The Romantic.com

With Fireplaces

COLORED FLAMES

submitted by: Jamie Uder

 

Surprise your sweetie with a dazzling colored fire!

A lot of these ingredients can be found in the laundry section of the grocery store, or a dry goods/farmer’s store (such as a store which sells horse and cattle feed).

Borax = yellow-green
Copper sulfate = green-blue
Calcium chloride (pure only, a bleaching powder) = blue
Magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) = white
3 parts Potassium Sulfate/1 part Potassium Nitrate = violet

Potassium Chloride = purple

Chose ONE color above, don’t mix them.  Dissolve as much of the colorant into a gallon of water in a bucket as you can (this is typically about 1/2 lb of colorant to 1 gallon of water), mixing well.  Toss in some clean, dry pine cones and let them soak overnight.  You can use as many as you can fit in the bucket.

Remove the wet pine cones and lay them out on newspaper to dry.  Depending on the weather, it may take up to 72 hours.  Throw a couple into a fire to test them before you use them for a romantic gesture.

Put all cones of one color in a pretty basket by the fireplace. Feel free to toss different colored pinecones in the fire, however.

Sit down with your sweetie in front of the fire.  Throw some pine cones in and say something meaningful, like “when I’m with you, I see colors in my heart.”

Enjoy the kiss that you’ll surely get!

*editors note: you can also dip the cones in paraffin wax and sprinkle the powders while still wet instead of the above soaking method