this world that don't respect human life and abide by no laws. I am not willing to forfeit my life to a monster because I didn't want to use a tool that was available to me. I have ZERO desire to ever use my gun against another human being, but like you understand that there are lean times and have prepared for that, I learned that some people are monsters and should i ever have the misfortune of meeting one then i will also be prepared. If at some point in your life you were so ever inclined to learn about guns I think you would be pleasantly surprised at how friendly, helpful and non-aggressive many of us in the gun community are. I would be more then willing to answer any questions you have about guns and if i couldot then i would point you to many fantastic people that could also help were you ever so inclined.
Felicia while I appreciate the comment I know a lot about guns and have owned them myself, learned to shoot, but one bad experience can change your mind about them. Again I am very glad that you told me your story and hope that you will continue to follow and become more sustainable!
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