We just added these to our booth at the Cottage Shops in Monticello, Indiana this weekend. So hubby says, "Where did you see this idea?" I didn't see it anywhere. I mean, surely everyone has seen the cinnamon scented pine cones to scent the home and use in the fireplace and then there's those cases of nasty waxy sawdust things that admittedly work well. Why not combine the two? This is my experiment that we found works quite well!
The first batch I cheated and absconded with two red crayons from my kids. I didn't particularly care for the lack of intensity in the red color, as they resemble pine cones in raw hamburger, but I did use some fantastic cinnamon scent!
As you can see, I used one of my less than best cupcake pan. It may have been one obtained at an auction, but it's now been officially designated craft only! We started with dipping the pine cones in the wax. Then after mixing in the fresh sawdust out of the shop, we packed the sawdust wax mix around each pine cone.
After they were cooled, we had to try out my theory. All I can say is, "WOW"! I took one out in the back yard and set it in a non-windy area on a stepping stone. I used ONE wooden match to light the base of the pine cone. At first I thought the pine cone would burn and I would be left with a wax lump. The pine cone worked almost like a chimney with the flame about 4-5 inches tall and then the wax bottom was on fire. We, my son and hubby, actually got tired of watching it burn and walked away. It was still smoldering about 15 minutes later. It might burn shorter if it was more windy. At one point I did stand close and they heat it was putting off was significant. We've decided that extinguishing it after starting it, might not be an option. The sign below is what we put on them in the booth. Definitely a fire starter, not a candle!!!
The American Girl Doll Company makes a very nice wardrobe for their dolls. It's reportedly the size of a small nightstand, painted white and comes with some assembly required for a mere $349. Possibly a great deal if hubby didn't have a few cool tools and some spare oak.
Last night I came home, got the kids in bed and disappeared to my studio and "let my hair down". I made a stoneware tile. For once I didn't calculate the shrinkage and try to make a tile that was in standard 4" or 6" size. I used the slab roller for a nice uniform thickness and then I used an old plastic texture plate for faux wood grain. I textured the tile and then broke out the oak leaves. One I imbedded in the tile, the other I put a layer of clay on the back and randomly made it appear as if it was dropped on the tile. I free-formed an acorn and used thin pieces of irregular clay to make a patch of bark. One area I used raised clay to give a little flame pattern seen in oak lumber. I used a bit of iron oxide on the barkish area.
