making colored flame pine cones

How To Make making colored flame pine cones

• 1

  Tips:
  To get the pine cones looking their best, heat them in the oven at 225 degrees F on a foil-covered cookie sheet. They will open all the way and look fuller.
  
  Warnings:
  Use only one salt or compound for color.
  
  Be very careful handling these chemicals and follow the manufacturer' s directions. Some compounds can be poisonous if mishandled
• 2

  Pour 1/2 gallon of hot water into a deep glass or plastic bowl.
• 3

  Dissolve 8 ounces of any one of the following chemicals in the water:
  
  Alum (thallium) for a bright green flame
  Strontium chloride for a bright red flame
  Boric acid for a deep red flame
  Calcium for a reddish-orange flame
  Calcium chloride for a yellowish-orange flame
  Table salt for a yellow flame
  Borax (sodium tetraborate) for a yellow-green flame
  Blue vitriol (copper sulfate) or barium for a green flame
  Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) for a violet flame
  Or Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) for a white flame.
• 4

  Soak the pine cones in the solution for 6 hours.
• 5

  Dry them for at least three days in a warm, dry area on newspaper or hang in a mesh bag.
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