Make Your Own Color-Changing Fireplace Pine Cones
Updated: Jul. 03, 2024
We love the look of color-changing fireplace pine cones. Gather up pine cones, do a little DIY magic, and then enjoy a colorful fire.
While browsing online the other day, I came across color-changing fireplace pine cones. When you toss one of these into your open fire, the flames will change color (the website says blues and greens) for a few minutes while the pine cone burns. While I thought it was a pretty cool idea, I was a little surprised by the price—nearly $40.
I wondered if it was possible to make my own. A little web searching turned up a whole bunch of DIY versions of this project, which would make great holiday gifts for those on your list with fireplaces.
You can pre-treat the pine cones to make colored flames with the additives below. (Be sure to burn only one color at a time.) What a pretty way to get a fire going!
On This Page
Collect Pinecones
Gather your own pinecones from your backyard (let them dry first) or buy a bag at the craft store.
Prep Your Pine Cones
If you use pine cones 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.
Supplies
- Natural, dry pine cones
- Clear candle wax
- Choice of candle dye colors
- Tall tin can and metal tongs
- Foil-lined baking sheet
- Flame color additives (optional): 1 cup table salt (yellow flame), 1 cup borax (yellow-green flame), 1 cup salt substitute with potassium (violet flame) or 1 cup Epsom salts (white flame)
Directions
- STEP 1. Pretreatment for coloring flames (optional): Fill a bucket with ½ gallon hot water. Mix in one additive. Soak the pine cones in solution for 8 hours. Remove; let cones dry until fully opened and then dip in wax as below.
- STEP 2. For wax coating: Melt clear wax in a double boiler over low heat and mix in candle dye. Remove from heat; pour into tall tin can, leaving space near top. With tongs, dip each pine cone into the melted wax until completely covered, then place on foil-lined baking sheet to stand until wax sets.
- STEP 3. To light fire: Place a pine cone on your kindling and light a single scale. If you chose to pretreat your pinecones with additives, be sure to burn only one color at a time.
Fireplace Pine Cone 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 pine cones on cooking fires or BBQ grills.
- Always use common sense and caution with open flames.
Originally Published: July 03, 2024
