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Pinecone Fire-starters (with Colorful Flames!)
From Jill at birdsandblooms.com
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Materials:
• Large bucket
• Tongs or slotted spoon
• Flame colorant – choose one of the following, depending on the color flame
you prefer (though most are common
household chemicals, remember to keep
out of the reach of children and pets):
◦ Yellow – Table Salt
◦ Yellow-Green – Borax
◦ White – Epsom Salts
◦ Green – Boric Acid
◦ Red – Strontium Chloride (found with aquarium supplies in pet stores)
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Prep Your Pinecones: (If you use pinecones you purchase at a craft store, you can skip
this step.) If you’ve gathered pinecones from the great outdoors, you’ll need to bake
them in a 200 degree oven for one hour to remove bugs and open up closed cones.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil first, as sap will drain from the cones. Allow
them to cool.
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The Process:
• Pour 1/2 gallon of hot water into the bucket.
• Add 1 cup of the colorant of your choice, and stir until dissolved.
• Add pinecones to the mix. Be sure to add only as many as can be completely covered by the solution. Soak for 8 hours or overnight.
• Remove the pinecones and set on newspapers to dry completely – at least 3 days.
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Now your pinecones are ready to burn! Simply add them (one at a time) to your fire and
watch the colors appear.
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Tips and Precautions:
• You can make several batches of different colors, but don’t mix the colors in a single batch.
• Burn only one color of pinecone at a time.
• Do not use colored pinecones on cooking fires
or BBQ grills.
• Always use common sense and caution with
open flames.
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